News feeds are generally known as RSS ('Really Simple Syndication') feeds which are just web pages, designed to be read by computers rather than people. News feeds allow you to see when websites have added new content. You can get the latest headlines or journal tables of contents in one place, as soon as they're published, without having to visit the websites you have taken the feed from.
To identify whether a website has an RSS feed look for the icon:
Most sites that offer feeds use a similar orange button, but some may just have a normal web link.
Most sites that offer feeds use a similar orange button, but some may just have a normal web link.
To add the newsfeed for the 19thingsTVW blog to your Protopage go to
On the left hand side you will see the RSS symbol next to some drop down menu boxes
Click on one of the drop down arrows to subscribe to new posts or new comments.
From the drop down menu click on
Atom. A page of computer readable code will open. Ignore the content of the page and copy the URL from the address bar.
Now return to your Protopage page and click on Add Widget.
In the pop-up menu underneath where it says "Add a news feed directly" there is an address bar. Paste in the address you have just copied and click on "Go".
The news feed from the 19ThingsTVW blog should appear in a widget, ready to be dragged onto your page.
If the widget can't find the feed just drag it onto your page anyway. Then click on the "Edit" button at top right and paste the address into the first line under "Multiple news feed configuration" then click "Save".
You can also edit the Title, Heading colour and how the feed is displayed.
Now see if you can do the same thing with a journal of interest to you or your readers. It can be one you access via My Journals or you might want to take a feed straight from the publisher's website.
If the widget can't find the feed just drag it onto your page anyway. Then click on the "Edit" button at top right and paste the address into the first line under "Multiple news feed configuration" then click "Save".
You can also edit the Title, Heading colour and how the feed is displayed.
Now see if you can do the same thing with a journal of interest to you or your readers. It can be one you access via My Journals or you might want to take a feed straight from the publisher's website.
Once you've added the feed try clicking on the links to see how they work.
Finally, blog about the experience of creating a start page. Can you see the usefulness of one? Some commentators think they have had their day - what do you think?
I think start pages are now a very important part of the daily routine of many people, me included, because you can find in one place everything you want to consult.
ReplyDeleteAfter looking around for a replacement for iGoogle I found http://startme.com that I loved from the beginning because you can set it up in many languages and I could recommend it to friends and family in different parts fo the world that were looking for one.
And it also is very easy to use, has a nice design and it is very intuitive.