Challenge #2 - Personalized Home Pages

Think back to last year.

Remember when you were introduced to iGoogle? It is just one of many free, customizable home pages outs there. Others include PageFlakes and My Yahoo, both pictured below.

Personalized home pages allow you to gather all of the online things of importance to you, and put them in one place. Wanna know the weather? Go no further! Wanna see the latest stock quotes? Already there! Wondering if you're free next Saturday? Glance at your online calendar! Now make this page the homepage on each of your browsers on all of your computers, and you'll be so organized you won't know what to do with all of your extra time! Well, I guess you could fill it by playing one of the multitude of game gadgets available, or reading one of the plethora of "of-the-day" messages -- but we'll try to be optimistic and pass this off as an online productivity tool.

Our Challenge to You:

• Create an iGoogle page. If you've already done so, you're one step ahead of the game. The reason we chose iGoogle over the others is because you'll be needing it in the next challenge. Make sure you SAVE it by creating a Google account and signing in.
  
• Choose a fun theme and add some great gadgets...focus on productivity. (Add the fun stuff on a new tab for home!)
• Make it your new homepage in Safari and/or Firefox.
• Take a snapshot (Command + Shift+ 4) of your iGoogle page and post it in your blog with "Add Image."
  
• If you need a demo video, click on the screencast below.
  
  

Points of Discussion for Your Blog:

• What are the pros and cons of personalized home pages such as iGoogle?
  
• Is this a tool you will continue to make use of? Why or why not?
  
  

Take it a Step Further: (Optional)

• Add another tab to your iGoogle page. One can be used for school, and an entirely different tab can be used for home.
  
• Explore the "chat" feature in iGoogle.
  
• Want pictures of your kids instead of a stock theme? Create your own iGoogle theme! (See the article "Making Your Personalized..." below for assistance.)
  
  

Want to Know More?

14 Personalized Homepages Compared, Feature by Feature - by Mashable
Making Your Personalized Homepage Even More Personal - by Google Blog