How you could be using iGoogle

iGoogle Anywhere: One of the first things I like about iGoogle is that I can access it anywhere I have access to a computer. Not only that, but everything stays in sync for me: if I make a change at work, I will see it at home. I have iGoogle as my home page on all my browers. So no matter where I am (work, home, friend’s house) I can see my iGoogle homepage (or at least login and see it) and have instant access to everything I need.

Overview: There are a lot of uses for iGoogle, and I’m not going to cover them all. But I’d like to highlight two main uses I have for iGoogle: A Homepage and News Feeds. iGoogle allows you to setup tabs, which gives you the ability to have multiple pages setup. I use my first tab as my Homepage and the rest of the tabs to organize my News Feeds.

Homepage: The first use, is a sort of homepage, or dashboard, or command center. Here is where I setup a quick snapshot of daily information I need. iGoogle allows you to search for, and install ‘gadgets’. You can find a gadget for just about anything, and arrange them however you like on your iGoogle page.

Here is what my homepage looks like:
(Click for a larger view)

For example, one of the gadgets I have is for weather:

I also have gadgets for Movies in my area, Twitter, Bookmarks, Bible Passage Search, etc.

I’d like to explain a little more about the Bookmarks gadget, because this is very useful. The Bookmarks gadget allows me to create a name and hyperlink for any website I want to keep track of. I currently have about 50+ bookmarks listed. Basically I create a bookmark for any website I frequent and would like access to from anywhere, without having to remember the url address.

News Feeds: The second use I have for iGoogle is my news feeds. The rest of my tabs are different categories of news feeds. The first tab, being my favorites, which are basically a combination of all of the hobbies I’m into.

(click for a larger image)

I currently have news feeds for Apple/Mac blogs, Parenting blogs, Tech blogs (Gizmodo & Lifehacker), Wedding blogs, Photoshop & Illustrator blogs (Smashing Magazine, Hongkiat, PSHero), and Small Business blogs (Duct Tape Marketing, Seth Godin). In a future post, I explain how to add these news feeds to your iGoogle pages.

Well, those are two simple, but very valuable uses for iGoogle. Look for an upcoming post, explaining how to setup iGoogle or find out more here.

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