One option is to use an extension of the Google home page as your start page. I have Google set as my start page so when I start up my browser I see this:
If you also use Google and would prefer to see Google when you start up your browser and, at the same time, more information about, for example, the weather and some news feeds then click on the "Personalized Home" link on the top right and you could wind up with a start page like this:
There is a fortune of content you can add to your personalised start page through the link "Add more to this page" and it is really easy to move content around to suit your preferences. All you do is click and drag.
If, on the other hand, Google doesn’t float your boat but you still want the wealth of content when you start up your browser, then give Netvibes a try. It takes about 5 minutes to create a personalised Netvibes page and with a recent upgrade to Netvibes, your customisation options are that much more appealing. Here is what my Netvibes start page looks like:
The nice thing about Netvibes is that you can change the theme of your page pretty easily. Both services enable you to add tabs to your start page so there is no need to cram everything on to one page. You can have a tab for different categories of information and probably rarely move away from that start page. As an example, you could have your basic information about the weather, email, calendar and web search on your front page and all your news feeds on a separate tab. The customisation options alone could keep you busy for a while. Try not to get too bogged down in getting the perfect layouts, this is meant to save you time after all!
Happy surfing and come back once you have had a chance to play and share your experiences by commenting to the post or emailing us.
(Source for Netvibes upgrade: TechCrunch)
Tags: netvibes, google, personalized, personalised, home page, start page, feeds, tabs
What do you think?