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 The lack of love is for an (apparently) outdated feed reader that can’t even find half the feeds I give the exact address for.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!
Wonderful goods from you, man. I’ve understand your stuff previous to and you’re just too wonderful. I really like what you’ve acquired here, really like what you’re saying and the way in which you say it. You make it enjoyable and you still care for to keep it wise. I can not wait to read far more from you. This is really a great site.|
I like it when individuals come together and share ideas. Great website, continue the good work!|
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my newest twitter updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this. Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward to your new updates.|
It’s truly very difficult in this busy life to listen news on Television, therefore I only use the web for that purpose, and take the most up-to-date information.|
Today, I went to the beachfront with my children. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She put the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is totally off topic but I had to tell someone!|
Hello, I enjoy reading through your article post. I like to write a little comment to support you.|
I was suggested this web site through my cousin. I am no longer sure whether or not this post is written by him as nobody else understand such exact approximately my difficulty. You are wonderful! Thanks!|
I blog often and I seriously appreciate your content. The article has truly peaked my interest. I will bookmark your blog and keep checking for new information about once a week. I subscribed to your RSS feed too.|
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I truly appreciate your efforts and I will be waiting for your next write ups thanks once again.|
Ahaa, its fastidious dialogue concerning this piece of writing at this place at this weblog, I have read all that, so at this time me also commenting here.|
With havin so much content do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or copyright violation? My site has a lot of completely unique content I’ve either authored myself or outsourced but it seems a lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my authorization. Do you know any techniques to help stop content from being stolen? I’d certainly appreciate it.|
Hello there, I found your site via Google whilst looking for a related topic, your site got here up, it looks great. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
I like the helpful info you provide in your articles. I’ll bookmark your weblog and check again here regularly. I am quite sure I will learn lots of new stuff right here! Best of luck for the next!|
Awesome blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A theme like yours with a few simple tweeks would really make my blog stand out. Please let me know where you got your theme. Thanks|
Howdy! This article could not be written any better! Going through this article reminds me of my previous roommate! He constantly kept preaching about this. I will forward this post to him. Pretty sure he’ll have a good read. Thanks for sharing!|
Hi there, i read your blog occasionally and i own a similar one and i was just wondering if you get a lot of spam comments? If so how do you prevent it, any plugin or anything you can suggest? I get so much lately it’s driving me crazy so any assistance is very much appreciated.|
I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own weblog and was wondering what all is needed to get setup? I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny? I’m not very web savvy so I’m not 100 certain. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks|
Unquestionably believe that which you stated. Your favorite justification appeared to be on the net the easiest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I definitely get irked while people think about worries that they plainly do not know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top and defined out the whole thing without having side effect , people can take a signal. Will likely be back to get more. Thanks|
Hmm it looks like your website ate my first comment (it was super long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I had written and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I as well am an aspiring blog blogger but I’m still new to the whole thing. Do you have any points for first-time blog writers? I’d certainly appreciate it.|
Somebody essentially help to make critically posts I’d state. That is the first time I frequented your website page and up to now? I surprised with the analysis you made to make this particular submit amazing. Magnificent process!|
Thanks for the auspicious writeup. It in reality was a leisure account it. Glance complicated to far added agreeable from you! By the way, how could we keep in touch?|
Keep on working, great job!|
This information is worth everyone’s attention. How can I find out more?|
Thank you, I’ve just been looking for info approximately this topic for ages and yours is the greatest I’ve discovered so far. However, what concerning the bottom line? Are you positive about the source?|
I get pleasure from, lead to I found exactly what I used to be taking a look for. You’ve ended my four day lengthy hunt! God Bless you man. Have a great day. Bye|
Heya i’m for the primary time here. I found this board and I in finding It really useful & it helped me out a lot. I’m hoping to provide one thing back and help others like you helped me.|
Having read this I believed it was very enlightening. I appreciate you finding the time and effort to put this informative article together. I once again find myself personally spending a significant amount of time both reading and commenting. But so what, it was still worthwhile.
Hello there! This blog post couldn’t be written much better! Looking at this article reminds me of my previous roommate! He constantly kept talking about this. I most certainly will send this article to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read. Thank you for sharing!|
I read this post fully about the comparison of newest and preceding technologies, it’s remarkable article.|
Today, while I was at work, my sister stole my iPad and tested to see if it can survive a 25 foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My apple ipad is now destroyed and she has 83 views. I know this is completely off topic but I had to share it with someone!|
Hello all, here every one is sharing these kinds of know-how, thus it’s pleasant to read this weblog, and I used to go to see this webpage every day.|
Simply want to say your article is as amazing. The clarity to your put up is simply excellent and that i could assume you are an expert in this subject. Well together with your permission let me to seize your RSS feed to keep up to date with imminent post. Thanks 1,000,000 and please carry on the rewarding work.|
I love it when folks come together and share ideas.
Great website, keep it up!
It’s nearly impossible to find knowledgeable people on this topic, but you sound like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks|
Hello everyone, it’s my first go to see at this website,
and paragraph is in fact fruitful in support of me, keep up posting such articles or reviews.
You need to take part in a contest for one of the greatest websites on the net. I’m going to highly recommend this site!|
Incredible points. Outstanding arguments. Keep up the good spirit.|
Thanks designed for sharing such a fastidious thought, post is nice, thats why i have read it completely|
Hi my loved one! I want to say that this post is awesome, nice written and include approximately all vital infos. I’d like to peer extra posts like this .|
Hi i am kavin, its my first time to commenting anywhere, when i read this article i thought i could also make comment due to this good article.|
After I initially left a comment I seem to have clicked on the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now each time a comment is added I receive 4 emails with the same comment. There has to be a way you can remove me from that service? Thanks a lot!|
I’d like to thank you for the efforts you’ve put in writing this blog. I really hope to see the same high-grade content by you in the future as well. In truth, your creative writing abilities has motivated me to get my own website now ;)|
I couldn’t resist commenting. Perfectly written!|
Nice replies in return of this query with real arguments and telling the whole thing on the topic of that.|
I wanted to thank you for this very good read!! I definitely enjoyed every bit of it. I’ve got you saved as a favorite to look at new stuff you post…|
Hey, thanks for the article.Really thank you! Really Cool.
Good site you’ve got here.. It’s hard to find high-quality writing like yours these days. I seriously appreciate people like you! Take care!!
Generally I don’t read post on blogs, but I wish to say that this write-up very forced me to try and do it! Your writing taste has been amazed me. Thanks, quite great article.|
I’ll right away seize your rss as I can’t find your e-mail subscription link or e-newsletter service. Do you have any? Kindly allow me recognise so that I may just subscribe. Thanks.|
This is a topic that’s near to my heart… Best wishes! Exactly where are your contact details though?|