Good Vibes - Netvibes wins a new user

In my recent discovery of AJAX powered home pages, I've been trying out every offering I could get my hands on. Eventually, I settled for Webwag which met most of my needs in a home page. To its credit, I haven't seen anyone else pull off their "widget on-demand" functionality as well as they did... but I found the RSS reader(s) and layout functions lacking. While it proved to bet a significant benefit to my work flow, it still fell short in some key areas.

NetVibes, on the other hand, fills those needs quite well! Some of the major advantages that netvibes has are as follows:

Your content is divided into 3 columns, like webwag. But unlike webwag, you can change this value, easily, to 1-4. Using just one column allows you to embed an entire website into your homepage, which I have found to be very useful so far. Here are a couple examples:

Google Calendar fully embedded in one of my "tabs".


Google Docs, a specific document I use frequently.

I also have Google Reader embedded for RSS. So, from my home page, I can edit my calendar, read and edit common documents, and read and manage my RSS reader. Not only are these things pre-loaded (faster than using bookmarks), but it uses less system resources because you use only one browser window.

I have also been struggling to find an online solution for my RSS feeds. NetVibes finally got me online. You actually have two options here, I'm trying both.

The built in reader frequently checks your feeds for updates and gives you a preview of the contents when you mouse-over. So far, nothing new.

This is where the competitors usually drop the ball. Click the article you want to read and you are instantly using a full built-in reader. It's not the fanciest reader around, but all the basic functions are there. With a click you can visit the original article, switch to another on the side bar, or revert back to the main view. Very nice.

Although I don't have the screen shot to prove it (guilty of laziness), I also have an embedded Google Reader... not some plugin or something, the full Reader. And I see no reason you couldn't do this with any other online reader if you are attached to one in particular. Of course, you can import your feeds from any other source as you would expect, which worked nicely for me.

Lastly, there are hundreds of user-made "modules" that expand the functionality of your home page. The "Embed URL" for instance, is the module I used to access the Google apps. All the smaller apps you would expect to see are present as well (to-do list, notepad, weather, calendar, stock tickers, etc). There are even some chat clients (gtalk, yahoo!, AIM, MSN) if you really want to go mobile.

NetVibes enjoys, perhaps, the most active user-base in their niche.

Ok, so nothing is perfect. I don't find it quite as attractive as its competitors and it's not quite as easy either (the price you pay for power, I guess). It also was not able to load Gmail, using the embedded URL although there is a decent Gmail module ready from the get go. While I'm sure I will find more to complain about as time goes on, for the time being I'm happy to make NetVibes my new homepage and my new RSS reader(s).

At the speed development appears to be occurring though, I wouldn't doubt if my few gripes were overcome very soon.

NetVibes

Even More Feedable!

Notice the two new icons on the right? No more complaining about not being able to get my RSS feed. The orange icon will work with any feed reader (Thunderbird, Google Reader, etc) and the shiny-beautiful-new "webwag.this!" icon adds my feed directly to your webwag.

That's ONE click. Can you handle it?

Well, I was a bit late getting this blog out the door!

My last blog went inactive a little while ago mostly do to schedule changes, but also because I found the blog platform inadequate for how I wanted to blog. Google seems to have proven (again) that they know how to build the best web apps around. So I'm now officially on Blogger! Yes, this site is hosted by Blogspot, I will post about how to use a different address soon. With the change, I decided to create a blog that had an environment that was more conducive to my personality so that, hopefully, I will feel like updating it more! Here is the purpose of this blog, as taken from it's description:

"A blog of a simple Christian dedicated to following his endeavors in art and music, a platform to post spiritual thoughts and articles, and occasional relay of technology related opinions and recommendations. It will likely contain many run-on sentences and exclamation points along the way! Comments are more than welcome."

So now I have broadened the focus a bit since I am not moving forward on my "Just a Leaf" project as I had wanted. The first thing I wanted to enter on this blog was a post to help you use RSS.

Many have heard of RSS but do not know what is. RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndicate". Basically, what it is good for is taking the leg work out of your daily updates. It will let you know when your favorite blogs or websites are updated so that you don't have to surf there just to find out.

My RSS feed is "http://justaleaf.blogspot.com/atom.xml"

Here's how:

For Everyone (PC or Mac) -

1. Mozilla Thunderbird - If you receive your email directly to your computer, I highly recommend using this program if you aren't already! As great an email client as this is, it also makes a great RSS reader. So if you are the type that leaves their email up all day so you can see emails when they come in, this is perfect for you as you can also see when your favorite web places are updated! Here are exact instructions on setting up your RSS feeds for Thunderbird.
   
   
2. Sage for FireFox - If you are a FireFox user and would prefer to get your feed updates in your browser, sort of like bookmarks that let you know when to check, you may want to give this a shot.

PC (Windows) -

If you are on Windows, you have many options for RSS. I will only recommend one for simplicity's sake:

1. SharpReader - If you would rather watch RSS feeds in their own program, this is a easy to use and simple reader.
   

Mac -

1. Vienna - Like SharpReader, this should do the trick if you want to stay away from email or browser integration.

Even if you don't use RSS, I hope you will check back often as I continue to improve this blog! Please leave feedback for me and let me know what you like so I can make this a better place.