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 The lack of love is for an (apparently) outdated feed reader that can’t even find half the feeds I give the exact address for.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!
Thank you for your post.Thanks Again. Will read on…
Thanks for finally writing about > blog_title < Loved it!|
Everything is very open with a very clear clarification of the issues. It was really informative. Your site is extremely helpful. Thank you for sharing!|
Everything is very open with a very clear clarification of the challenges. It was truly informative. Your site is extremely helpful. Thank you for sharing!|
Appreciating the commitment you put into your website and in depth information you provide. It’s awesome to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same out of date rehashed material. Fantastic read! I’ve bookmarked your site and I’m adding your RSS feeds to my Google account.|
I love what you guys tend to be up too. This kind of clever work and reporting! Keep up the fantastic works guys I’ve incorporated you guys to our blogroll.|
Hello it’s me, I am also visiting this web page on a regular basis, this web page is in fact good and the users are truly sharing nice thoughts.|
After I originally left a comment I seem to have clicked on the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on each time a comment is added I receive 4 emails with the exact same comment. Perhaps there is an easy method you can remove me from that service? Appreciate it!|
Hello! Would you mind if I share your blog with my twitter group? There’s a lot of folks that I think would really appreciate your content. Please let me know. Cheers|
hi!,I love your writing so much! percentage we keep in touch extra approximately your post on AOL? I need an expert on this house to unravel my problem. Maybe that is you! Taking a look ahead to peer you. |
Right now it seems like Movable Type is the top blogging platform out there right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?|
Hey there! Someone in my Facebook group shared this site with us so I came to take a look. I’m definitely loving the information. I’m bookmarking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Terrific blog and excellent style and design.|
I am not positive the place you’re getting your info, however great topic. I must spend a while finding out much more or figuring out more. Thanks for wonderful info I was in search of this info for my mission.|
Greetings! Very useful advice within this article! It is the little changes that produce the most significant changes. Thanks a lot for sharing!|
Wow, amazing blog layout! How long have you been blogging for? you make blogging look easy. The overall look of your website is excellent, let alone the content!|
I am really impressed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself? Anyway keep up the nice quality writing, it’s rare to see a great blog like this one these days.|
Really informative article.Really thank you! Cool.
Im obliged for the blog.Much thanks again.
I really enjoy the blog article.Thanks Again. Great.
This is one awesome blog post.Really thank you! Much obliged.
Excellent beat ! I wish to apprentice at the same time as you amend your site, how can i subscribe for a blog website? The account helped me a acceptable deal. I had been tiny bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered shiny clear idea|
You need to take part in a contest for one of the greatest blogs online. I will highly recommend this web site!|
Appreciation to my father who told me regarding this webpage, this web site is truly remarkable.|
I appreciate you sharing this blog. Keep writing.
Good article! We are linking to this particularly great article on our site. Keep up the good writing.|
I don’t even know the way I finished up right here, but I assumed this put up used to be great. I don’t understand who you are but definitely you’re going to a famous blogger should you are not already. Cheers!|
I’ll immediately clutch your rss as I can’t to find your e-mail subscription hyperlink or newsletter service. Do you’ve any? Kindly permit me understand so that I may subscribe. Thanks.|
Woah! I’m really digging the template/theme of this blog. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s tough to get that “perfect balance” between usability and visual appeal. I must say that you’ve done a great job with this. In addition, the blog loads extremely quick for me on Internet explorer. Superb Blog!|
I have read several excellent stuff here. Definitely worth bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how much attempt you place to make this kind of magnificent informative web site.|
I have been surfing online more than 3 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It is pretty worth enough for me. Personally, if all site owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the net will be a lot more useful than ever before.|
Hello Dear, are you actually visiting this web page daily, if so afterward you will absolutely obtain pleasant know-how.|
That is a really good tip especially to those new to the blogosphere. Simple but very precise info… Thanks for sharing this one. A must read post!|
Hi there, its fastidious paragraph on the topic of media print, we all be familiar with media is a enormous source of data.|
I’m not that much of a online reader to be honest but your blogs really nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your website to come back down the road. Many thanks|
magnificent put up, very informative. I ponder why the opposite experts of this sector don’t understand this. You should proceed your writing. I am sure, you have a great readers’ base already!|
Truly when someone doesn’t understand then its up to other viewers that they will help, so here it occurs.|
It’s genuinely very complex in this active life to listen news on TV, so I only use world wide web for that purpose, and take the newest information.|
Whats up very nice website!! Man .. Excellent .. Superb .. I will bookmark your blog and take the feeds also? I am glad to seek out so many helpful info here in the submit, we need develop extra techniques in this regard, thank you for sharing. . . . . .|
Appreciation to my father who told me regarding this website, this blog is in fact awesome.|
This site was… how do I say it? Relevant!! Finally I’ve found something which helped me. Many thanks!|
I’m impressed, I must say. Seldom do I come across a blog that’s both equally educative and interesting, and without a doubt, you have hit the nail on the head. The problem is an issue that too few folks are speaking intelligently about. I am very happy that I stumbled across this during my hunt for something concerning this.|
Hi, this weekend is fastidious for me, for the reason that this occasion i am reading this enormous informative article here at my house.|
Hello there, You’ve performed an excellent job. I will definitely digg it and personally recommend to my friends. I am sure they will be benefited from this website.|
Outstanding story there. What happened after? Thanks!|
Good post! We are linking to this particularly great content on our website. Keep up the good writing.|
I got this web site from my friend who told me on the topic of this site and now this time I am visiting this website and reading very informative content at this place.|
Thank you for the good writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it. Look advanced to more added agreeable from you! By the way, how could we communicate?|
Hi there, just became aware of your blog through Google, and found that it is truly informative. I’m going to watch out for brussels. I’ll appreciate if you continue this in future. Numerous people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!|
I believe this is among the most significant information for me. And i’m happy reading your article. But want to observation on few normal things, The web site taste is great, the articles is truly excellent : D. Good task, cheers|
I’m not sure where you are getting your information, but good topic. I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding more. Thanks for excellent info I was looking for this information for my mission.|