Bookmarks/favourites are saved url links to websites that you want to visit again. You can save these to your home computer and on the internet. (i.e. save a website, twice)

There are a couple of purposes for creating an online bookmarking site.

• access the favourites on your home computer and at work as well

• students use the page as their one-stop doorway into the net.

Using a search engine such as google brings up a variety of websites, some of which are too difficult or inappropriate for the age group you teach. By surfing the web, collecting appropriate websites and adding them to your online bookmarks site, your students can access all of them from that one page. No more wasting classroom time finding the right website for research or typing a 20-character-long url.

Online bookmarking sites/start pages also have the added feature of being an RSS reader.
Examples are: igoogle, pageflakes, netvibes
(diigo is not a start page, but has highlighter and annotation features) (del.icio.us is blocked for students)

Netvibes and pageflakes have features that iGoogle doesn't:

• Private pages - only you can view what is on your private pages
• Groups pages -a group of people may add links
• Public public pages - viewable by anyone

See below for
how to get started on pageflakes
a tutorial about diigo's features.

If you have any questions about the pageflakes how-to, enter your question in the threads section at the bottom of this page and one of us will answer.

Your stage's bookmarks may be set out any way you prefer.
See Stage 2's pageflakes page as an example.

Pageflakes - getting started

1. Go to thepageflakes homepage.

I've noticed that every time I go to pageflakes, there is a different message where the "click here to create a page personalised..." message is located so I won't get you to click this.




2. Start by removing the flakes you do not want.

To remove a flake click the 'x' on the top right corner of that flake.

3. Click the 'sign up' link at the top right.



4. Click 'sign up for free!'. A dialog box appears.


Fill out the form.

If this is for your stage you might want your name to be HPPS ES1, HPPS S1 etc.

If this is for you and you don't want to write your full name. Use your first name and last initial or first initial and a few letters of your last name etc.

Type your email address. If you use DET email address your first name and your last name might appear at the top of your website (it is a good idea to go with another email eg gmail, yahoo)

Type a password - you will need to use it to log in and add flakes.


The rest are optional and you do not have to fill them out. (Note: date of birth: for safety you might not want to use your correct DOB)

Click 'SignUp'.


5. After you sign up a confirmation message appears on the screen telling you an email has been sent to you. You must go to your inbox and click the link on the email so pageflakes can confirm that it was you who joined and not a robot.




6. Here is an example of a confirmation email sent by pageflakes








7. You may be asked to set the sharing settings for yourpage: private, group, public pagecast.

If you select Public Pagecast and tick the "Allow these people to edit" you can send invitations to members of your stage which allows them to add bookmarks.

9. Some FAQs

How do I add a new page (or tab)?


Click the "Add Page" tab to add a new page to cover a topic.



How can I add more Flakes?

Click on the big round Pageflakes button at the top right. To find more Flakes click "Browse Flakes".

The bookmark flake can fit 15 url links in each flake. I usually get a new flake for a different subtopic for that page.





How can I rearrange the Flakes on my page?

Left-click on the header bar of a Flake,

keep the mouse button down and drag the flake across the screen.

Release the mouse button to drop the Flake at its new position.



How do I add a url to a flake?



Click the "Add Bookmark" link at the bottom of the flake.



Go to the website you wish to bookmark e.g Twitter
Select the address by highlighting it.
Right click and copy the url.



Go to the pageflakes page.

In the 'url' space, right-click and paste the url.
Type the title of the Web page.
Add a description (optional).



Click 'save'.




To remove a url from a flake OR to edit a url



Click 'Add Bookmark' again to add another url within that flake.



How can I remove a Flake?

Just click on the little "x" icon at the top right corner of the Flake that you want to remove.



How can I change a Flake's settings?

Most Flakes can be customized to your personal preferences.

To choose your settings, just click on the little "edit" link at the top right of the Flake. (see picture above)


Change the title of a Flake

Click "edit" to go to the Settings Area of the Flake and change the Flake title in the "Preferences" tab.
Then click 'Save'.




Change the number of urls' shown in the flake



Click 'edit'

Select the 'Settings' tab.

Change the "bookmarks per page" to an amount up to 15 bookmarks per flake.

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RSS Feeds can be a whole other workshop

How can I read a Blog or News Feed with Pageflakes?

• Click the big round Pageflakes button in the upper right corner of the page
• Click Browse Flakes in the menu on the left
• You'll find lots of popular Blogs and News Feeds
• Go to the full Flake Gallery for an even bigger choice of Blogs, News Feeds and other Flakes.

How can I add Blogs or RSS Feeds which I don't find in the Flake Gallery?

• Click the big round Pageflakes button in the upper right corner of the page
• Click Add RSS Feed at the bottom of the menu on the left
• Enter the URL of the RSS Feed
• Click Get Feed

(Note: You can also enter the URL of a website which contains an RSS feed)

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Diigo

Here's a tutorial on another social bookmarking site, called diigo, by lizbdavis.