Tech-y StartPage

I have spent hours upon hours trying to find the “perfect” startpage. I have come to the conclusion that there is none; at least for me. I want a way to include feeds, mail, pictures of Hob and Istar, my Vimeo vids, my calendar, and more. All of the startpages pretty much offer these things, but in different ways.

I, like many others, started with igoogle, which was fun for about 15 minutes. Not too long after I designed my page to my satisfaction, they forced a lot of dead space on users by moving the tabbar to the left. That, and the fact that theming is so very limited meant that I needed an alternative, which led me to Netvibes. Netvibes is one of the best presented options I’ve used, but the lack of true customization leaves me a little unsatisfied (for instance, there is only one theme that does not have glaringly white widget backgrounds and the “extra” customizations, such as tabs, look cheap). Do not let their claim to have 1000s of widgets woo you…most are third party widgets, which always look tacky and include links to the widget’s “home”. Blech.

Pageflakes was my next trial, and I really like the flexibility it offers, but the native design looks very 1995, and not in a good way. It is by far the worst looking option, but has some really great flakes. Shame, really.

While searching for ways to overcome the issues I have with the above-mentioned sites, I found a link to Protopage. This is my preferred page, and I love it up to 95%. The lack of love is for an (apparently) outdated feed reader that can’t even find half the feeds I give the exact address for. I can circumvent this problem by using Feedburner feeds, which seem to work 100% of the time, but it’s still a gripe. Another gripe I had was that my thumbnail images weren’t showing up in my own feeds, but they were in everyone else’s feeds. I solved that problem by not using the “singlepic” function of the Nextgen Gallery plugin. Again, this is a non-issue with other readers, so I’m not sure why Protopage can’t handle them. Since there is no real calendar option beyond the most basic, I’m able to use my ics calendar from Netvibes, and include it as a widget on Protopage by use of the “webpage” widget. Niiiice. Widgets can be free positioned and resized, colored any way you want, and choosing a background is much easier than in other services. There are basic ads at the top of the screen, but you can close them forever (or until you reload) with one click, then they collapse. Not too bad.

The latest, and definitely most fun, option I found this weekend is Schmedley. Since Schmedley is so new, there is very little to choose from, but given a few more “schmidgets” and the option to resize the schmidgets (they are HUGE), this will become my favorite. The Gmail reader is wonky as hell, as it pulls emails from archived and trashed mail and never from my inbox, but the POP Mail seems to work a little better. The retro design of the logo and amazingly cool backgrounds make this a top contender for me. I just hope development continues!

If you try any of these out, let me know what you think!

7,728 thoughts on “Tech-y StartPage”

  1. Nice post. I learn something totally new and challenging on blogs I stumbleupon on a daily basis. It will always be helpful to read content from other writers and use a little something from their web sites.

  2. Hello, I do think your blog may be having internet
    browser compatibility issues. Whenever I look at your blog in Safari, it looks fine however when opening in Internet Explorer, it
    has some overlapping issues. I just wanted to
    provide you with a quick heads up! Other than that, great blog!

  3. I needed to thank you for this excellent read!! I definitely loved every little bit of it. I have got you saved as a favorite to look at new stuff you post…

  4. Thanks for your marvelous posting! I truly enjoyed reading it, you are
    a great author.I will always bookmark your blog and will come
    back sometime soon. I want to encourage you to definitely continue your great writing, have a nice holiday weekend!

  5. You really make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matter to
    be actually something that I think I would never understand.
    It seems too complicated and very broad for me. I am looking forward for your next
    post, I will try to get the hang of it!

  6. My brother suggested I might like this web site. He was entirely right.
    This submit truly made my day. You cann’t believe just how so much time I
    had spent for this information! Thanks!

  7. Hi my family member! I want to say that this post is amazing, nice written and
    include approximately all vital infos. I’d like to peer more posts like this
    .

  8. I am not sure the place you’re getting your information,
    but good topic. I needs to spend a while finding out more or understanding more.
    Thanks for magnificent info I used to be searching for
    this info for my mission.

  9. Hello very cool web site!! Guy .. Excellent .. Superb ..
    I’ll bookmark your site and take the feeds also? I’m happy to find a lot of useful information right here in the submit, we want work out more strategies in this regard, thank you for sharing.
    . . . . .

  10. Hello, I think your site could be having web browser compatibility problems.
    Whenever I take a look at your blog in Safari, it looks fine but
    when opening in I.E., it has some overlapping issues.
    I simply wanted to provide you with a quick heads up!
    Aside from that, great website!

  11. Spot on with this write-up, I absolutely believe this site needs far more attention. I’ll probably be back again to read through more, thanks for the information!

  12. Hi! I’m at work surfing around your blog from my new
    iphone 4! Just wanted to say I love reading your blog and look forward to all your posts!
    Keep up the excellent work!

  13. It’s a shame you don’t have a donate button! I’d most certainly donate to this brilliant blog!

    I suppose for now i’ll settle for book-marking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account.
    I look forward to brand new updates and will share this website with my Facebook group.
    Chat soon!

  14. For most up-to-date information you have to pay
    a visit web and on the web I found this web page as a most excellent web
    site for hottest updates.

  15. First of all I would like to say awesome blog! I had a quick question that I’d like
    to ask if you do not mind. I was interested to
    know how you center yourself and clear your thoughts prior
    to writing. I have had trouble clearing my thoughts in getting
    my thoughts out. I truly do enjoy writing but it just
    seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are usually lost
    simply just trying to figure out how to begin. Any suggestions or tips?
    Kudos!

  16. It is perfect time to make some plans for the longer term and it’s time to be happy.
    I have learn this post and if I may I want to suggest you some
    interesting issues or suggestions. Maybe you could write next articles
    relating to this article. I wish to learn even more things about it!

  17. I think this is among the most significant information for me.

    And i am glad reading your article. But want to
    remark on some general things, The site style is great, the articles
    is really excellent : D. Good job, cheers

  18. I do not know if it’s just me or if perhaps everyone else encountering problems with your website.
    It appears as though some of the written text in your content are running off the
    screen. Can someone else please provide feedback and let me know if
    this is happening to them as well? This might be a issue with
    my internet browser because I’ve had this happen before. Thank you

  19. You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this topic to be
    actually something which I think I would never understand.
    It seems too complex and very broad for me. I
    am looking forward for your next post, I’ll try to get the hang of it!

  20. We’re a group of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our community.
    Your website offered us with valuable info to work on. You have done an impressive job and our entire community will
    be thankful to you.

  21. I every time used to study piece of writing in news papers but now as I am a user
    of internet therefore from now I am using net for posts, thanks
    to web.

  22. Thank you, I have recently been searching for information about this subject for a long
    time and yours is the best I have discovered so far.
    But, what about the bottom line? Are you
    positive about the source?

  23. First of all I would like to say wonderful blog! I had a quick question that I’d like to ask if you don’t mind.
    I was interested to find out how you center yourself and
    clear your mind before writing. I have had difficulty
    clearing my mind in getting my thoughts out there. I do
    enjoy writing however it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes
    are lost simply just trying to figure out how to begin. Any suggestions
    or tips? Kudos!

  24. When some one searches for his essential thing, thus he/she needs to be available that
    in detail, so that thing is maintained over here.

  25. We stumbled over here coming from a different web address and thought I may
    as well check things out. I like what I see so now i
    am following you. Look forward to looking over your web page yet again.

  26. Howdy! I just would like to give you a huge thumbs up for
    your excellent information you have got right here on this post.

    I will be returning to your site for more soon.

  27. Hey very cool web site!! Man .. Beautiful .. Amazing ..

    I’ll bookmark your blog and take the feeds also? I am happy to find
    numerous useful info right here within the submit, we’d like
    develop extra techniques in this regard, thanks for sharing.
    . . . . .

Leave a Reply to Leonie Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *