Ajax start pages are easy-to-use, customizable webpages, allowing you to keep up with the latest news and add interactive content. You can add new RSS feeds and widgets, and move your content around the page. In some ways start pages are the successors to the portals of the 90's. They have yet to break into the mainstream, however the promotion of iGoogle and the presence of MyYahoo are facilitating the transition. Let's explore some of the top players - and also some you may not have been aware of.
For in-depth analysis on start pages, check out Read/WriteWeb's The Future of Personalized Start Pages and Business Models For Start Pages.
Netvibes is one of the leaders in the space. The interface is not only clean, but also very well thought-out. Usability seemed to be a big factor when designing the experience - and it shows. In March they released their Coriander Edition - a "super personalized homepage, including a "Netvibes Reader" with multimedia capabilities and new "instant sharing" capabilities.
Pageflakes is another leading start page. I am a big fan of the initial 3 step set-up process and the high level of customization. It's a very nice overall service. In July Pageflakes announced their latest version, code-named Blizzard. It introduces social networking functionality, themes, a slick Ajax UI, and more.
Protopage is very cool. It may not be quite as practical as the front runners, but the 'sticky note' type interface gets big points. Though the messaging is scattered, the drag-and-drop is wonderfully smooth.
iGoogle is probably the most simple of all the offerings. It is Google's first big kick at AJAX start pages. The offering is extremely basic and lacks any clutter. See a full review here: iGoogle: The Epitome of Google Personalization
MyYahoo is clearly tailored for the average Internet user. Messaging and instructions are clear and concise. Having said that, the interface is rather bland and functionality is limited. However, this is soon to change - as in March Yahoo announced a new beta My Yahoo with web 2.0 features. The beta My Yahoo has a fresh new design and some neat interactive features (using ajax of course!). It also aims to make personalization simpler.
Inbox is a portal with an AJAX start page wrapper. As is the case with Yahoo, this offering will most likely appeal to regular folks, as it is easy-to-use. Advanced users may skip over it, as it lacks in the functionality department.
Eskobo ressembles a Netvibes clone, but there are slight differences. The service provdes a nice, clean page, but does not include anything revolutionary or particulary interesting.
ItsAStart is a generic, two-column AJAX start page. There is nothing overly flashy or extraordinary about the service. In fact, I found that it offered the least attractive interface.
Favoor is a beautifully designed start page, but it lacks in two key areas. Firstly, there is a mandatory registration process. Secondly, there is no default content once you finally access the page. Once these two obstacles can be eliminated, I think the site may have a chance at competing with the big boys.
24eyes immediately engages the reader with a page full of news content. However, this can be somewhat daunting, as my eyes got lost! Perhaps I need 24 eyes to truly enjoy the experience to the utmost extent.
The need for a start page is undeniable. The ability to personalize and customize your own space saves time and hassle. A drag-and-drop interface is extremely easy and intuitive for newcomers to the feed aggregation concept. Adoption is simply dependent upon further education. One key question still remains however - where is the revenue model? Though these mini-portals are able to attract millions of users, monetization is needed for long term survival.
There are many other AJAX start pages available on the net. We have only chosen to list 10 of them and we're not claiming this to be a 'top ten' list. Please feel free to add others in the comment section below. Also, let us know which is your favorite.
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: 10 Ajax Start Pages to Consider.
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Not only are there plenty of great Ajax start pages, there's also some pretty cool Ajax based desktop apps, like ours! Zebtab. We think combining Ajax with the power of 'push' is the key to delivering the content you want, conveniently and effortlessly (i.e. no need to revisit your start page to know what's going on in your world).
But hey, I would say that, I'm the founder!
Rich
Posted by: Richard Edwards | September 13, 2007 12:50 AMI really don't think the need for start pages is undeniable. I demonstrated the concept to my friends and family, and they really couldn't get comfortable with the idea.
Posted by: Bob | September 13, 2007 1:39 AMTo much technology to catch and have to little time, how can i be web 2.0 expert.
Posted by: irfan | September 13, 2007 3:28 AMIs it just me or did Favoor rip Blogger's logo?
Posted by: MySigChat | September 13, 2007 4:35 AMIf you're looking for something less ajax, but with more news and built-in RSS feeds, you should check out miniboxs.com - http://www.miniboxs.com
Posted by: morgan | September 13, 2007 4:39 AMNo matter how many start pages I experiment with, I always keep coming back to Netvibes. Absolutely love the interface. The mobile version is coming along nicely too.
Posted by: Ryan | September 13, 2007 5:32 AMNo matter how smooth an operating system, its nothing without the apps that run on it. If you're a power user on the net, you may love firefox simply for all the add-ons. Same goes for startpages. It's really about the widgets and gadgets that are available.. and how they are made available. The easiest way to get someone on a startpage is to show them a widget that makes sense, that clicks with them.
That said, here's a couple that are on my startpages for iGoogle and Netvibes:
Google docs: iGoogle, invaluable if you use docs
Posted by: Winston | September 13, 2007 5:53 AMAny Url: Netvibes, basic plumbing for adding content
Clicky Quicky: 2.0 analytics with real-time conversion rates
[Quicky on Netvibes]
[Quicky on iGoogle]0
Splonage: Netvibes, simple copy&paste dialer for Vonage
While this is a thoughtful post, I don't agree with the need for a start page. When I open a browser, I do one of two things: open Gmail to see who I have to answer and delete the BACN, or open my entire bookmarks bar (Twitter, Google Reader, Typepad, Facebook, Google calendar and Gmail) in tabs so I can go to work. I have an iGoogle start page, all configured, but why bother going there? Tabbed browsing changed the need for a start page. (IMHO)
Posted by: francine hardaway | September 13, 2007 5:53 AMwhat about :
- www.schmedley.com or
Posted by: Pierro | September 13, 2007 6:57 AM- www.symbaloo.com
Check out ZCubes (http://www.zcubes.com)
You can create start pages very quickly by dragging-and-dropping news feeds, photo feeds, video feeds, gadgets, games, even WEBSITES (as many as you want).
Further, the ZCubes platform allows you to personalize and customize the content (no rigid grid like structures). Imagine a marquee of RSS feeds....or watching video streams that have been rotated.
Posted by: Parag Mathur | September 13, 2007 7:17 AMI have been using iGoogle for some time and I like it but find it too simple and think the top part of the page is too big. Also, it is not very customizable.
Now I am using Netvibes and like it a lot. It is very easy to use, great design and reachable through my mobile phone. I love it!
Posted by: Alexis Brion | September 13, 2007 8:41 AMI guess my post was rejected.
Posted by: Winston | September 13, 2007 11:43 AMI use about:blank for the reason that I want the start up possible without having to load some ajax, images and whatever. I don't start off my browsing on any one particular site since I use firefox with tabs so I check my email after a bit, digg a bit and wherever else I feel like going.
Posted by: MySigChat | September 13, 2007 1:25 PMNetvibes FTW! In my experience Pageflakes and Protopage were horrible. iGoogle is ok, but I just don't like the layout. Netvibes definitely wins in my book.
Posted by: xxdesmus | September 13, 2007 2:00 PMnice list ...
Posted by: subcorpus | September 13, 2007 2:38 PMhavnt heard of some of 'em ...
checking 'em out now ...
I jus wonder what monetization modes these websites use. I am so curious, i would think have a search engine that is licked with google who be a monetization model when pple search and go to the google results and u get adsense income wen someone clicks on the sponsored links of the search results....i don't know if google pays for those kinda clicks like they do with Adsense.
besides i think the other monetization modes is adding Banners on some fixed widgets like RocketProfit or something on those lines.
Any suggestion of other revenue modes with these start pages?
Posted by: Strive | September 13, 2007 2:50 PMYourminis is quite ok. maybe you should give it a try. thanks for the links to netvibes. will try it later.
Posted by: Syahid Ali | September 13, 2007 3:22 PMWinston, apologies your first comment was stuck in moderation. It's up now.
Posted by: Richard MacManus | September 13, 2007 3:50 PMThe first one I can ever remember using is AwesomeStart.com. I can put RSS feeds and custom links on the main page, and it offers me a ton of different designs to choose from. There's probably hundreds of different band and movie designs. I still use it now.
Posted by: Janus | September 13, 2007 5:44 PMIs Webwag still a contender? http://www.webwag.com/
Posted by: ku5h | September 13, 2007 5:57 PMDoes anybody know of any Open Source Ajax start page?
Posted by: MeTheGeek | September 13, 2007 6:22 PMQuestion to techies and marketing gurus : How much a clone of netvibes is worth ? which is working perfect...
Posted by: Jim | September 13, 2007 6:39 PMI think the need for a start page is undeniable indeed. People want content in their business lives, hence dashboards and now customixable dashboards. I need the same in my personal home page: news, sports, weather, stock index, inbox, calendar, and to do list. It can only get better.
Posted by: George | September 13, 2007 6:44 PMStart pages always remind me of those dated "portal" sites from year past - you get watered down snippets of a billion different things, but nothing actually offers enough functionality that you couldn't live without it. I don't think there's anything a start page can offer to me that I wouldn't rather do in a well organized feed rider.
Posted by: SnapTortoise Web Design | September 14, 2007 12:04 AMI am looking to create a started Ajax page for Zegee health and wellness community
How do I go about finding the ajax library to do this?
Posted by: Paul | September 14, 2007 7:09 AMOlmazmi.com is a volunteer of being a start page. Now you can just add RSS feeds. The best part of it you can add new RSSes to RSS directory so that any other people can find it and add it to their home page too. Just check it & comment.
Posted by: Olmazmi | September 14, 2007 7:30 AM@ 21...
Yes I know an opensource startpage project. They just released a new version yesterday:
http://www.portaneo.com/solutions/en/opensource.php
;-)
Posted by: AgroBase | September 14, 2007 10:18 AMNo matter how many start pages I experiment with, I always keep coming back to Netvibes. Absolutely love the interface. The mobile version is coming along nicely too.
Posted by: eglencen | September 14, 2007 11:02 AM@27
Thank you. I will give it a try
Posted by: MeTheGeek | September 14, 2007 11:05 AM@Paul (25):
That would depend on your development framework/expertise.
Posted by: MeTheGeek | September 14, 2007 11:24 AMI have to say the Netvibes seems to be the coolest of them all.
Google did a lot of work on theirs but still lacks of something...
Yahoo is doinf very well.
Posted by: Louie | September 14, 2007 1:52 PMPeople just have to get used to this new cool things..
I like iGoogle but I switched to Pageflakes. The reason is simple:
a) they let me share and publish my page
b) best customization options with theming and different layouts
Spot on.
Garry
Posted by: Garry | September 15, 2007 3:38 AMI have not heared those website before.
Posted by: seansen | September 17, 2007 12:10 AMWell, don't forget the webwag, the only one with a killer mobile version! http://webwag.com and http://webwag.com/mobile
Posted by: Tomsoft | September 18, 2007 3:37 AMCool stuff
Posted by: Jenny | September 19, 2007 7:38 AMtoo bad that netvibes forgot stumbleUpon, the best concept ever.
Posted by: Léonie | September 19, 2007 7:12 PM