My favorite new homepage
Since I started using the computer I have always used Firefox and made iGoogle my homepage. I loved it and I was faithful to it.
Then I read a piece on my very favorite website of all time make use of.
It was in an article entitled "MyFav.es: Create Minimalist Start Page With Favorite Website Icons " which can be found here.
I always trust anything written by this great group of people. I have been turned onto many sites that I never would have found on my own. It was about the same time the article above came out that I was getting tired of iGoogle as my home page. I was looking for something different.
I have written a post on a firefox add on that I swore by called morning coffee. I realized it was something similar to morning coffee that I was looking for in a start page.
I found it in MyFavs.
When it first came out one could have 4 "links" on their homepage such as this.
With the background choice of "Lights On"
or "Lights Out."
I tried it and loved it for its simplicity.
Now they have come out with more options (sites) to choose from and the ability to make your own site button to use.
I have now added several sites. I know it was meant for simplicity, but for me THIS is simplicity.
I am hooked on it.
The ability to add your own sites has made it perfect for what I want in a start page. They now also offer several backgrounds, different ways of having your buttons on your page. You can choose colors for the buttons you are making with your favorite sites.
The 2 pictures below are from my homepage. I switch the background every couple of days just for variety.
On my top row I have the usual sites except I made the star link to make use of the site I am writing about.
The next row is Stumbleupon, Picasso web albums and the next two are to Gamehouse and Bigfish games. I check these sites on a daily basis, as they offer a new game everyday and I will admit, I have several.
The orange O is for the "Orange County Register" the newspaper from southern Ca. that I grew up on and still read on a daily basis even today.
The next row is my most used. They belong to my blogs at blogger. Without navigation bars on most templates these days, it's a hassle to write, edit and check your posts.
First you have to go to blogger, then to your dashboard, then to which blog you want to post on (I have 4) then to design. All to get to the "add and arrange page elements" page where you can add a picture, HTML, or gadget. What a process!
Not anymore!
I have the S linked to "Scroll Dust Woman's" add and arrange page.
The D is to the "add and arrange page elements" page to "A Daily Laugh."
The J is for this blog "Just my day blog."
These simple buttons have brought a lot of the joy of blogging back to me. I hated having to go through a gazillion clicks to just add a picture or edit my posts.
The last button W is to a friend of mines blog called Woodsterman.
A blog I can now just do a "check it out thing" with one simple click.
Myfav.es has made my Internet usage a much more enjoyable experience.
I also want to add that you can make changes to your sites/buttons right on your page. You don't even need to leave it!
Now THAT'S simplicity!!!
What do you use as your home page?
Which one is your favorite?
Post from your igoogle page
I just now happened to find this on my dashboard of Blogger. It seems that now you can publish a post from your igoogle home page with what is called the Blogger post gadget. I am doing it right now to see how it works. Just go to your dashboard and click on the “+ Google” to have this added to your home page. I am not quite sure if this particular gadget is something I will use much but I for sure can see how it could be real handy for others.
Quoting from my dashboard about this gadget it says "You can use HTML in the text box, but if you want more rich text editing — for example, to upload a photo — just click “Save Draft” and you’ll get a link to edit the post in the full Blogger post editor."
I just thought I would pass this a long as I had not noticed it yet myself.
Well now I just did use it and all came out fine as you can see. So another gadget from Google that may be very helpful to some!
Quoting from my dashboard about this gadget it says "You can use HTML in the text box, but if you want more rich text editing — for example, to upload a photo — just click “Save Draft” and you’ll get a link to edit the post in the full Blogger post editor."
I just thought I would pass this a long as I had not noticed it yet myself.
Well now I just did use it and all came out fine as you can see. So another gadget from Google that may be very helpful to some!
