Save Time Tip #3: Build a Customized Search Home
Everyone needs a good starting page when opening a browser. As much as I’d like to tell you to start off every morning by visiting WritersDigest.com, that’s not actually useful…
Everyone needs a good starting page when opening a browser. As much as I'd like to tell you to start off every morning by visiting WritersDigest.com, that's not actually useful or efficient. But let's say you're a Writer's Digest fan, and you want to have up-to-the-minute information about what's happening with us—without going to 5 or 10 different pages, or even without going to an RSS Reader.
Here's my WD guru home (via iGoogle, which I highly recommend as a tool).
5 key takeaways from this:
- Via iGoogle, I can add ANY piece of content I want IF it has an RSS feed associated with it. ANY content! You'll notice in the above screen capture, I've told iGoogle to add a box for every single Writer's Digest blog (by simply inputting into iGoogle the URL).
- You can also add gadgets to your page, e.g., mini-windows into Facebook and Twitter, which are also above. There are thousands of gadgets—informational gadgets (weather, stocks, recipes), tool gadgets (e.g., to-do lists), game gadgets.
- Now look to the lefthand side of the screen. See those tabs? I have a tab called "WD Guru." I also have a customized tab for Google News, as well as my basic "home" tab, which is loaded everytime I visit www.google.com (which is my browser's default homepage). By using this tab system, you can streamline different aspects of your personal and professional life.
- There's also a chat window on the left, and if I unscrolled it for you, there would be a bunch of my AIM and GoogleChat connections.
- You can also create your own Google Gadgets (and you don't have to be a programmer to do it). There's no end to the cuteness.
Previous and related:
Save Time Tip #1: Become More Efficient at Online Reading
Save Time Tip #2: Write, Share, Collaborate Online (Not Via E-mail)
Jane Friedman is a full-time entrepreneur (since 2014) and has 20 years of experience in the publishing industry. She is the co-founder of The Hot Sheet, the essential publishing industry newsletter for authors, and is the former publisher of Writer’s Digest. In addition to being a columnist with Publishers Weekly and a professor with The Great Courses, Jane maintains an award-winning blog for writers at JaneFriedman.com. Jane’s newest book is The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press, 2018).
