(Possibly OT) Error from gnome-panel on a custom gnome-applet

[Michael Sullivan <michael espersunited com>]

I'm trying to work through the Gnome Applets guide at
http://www.gnome.org/projects/ORBit2/appletstutorial.html .  I've
created the .server file and the my-example.c and it compiles fine, but
when I try to add it to the panel, it crashes.  I found the following
error in .xsession-errors:  

** (gnome-panel:21544): WARNING **: panel-applet-frame.c:1267: failed to
load applet OAFIID:ExampleApplet:
Failed to resolve, or extend '!
prefs_key=/apps/panel/applets/applet_0/prefs;background=none:;orient=down;size=x-small;locked_down=false

I cannot find any reference to /apps/panel/applets/applet_0/prefs in
either the .c file or the .server file.  Where is this found, or is
there another way around it...?
-Michael Sullivan-