For those of you who are still using iGoogle, the time has come, since it's going to close its doors at the end of play today. I wrote a post a while ago on alternatives, which I'm including below, with some editing.
Google continues to eat itself, by feeding more and more of its
products into the ever hungry maw of Google+ The latest is their start
or home page, iGoogle. For those of you who are not sure what a home or
start page is, the page that pops up when you start your browser is your
home/start page. It's an often overlooked resource, because it can pull
in RSS feeds, link to news feeds, keep you informed about your email
and a whole lot else.
A personal favourite, and the one that I teach on courses is Netvibes.
It's very stable, has been around for years, provides as many different
tabbed pages as you need and also allows you to publish material for
other people to see. It's widely used by libraries and universities.
However, I'm not pleased with their very high handed approach that they've chosen to use recently so I have moved across to using Symbaloo instead, and you can see my Symbaloo Search Engines page to get an idea of how it works. However, if you'd like to try some alternatives, here they are:
Allmyfaves.
This is a kind of start page, except that you can't yet add anything
yourself. It simply lists lots of categories and then lists 10 resources
in each listing for you to click on. The interface is jammed with site
icons and is overpowering, and not something that I'd like to use
myself. You may be different however!
Bonzobox. This is
an interactive web tool that allows people to build their own
customized "BonzoBox" home page with links to their favorite websites.
Click, drag and drop. Nothing especially interesting about this one, and
it didn't really have a wow factor for me. As good as many of the
others out there. This now costs $2.50, and as such, I'd tend to avoid it.
Favoor. Very basic, but it seems to do the job.
iLoggo is an icon based home/start page. iloggo.com
is very simple to use; just give it the URL of your favourite sites and
it will then create a button for you using images from the site, or you
can choose something for yourself. You can also have tabs for different
subject areas. It's ok, it does the job, but it fails in 2 crucial
areas for me - there doesn't seem to be a way in which you can share
content, and it doesn't have support for RSS feeds, both of which really
are rather integral in the development of resources such as this.
However, if all you're after is a very simple launchpad, this works as
well as any of the others.
Internet Buttons.
If you have a friend or relation who is not too up on using the net, or
you wanted to create a really simple home or start page for someone,
try this one. Very simple - choose the link, choose the buttons and
choose a URL. Point friend/relation to 'their' page and it makes life
easier for them.
Kadaza. You can
only choose from an admittedly huge list of resources broken down into a
wide variety of different options. You can move their position, but
that's about it. Not a bad idea if you just want to be presented with a
bunch of options, but very limited personalisation.
Nextaris. Your
all-in-one toolkit for searching the Web, tracking news, capturing Web
content, sharing files, publishing Web blogs, and private messaging.
Pobb. This is an online Tool to create your own unique eHome, with links to your favourite places on the Net and lots more.
Protopage. It's a home/start page. Very basic, but fine if you want to try out the concept.
Sitehoover.
This is a simple to use home page resource that works using thumbnails
for sites that you input yourself. If you register (which you'll need
to in order to keep the page you create) you can theme it, import
bookmarks from Firefox, use RSS feeds and create public 'hoovers' as
well.
Spaaze. This
is a cross between a start page, Wallwisher and Glogster resource. Add
content, move it around the screen, add in images and video, put in
links and so on. They are going to go for a pricing model, which
probably isn't that sensible, given the free resources that are
overlapping into this territory.
Start. This one looks
ok, but a bit clunky to start with. However, you can actually edit the
HTML to make it look nicer - if you're ok doing that of course!
Supports RSS feeds.
Startme Looks very straightforward to use and it's got some nice features:
Categorize bookmarks/RSS feeds in pages and lists
Simple drag and drop interface
Import/Export your bookmarks/RSS-feeds (OMPL-support)
Search engines support (add your own custom search)
Offline support (HTML5 Local caching)
Extensions for popular browsers like Google and Firefox
Make your pages public (and share them)
The last option there is an important one, as there are very few tools that let you share your pages with other people.
Symbaloo. This
is really nice as a start page. Looks a bit noddy, with large block
icons, but you can add your own, drag in bookmarks, rearrange things,
add tabs and so on. It's not as sophisticated as some resources like
Netvibes, but if you want something quick, easy and uncomplicated this
has to be in the running.
SymbalooEDU.
This is an interesting twist on their existing start page offering,
which I've blogged previously. They now have version optimized for
teachers, allowing school branding, customised content, webinar
training, with a maximum number of of users. It's also free of any
advertising.
Tizmos.
The thumbnails are quite large, and I can see how this could actually be
a nice way of display a bunch of pages that you want to take people
to; a nice training aid in effect.
Trackpanel.net It's attractive and
looks simple to use. It's not got the same functionality as some other
options, but it's quick and simple. It's currently free, though they
might want to charge a small fee in the future.
Transferr.
This is a customised home page that lets you quickly and easily access
your favorite web sites, manage your favourites, and share single or
whole groups of your favourites with others. Transferr creates icons of
your favourite sites ready for easy access. You can add a favourite site
to your hompage by simply typing in the address, or you can import
favourites directly from your web browser. Transferr allows you to
manage your favourites by colour and by keeping them in tabs.
uStart. This
looks very good indeed actually. Same format as Netvibes. Good
approach, wide variety of widgets, very neat. Can't see a way of
sharing content, which lets it down a bit, but this looks like a good
alternative.
Webwag.
Looks painfully like Netvibes. Lets you create you create your own
content, tags and so on, and will populate a page automatically for you.
Looks nice and simple, possibly more attractive than Netvibes itself
in fact.
Wonderpage. It's a start page by any other name. However, as the description suggests, it's a very visual resource with a grid of pages.
YourPort. Bringing
all your favorite sites together in one place. Why use Yourport as my
homepage? Automatically sync to your own bookmarks. No login or
sign-up needed. Share your favorite sites with friends. Its Free to us.
Very basic, with large button icons.
Zeadoo. Quote
from their site: "Zeadoo is your personal homepage for searching,
bookmarking and sharing websites with friends. The site is designed
for anyone who wants a simple, customizable page that they can access
with one click from anywhere in the world."
Zenstart.
These people say that they've got 'the best start page', but it doesn't
allow you to add your own resources, there's no opportunity for RSS
feeds, no widgets - just a series of pre-assigned lists of sites. All
you can do is change the position of them within the 6 assigned
categories. It's also very American biased. Until they can add more
functionality, this is just a listing of sites - and not a very good one
either!