If you’re anything like me your daily digestion of web content can’t be contained in one browser tab. Between RSS feeds, work Intranets, gMail and other web applications, several tabs are needed, and flipping between them constantly becomes a carpal tunnel inducing nightmare.

The solution many choose is to setup a start page. Start pages are one page sites that aggregate data from many other web pages into a dashboard style display.

Google’s iGoogle is the most popular start page system, but I have started using a little known competitor that puts iGoogle to shame; Netvibes.

Keep reading for tips on setting up the ultimate start page and the secret to unlocking the start page’s hidden power.

Why Set Up A Start Page
The reasoning behind a start page may elude some people, so let me explain. A start page provides a dashboard to your web world. Similar to the dashboard in a car, a software based dashboard shows an array of information with an emphasis on what is happening right now.

You may elect to put the current weather, latest posts from your favorite blogs, RSS feeds, or Google calendar on your dashboard. When all of these elements reside in one place you can quickly scan the information and only visit the individual resource when something peeks your interest or new items have been added.

What A Start Page Can Do For You
Start pages are about a lot more than simple data aggregation. They help you make connections between disparate information sources, capture fleeting ideas, and stay on top of the constant flow if new information that bombards us every day.

Many Popular Sites Can Be Tightly Integrated Into Your Start Page
There is also a key time saving feature inherent in a start up page. Instead of visiting several web sites many times a day to check for new information, you can quickly scan a list of RSS feeds from each site and determine if anything is new and worth a visit to the site.

Also, many popular sites (gMail, Google Calendar, FaceBook) can be tightly integrated into your start page, providing a subset of the full site’s functionality. For example, you can view your FaceBook friends’ updates along side your Google calendar. If a friend has a birthday coming up you can quickly make note of it on your calendar, add a to-do for buying them a gift, and search Google for gift ideas without leaving your start page.

Welcome To Netvibes - The Ultimate Start Page
Netvibes is one of many start page systems, but in my opinion the best one out there. Netvibes is intuitive, well designed, and comes fully stocked with tons of useful widgets.

Nearly Everything In Netvibes Is Customizable To Your Preference
Its amazing what Netvibes lets you accomplish in a single screen, and when more than one dashboard is needed you can add additional tabs along the top that provide more space to work with. Nearly everything in Netvibes is customizable to your preference. The number of columns, each widgets height and width, colors and fonts can all be tweaked to your liking.

Another big boon Netvibes has over it’s competitors is the highly organized and searchable library of widgets. The library contains many high quality first party widgets and quite a few user submitted ones. You can also add RSS feeds (even secure ones), just about any web page, Flash files, and mini applications from a slew of web 2.0 sites like Flickr and Facebook to your display.

I encourage you to dive in and give Netvibes a try, even if you already have a start page setup with another site. You don’t even need to sign up for an account to get started.

Post a comment after you have experienced Netvibes and let me know what you thought.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 14th, 2008 at 1:20 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.