Portals

=LIS 5260 - Portals= These are my top 6 portals ranked in order of importance.

1. Netvibes

 * I thought this provided the most attractive, user friendly portal with the most feature rich options. I'm in the process of customizing my own and while I'm still in the "I'm considering whether or not to make it a permanent portal", it is certainly a frontrunner.
 * Pros: Very visually oriented, sign-up is simple, easy to customize the widgets on the page, you can share your dashboard with others if you like. This site allows you to gather all the sites you visit daily or weekly into one-stop shopping for information.
 * Cons: You could spend LOTS of time customizing the dashboards, almost customization overload.

2. Only2Clicks

 * I remember when we had the previous assignment of locating collaboration apps, I came across an Only2Clicks page on the subject, late in the game I might add, and thought to myself that it sure would have been nice to find this first.
 * Pros: I liked the simplicity of basic page organization and being able to organize and access favorite pages quickly. The TAB feature, the pages are individually searchable, the pages are DRAG and Drop, alphabetizable. Can Add Links through a browser tool bar and import bookmarks from your browser. You can interface the portal with your iPod or iPhone and share your collections with others.
 * Cons: Doesn't give live updates to email, social networking.

3. Live Binders

 * These binders are shareable and searchable making them a good resource for educators, students and librarians. They really speak to someone who has a very file cabinet sort of organizing style, and I mean this in a good way.
 * Pros: Free access to organizing webpages, pdfs, videos, audio and text into easy to navigate, easy to share binders. The LiveBinderIt tool makes it easy to add information to binders while you are browsing. The graphic 'TAB' organization is easy to follow and one that is familiar to most web users so it makes navigating inuitive.
 * Cons: I think the user would really have to have a good idea of how they wanted to organize their information because I could see how LiveBinder-ing It frequently could create the out of control lists of favorite pages you were trying to get away from in the first place

4. Webwag

 * Pros: Offers the ability to creat the portal without signing up for an account, but creating an account gives more customization. It has simple point an click interface, allowing the user to create a personal, information specific page quickly. The Widget on Demand tools is very useful in capturing the EXACT section of a webpage that you want to view and localizing on your webwag page.
 * Cons: The content is shareable with mobile devices however there seems to be some issues in removing it from your phone, once its there. Some users might get a bit confused when they see text in French, navigating the initial webwag site. Its limited number of gadgets might deter some users.

5. TabUp

 * Pros: Gives a leader the ability to keep a group on the same page and lines of communication flowing. I could see how this might work well for teachers and students in school, providing a location for group discussions.
 * Cons: The users wou ﻿ ld need to use the TabUp feature to stay connected, so if you didn't have everyone onboard, you still get dropped calls, as it were.

6. GloTouch

 * Pros: I liked the skins, the sparseness of text (very google-ish), the basic search and subject headings. The live feeds to social networking and email.
 * Cons: Not a place for someone who has LOTS of info they need to scan, and decide whether or not they need to read it quickly.