Organising your digital life – an introduction to Netvibes

Looking for ways to organise your digital life?Too many bookmarks cluttering up your toolbar? Having difficulty sorting through all your bookmarks?Do you have two or three different email accounts?Need an efficient way to search for info, videos, blogs,

web or photos using multiple search engines?Do you use Del.icio.us , Digg, Google Reader and other

online service widgets to keep you up to date?Want to keep up with the news from a variety of

sources?

If yes, try Netvibes . . .Netvibes is:

one of the pioneers of the personalised start page

a time efficient and creative method to manage your digital life

a customizable web page where you can assemble all our favourite widgets, feeds, social networks, email, videos, and blogs in one place

Getting started. . . .Go to www.netvibes.com Go to top right hand corner and click “Sign

IN”An option to “Sign UP” appears, click this

optionSelect a user name you will remember, a valid

email address, and a password you will remember.

Tick the I agree with terms of service box and click the green Sign Up box

Activating your Netvibes pageOnce you have signed up, a confirmation

email link is sent to the email address you used in the sign up box

Click the green close box on the Netvibes page and close the page

Open your email account, open the email from Netvibes

Click on “confirm my email address”This will open a new Netvibes page, with

you already signed in

Starting a PageYou will see 6 tabs, labeled General, Internet,

Fun (2 of each) under the Google search boxClick on the + sign after the last Fun tabType in your own name in box over new tab 6Click on the Red X to close the box about

creating a public pageClick on the Red X to close the general

options and layout tab (or click little upside down triangle next to your name in the tab)

SettingsClick on Settings (near the sign in/out link

at the top right hand corner)Click on General SettingsUncheck display page titleUncheck display Themes searchClick on Pick a theme (don’t spend too

long choosing – you can always go back and reselect)

Click Done

Adding ContentIn the top LEFT hand corner, click the Green

+ Add Content boxClick the Green + Essential WidgetsGo to the 5th icon called Bookmarks and clickA box will appear in the middle of your page,

click on the Green + Add to my pageClick on Green + Add Content box in top left

hand corner of screen to close the add content selection

BookmarksIn Bookmarks box that now appears on your

screen, click on editIn the titles box, type in Educause QuarterlyIn the url, type in

http://connect.educause.edu.eg In the tags box, type in Open Access

JournalsClick Add

TagsThink of tags as subject headingsThe bookmark box will still be blankClick on the sideways arrow next to My

TagsSelect Open Access JournalsYour link will now appear in your

Bookmarks box

Add more Open Access JournalsIn Bookmarks box that now appears on

your screen, click on editIn the titles box, type in IRRODLIn the url, type in http://www.irrodl.org Place your cursor in the Tags box, click

Open Access Journals in the tag listClick AddYou will now have 2 links in your

bookmark box

Adding another Bookmark Box

In the top LEFT hand corner, click the Green + Add Content box

Click the Green + Essential WidgetsGo to the 5th icon called Bookmarks and

clickA box will appear in the middle of your

page, click on the Green Add to my pageClick on Green + Add Content box to close

the add content selection

In the blank 2nd Bookmark box that now appears on your screen, click on edit

In the titles box, type in Del.ici.ousIn the url, type in

https://secure.delicious.com/login?jump=ub

In the tags box, type in ApplicationsClick AddNOTE: you may wish to consider using Del.ici.ous as a

document library and keeping your webpage links in a separate folder

TagsThe bookmark box will still be blankClick on the sideways arrow next to

My TagsSelect ApplicationsYour link will now appear in your

Bookmarks box

Add more applications . . .In Bookmarks box that now appears on your

screen, click on editIn the titles box, type in Full Text search of

DeliciousIn the url, type in http://www.delizzy.com/Place your cursor in the tags box, click

Applications in the tags listClick AddYou will now have 2 links in your bookmarks

box

Add Google Reader . . .In Bookmarks box that now appears on

your screen, click on editIn the titles box, type in Google ReaderIn the url, type in www.google.com/readerPlace your cursor in the tags box, click

Applications in the tags listClick AddYou will now have 3 links in your

bookmarks box

and/or Yahoo Pipes . . . In Bookmarks box that now appears on your

screen, click on editIn the titles box, type in Yahoo PipesIn the url, type in http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/ Place your cursor in the tags box, click

Applications in the tags listClick AddYou will now have 4 links in your bookmarks

box

More on Yahoo Pipes. . . Pipes do not come ready made, you will either have to make your own pipes (to do this you will need a yahoo email account – which is free or you may use your already established yahoo account), or you will need to search for a pipe that they would like feeds from

Why Google Reader AND Yahoo Pipes?Google Reader pulls all of the feeds from your

favourite news sites and blogs for new content. Good for media sites.

Yahoo Pipes allows you to combine many feeds into one, then sort, filter and translate it. You can also add filters or key words (which can be changed), to modify what you receive. It is useful for receiving info on a particular topic.

SUGGESTION: use both Reader and Pipes to access different types of information.

and Blogger . . . In Bookmarks box that now appears on

your screen, click on editIn the titles box, type in BloggerIn the url, type in www.blogger.com/Place your cursor in the tags box, click

Applications in the tags listClick AddYou will now have 5 links in your

bookmarks box

Adding emailIn the top LEFT hand corner, click the Green

+ Add Content boxClick the Green + Essential WidgetsAt the far bottom right are the icons for email

applicationsClick on the application that you useA box will appear in the middle of your page,

click on the Green Add to my pageClick on Green + Add Content box to close

the add content selection

Configuring emailClick on the edit tab in the mail account

on your main pageGive it a title if you wish (e.g. you may have

multiple accounts with different names)

At the login, type your normal login for the email account

At the password, type in your password for that email account

Click close edit

Making your Netvibes startpage your default homepage

In Firefox or Explorer, click tools, click options

Select main page tabIn the Start-up box, click on Use current pages

TipsWhen naming Tabs use higher level

descriptors such as newspapers, documents, open access journals, OERs or copyright issues

Consider developing several Bookmark boxes to chunk your information

You can choose a private or public (sharing) setting for each Tab

Summary

While it may take you time to set up your Netvibes page and learn how to use it, but once you have you have put in the time you will find it will keep you organised and that you won’t be able to live without it!