How to set up a browser start page [Tip]

Before Google scrapped it, you could set up your own browser start page with iGoogle. As an alternative to iGoogle check out STARTME. With STARTME you can also set up a browser start page with themes and a multitude of website shortcuts.

Click here to open the STARTME website. First, you’ll need to sign up with an email address and password. Then select pages of interest from a gallery as below.

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You can select a few pages there as a shortcut to setting up a start page. Once you’ve selected a few start pages from the gallery, press their toolbar buttons to switch between them. The shot directly below includes the Tech start page.

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To set up your own start page, click the + Add page button on the toolbar. That will open a sidebar in which you can enter a title for the page. Press the + Add button to start a blank page.

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First, add some widgets to the page. Press the + Add widget button to open the widget sidebar. There you can select a variety of widgets for your Start up page. Click a widget to open a preview of it, and press the + Add widget button to put it on the page.

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Each widget has further settings. Click the arrow icon at the top right corner of the widget to open a menu that includes a Settings option. Select that option to open a Settings sidebar.

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To select a background for the page, select the Edit page option beside the page button on the toolbar. That opens the sidebar in the shot below which includes a Change background option. Then you can choose from a variety of backgrounds, or select Upload background to add your own.

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The sidebar above also includes a Number of columns option. Select that option to add up to five widget columns on the page.

So STARTME is a great replacement for iGoogle. With STARTME you can now set up your own start pages that include RRS feeds, bookmarks, calendars, clocks, embedded websites and lots more. STARTME also has a Firefox and Google Chrome extension with which you can add website pages to your start page from the browsers’ toolbars.

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