Start Pages - NetVibes
Start Pages are a page (pages) that you can customize to contain all the links you need (or often use). You can ass RSS Feeds so that the latest entries of your favourite blogs show up, you can add news feeds (local, national), weather, to do lists, links, flickr, del.isio.us links, and many widgets of all kinds.
What is Netvibes?
Please type in the URL for netvibes.
In
the upper right corner, you can sign in (if you already are a member).
Otherwise you need to set up an account. Setting up an account allows
you to access this netvibes page that you are going to personalize on
any computer with an internet connection. It is a great way to have the
same place to START from any computer you sit down at!
I already had an account so I can just sign in. If I am always at the same computer I can ask the computer to remember me so I do not have to log in all the time. If I have not registered, I can click on REGISTER NOW.
Complete the registration and then return to the NETVIBES homepage to sign in so that all the RSS Feeds and widgets and other items you add to your page are saved for you and accessible to you from any computer when you login.
My page looks like this. I have already added news feeds, a to do list,
web search tool and weather. In the left hand corner you see a green button
(+) that says ADD CONTENT. Click on that.
By clicking the ADD CONTENT button, you have access to RSS feeds, widgets
and all sorts of goodies you can add to your start page.
If
I want to add a RSS Feed to my Netvibes Start Page, I click on Add A Feed.
Another window pops up and I can add the link I want to have feeding my
page. when I click ADD it will confirm there are feeds there that I can
select from.
This
link has four feeds (they might be different information like blog comments
only, or they might be the same information.) select the one you want.
Click it.
Netvibes builds the feed and it shows up on your start page with the latest posts.
Let's continue customizing your start page. You add what you want to add to your page. Maybe it is access to your hotmail account (1) or blogs of interest to you.
Right at the top is a box which I can type in my name or page title I
want for my netvibes.com page. Just click in the box once and then type
away. Name it whatever is meaningful to you. Now lets add MORE CONTENT!
The
content menu has everything you need. Under each heading you can see there
are more options. Under widgets, you have access to various feeds. To
add your own RSS Feed not listed, just click the ADD A FEED and follow
instructions. Play around and see what you might want to add. News feeds
can be found under here.
Under BASIC WIDGETS - you have things like weather, and to do lists. If you end up adding something you don't want - it can be easily deleted. Have fun and explore.
Under
the communication tab - you have access to various email programs.
Under
Search, you can add a google search box to your start page or other favourite
search engine. How cool is this? Can you see the power of customizing
a start page so that you always have the tools you use at your fingertips
regardless of where you are!!
Under
Applications, you can now hook up to your del.icio.us account, flickr,
myspace, and please ntoe that anything blocked on SPS computers (like
Facebook) will show up with a missing image as we see here.
Once you build yourself a social bookmarking site with del.icio.us - you can add it here to show your links. If your students are adding to your social bookmarking site too - this is a great way to keep tabs.
the lists of tools being added to netvibes is always increasing so you never know what is in store!!
Start Page Layout
You can click and drag any box of content that shows up on your start pages and move them around. this allows you to decide to put all news feeds on the left and all communication feeds/tools on the right. You can also create new pages to keep content organized. for example, you may wish to have a page just for BLOGS you read, or podcast feeds you subscribe to.
Lets add a webnote so I can show you how you can edit these things on your page and customize your layout.
Click
on ADD CONTENT and under BASIC WIDGETS click on WEBNOTE. Click on ADD
TO MY PAGE. A box like the one below will show up on the page and I can
just click in and start typing. I can also EDIT, by selecting the EDIT
button. I can delete this box at anytime by clicking the X.
When
I am all done, you can see how my Webnote shows up on my page. The EDIT
and DELETE options only show up if I move my mouse over the box.
To
move this box to another location on my page, I place my mouse over the
content box until a four way arrow shows up and then I just click (a red
line appears) and drag the item to where I want to drop it. By dragging
and dropping my content boxes I can organize the content into sections
for easier use.
Try moving your content boxes around your page.
Lets Add A New Page JUST FOR BLOGS
Go to the New Tab button at the top and click it.
I
typed Just My Blogs in the title so I know what that page contains in
terms of content.
There is my Just My Blogs page title and the little down arrow next to it allows me to add an icon or symbol to the title as well . This drop down menu also allows me to delete the page, rename it, and change the number of columns.
Make sure you play with all aspects of this so you understand how it works.
PLEASE NOTE:
You may or may not be able to set your homepage on Internet Explore to your Netvibes page (the school network may have this options removed). However - just type in netvibes.com and login to your account and all you have done here today will be saved for you to access in the future.