Webwag - A Really Cool Start Page With Support For Netvibes and Google IG Widgets

I have to admit something: I never really "got" the AJAX start pages. It just never did anything for me. I used Google IG for a while, and used Protopage for a couple of weeks, but mostly, I just set my browser to Wikipedia's Random Page. But one day, I saw a link to Webwag. I thought, why not? So I decided to go to the site and view the demo page. It looked terrific. I've seen Netvibes and Pageflakes, but Webwag was SO much more beautiful. It has all that standard drag-'n'-drop. The built in RSS reader will tell you how many unread items you have, and though you can't change the colors or anything, you can add widgets via Webwag Factory. But that's not THAT cool, you might think. After all, Pageflakes, Netvibes, and Google IG all have their own modules with APIs. Guess what. Webwag supports both Netvibes and Google IG (but not Pageflakes, as far as I can tell). Just go to the "Add New Content", click the "External Widget" button underneath, and add it. Then, edit it (click the "edit" button). Then type in the widget URL. Here's how:

Netvibes
Go to Netvibes Ecosystem. Find a widget you want, right-click on the "Add to Netvibes" button. You'll have a link like http://eco.netvibes.com/subscribe.php?id=18484&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eclaireur.net%2Fnetvibes%2Fnetvibes_newsmap.php&type=api. Now, strip all everything away before the http%3A%2F%2F, and also &type=api. Now, you'll have a URL like http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eclaireur.net%2Fnetvibes%2Fnetvibes_newsmap.php. Replace the %3A with :, and the %2F with /. Now, you have a URL like http://www.eclaireur.net/netvibes/netvibes_newsmap.php. Add this into the External Widget box in Webwag.

Google IG
Go to the Google IG Directory. Find a widget you want and click on the image (NOT the Add it Now). Then, right click on the View Source>> button. Copy that link (Copy Link Location or something similar), and then paste it into the External Widget box in Webwag.

Other cool things about Webwag is multiple tabs (standard fare), a built in search engine powered by Yahoo (unfortunately or fortunately depending on your point of view), and English, French, Spanish, and German languages. There's also a Firefox and Internet Explorer toolbar. It's built-in widgets include a POP, Gmail, or Yahoo! email checker, a really cool podcast program that looks and feels like an iPod Nano, and a task list. Webwag is definitely in beta, as there are plenty of glitches (especially with drag-'n'-drop), but even still, this is a cool site. Oh, and I'm not even missing my Wikipedia Random Article as my home page, since I found an RSS feed for a daily Wikipedia article.

Back To Top