I have to admit - I was very skeptical of this assignment. I had no idea what an aggregate page was or how to put one together! In reading the instructions, it sounded like this was a "Pinterest" of sorts...a place to keep all your ideas about stuff in one place....almost a replacement for the toolbar at the top of your screen. After I played around with both NetVibes and Protopage, I realized that this is actually a pretty cool idea. If I wanted, I could make my "aggregate page" my HOME page - and instead of having to click on 14 tabs or search for 14 sites, I can have them all ready to go and right in front of my face. That's kind of nifty, if you ask me.
Of the two sites we were to experiment with, I initially thought that NetVibes looked more simplistic, less flashy, and easier to read. I think this still may be the case, but when I started playing around with NetVibes, I was turned around so backwards that I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to do to get anything anywhere that I wanted it. And I couldn't find any instructions! PLUS, they insisted on giving me a 14 day free trial of an upgrade....if this was going to be something I end up using, I don't want to set up parts of a page that I'm going to have to PAY for in 2 weeks! So, I conceded to look at Protopage a little more closely. (To be honest, when I first looked at the sample page and saw what I perceived as cluttered, messy, and difficult to read, I clicked right out again, dismissing it as an option.)
The clouds parted, birdies sang...
Well, maybe not really - but right there at the top of the set-up page for Protopage are easy to follow tips for setting up your account. And every time you add something, it seems like there's another helpful tidbit telling you what to do - just in case. Even better, all that distracted clutter that I saw on the example page? That mess was designed by THAT user! Mine is much less psychedelic and more sedate - to match MY personality. I had fun deciding what to keep and what to get rid of from their "automatic fillers". I enjoyed looking for things that I know I go searching for on a daily basis to try to figure out how to include them on this page. If my dear sweet hubby approves, this may just replace our homepage! (If not, it will definitely be the ONE tab I click on to find ALL the things in one place!) One of the best parts of this "adventure" was when my husband (an admitted "tech" guy and the one everyone at church goes to to fix things) walked past and asked me what I was working on! He didn't even know about this possibility and thought it was cool. In fact, we even have a "date" this afternoon so I can show him how to set one up! (Who's the tech guru now?)
Of the two sites we were to experiment with, I initially thought that NetVibes looked more simplistic, less flashy, and easier to read. I think this still may be the case, but when I started playing around with NetVibes, I was turned around so backwards that I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to do to get anything anywhere that I wanted it. And I couldn't find any instructions! PLUS, they insisted on giving me a 14 day free trial of an upgrade....if this was going to be something I end up using, I don't want to set up parts of a page that I'm going to have to PAY for in 2 weeks! So, I conceded to look at Protopage a little more closely. (To be honest, when I first looked at the sample page and saw what I perceived as cluttered, messy, and difficult to read, I clicked right out again, dismissing it as an option.)
The clouds parted, birdies sang...
Well, maybe not really - but right there at the top of the set-up page for Protopage are easy to follow tips for setting up your account. And every time you add something, it seems like there's another helpful tidbit telling you what to do - just in case. Even better, all that distracted clutter that I saw on the example page? That mess was designed by THAT user! Mine is much less psychedelic and more sedate - to match MY personality. I had fun deciding what to keep and what to get rid of from their "automatic fillers". I enjoyed looking for things that I know I go searching for on a daily basis to try to figure out how to include them on this page. If my dear sweet hubby approves, this may just replace our homepage! (If not, it will definitely be the ONE tab I click on to find ALL the things in one place!) One of the best parts of this "adventure" was when my husband (an admitted "tech" guy and the one everyone at church goes to to fix things) walked past and asked me what I was working on! He didn't even know about this possibility and thought it was cool. In fact, we even have a "date" this afternoon so I can show him how to set one up! (Who's the tech guru now?)
Comments
Post a Comment