Week 3 Lesson 2

Put all your favorite things at your fingertips with Google Personalized Home Page



Are you ready to play?  Creating Personalized Home Page is fun and easy, and it uses RSS feeds.  Google allows you to gather all the things you view every day around the Internet and put them together on your personalized home page, including RSS feeds.  Google users created some handy gadgets that you might want to include on your page to view weather, time, calendar information, along with crossword puzzles, comics and anything else you can think of.  You will be creating a personalized home page that only you will be able to access.

 

 

In this Discovery Exercise, you will create a personalized home page for yourself.  You'll see that this is another way that patrons may be viewing the RSS feeds from our library blogs.

 

 

So, sit back, relax, play, and create a personalized home page that you will never want to leave!


 

Discovery Exercise:


 

  1. Go to Google Personalized Home Page and log in with the same user id and password you used to access Google Reader. 
  2. Google suggests a few items that you might want to include on your page.  The clock, calendar and weather images you see on the screen shot below are Google Gadgets.  The Top Stories title bar that is barely visible at the bottom of the screen shot below is an item that is based on an RSS feed.  Check/uncheck items to start with things that interest you.  Click on the "Show my page" button. 

 

 

 

  1. Personalize any items - enter zip codes, stock tickers, etc., as necessary--- In the title bar of each item on your page, you will see three small boxes - a down arrow, a dash, an 'x'.  Click on the down arrow for each item on your page to edit the settings for that item.  The dash (-) minimizes that item, and the 'x' removes the item from your page.
  2. Move the items around on your page by dragging the title bar for the item to another location.
  3. Select a theme to dress up your personalized page.  Click on "Select Theme".  A box will pop up on the right side of your page.  Select the theme you like & click on the Save button. An "Enter Location" box may appear on the right side of your page. Enter your zip code.  When you use your personalized home page, you will notice that the theme you chose changes depending on the time of day.
  4. "Add stuff" to your personalized home page by clicking on "Add Stuff".

 

 

  1. Look for items that you interest you by clicking on the categories listed on the left hand side of the page or by entering a keyword in the search box at the top of the screen.  The object is to pick things that you will find handy, interesting, or that just plain make you happy.  You can always come back and add more stuff later.
  2. Be sure to enter "Google Reader" in the search for content box, then add the "Google Reader (Labs)" gadget to your home page.  This will allow you to read the RSS feeds that you selected in Google Reader on your home page! 
  3. When you are finished selecting content, click on "Back to homepage" on the top lefthand side of the page.
  4. Personalize each item and move them around your page to create a pleasing layout.
  5. Did you end up with a cluttered page?  Click on Add Tab to create another screen & move some items to the new page by dragging the title bar to your new tab.  You can use tabs to organize your content.  For example, you may want separate tabs for news, recipes, entertainment, a hobby...

 

        Here's a screenshot of my personalized home page:

 

 

Confused?

  • Before you get frustrated, please ask for help.  Vicky Chase & Sue Schneider use Google Personalized Home Page every day.  Tap into their knowledge! Or, seek out a co-worker who has already completed this lesson. Ask them to show what they know.