When you first logon to http://www.netvibes.com, a banner will appear across your page that reads: “To access your startpage anywhere, anytime and on any device » Sign up now, it's free”.

• Click on “Sign up now, it's free”
• Enter the details required in each field - Username, email, password and agree with the Terms of Services and sign up.
• An Account activation e-mail will be sent you containing an activation link to complete your registration.
• Click on “confirm my email address” and where you will be taken to your netvibes page.

OR

• Log onto http://www.netvibes.com
• Click “Sign up” at the top right of your page
• Enter the details required in each field - Username, email, password and agree with the Terms of Services and sign up.
• An Account activation e-mail will be sent you containing an activation link to complete your registration.
• Click on “confirm my email address” and where you will be taken to your netvibes page.

Once registered, simply use the “Sign in” option.

Netvibes is a free online service.

A Private Page is exclusively for your personal use. No one has access to the Private Page but you.

This is the first page you land on when you click on “confirm my email address”.

A Public Page is viewable to the world at large. Once you have click on “confirm my email address”, you will land on your Private Page. At the top left is the “Create my Public Page” link and where you activate your Public Page.

Create your Public netvibes for:

• Online Profiles
• Instant Messaging badges
• Photos and videos
• Cool Public Widgets
• Showcase your widgets in a branded environment on netvibes with a Netvibes Premium Universe
• Control the design experience: arrange your public page using drag & drop
• Easily add widgets and other content from the ecosystem
• Users can subscribe to your updates
• Users can browse your selection and pick the widgets they want for their page

• Click on “Create my Public Page” at the top left of your Private Page.
• Follow the wizard prompts
• Select a Public name
• Finish
• Your public page has been created at http://www.netvibes.com/xyz
• Click “Go to my public page” to edit your public page” message will then appear.
• “Create my Public Page” should now read as “Go to my Public Page”

See screenshot below:

1 Public Page per registered email address. More than 1 means a new email address.

The 2 main differences between the Private and Public page:

1. Private Page is exclusive to personal use only.

2. Public Page is viewable by all, including any updates you make to the page.

Note: Nobody can access the information displayed on your Private Page. Your Public and Private content are set up as 2 separate pages.

If you haven't yet activated your Public Page via the “Activate your Public Page” option at the top left of your page, then leave it as is.

If you already have an account, you can disable it:

• Click on Profile
• Edit my profile
• Profile
• Disable your Public Page
• Save changes.

Simply follow the same steps to enable it.

Tabs are essentially multiple pages. Next to the tab row a '+' or 'New tab' is displayed, clicking on it creates a new page.

Soon you'll have a second (or third, or fourth…) netvibes tab!

• Scroll over the tab
• Click 'Edit'
• Select a layout (1-4)
• Click 'X' to close the tab

See video below:

RSS is a format for syndicating news and the content of news-like sites. RSS belongs to family of web feed formats, used for web syndication by weblogs, podcasts, videocasts, websites and much more. It permits you to have the latest news and generally provides web content (title, link, description, pictures…) or summaries of web content with links to the full versions of the content. Once added into your netvibes, the feed will automatically be updated as new content comes out and will be available for you to read and enjoy from your netvibes page. You will be able to find more informations about RSS feeds here:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_%28file_format%29
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_syndication

There are 4 main methods of adding a feed:

1. Using a Blog/Website’s Address (Automatic Feed Detection)

Add content > Add a feed/Blog/Website’s Address > enter a feed address or website URL/ Address for autodetection > Add feed.

2. Using an RSS or Atom Feed Address (Manual)

Click ‘Add Content’ (top left of your screen). Then, in the Topbar, click ‘Add a Feed’. Simply enter in an RSS or Atom feed address (URL) and netvibes will add it as a new module on your netvibes page. To find the RSS or Atom feed address on a website, check the header or footer of the page, or your browser’s address bar for an RSS/Atom/XML logo: Then, simply right-click it and copy the link address and paste it into the ‘Add a Feed’ tool discussed above.

3. netvibes widget

Most popular websites and blogs already have a netvibes button on it. If you see the button, click it and the RSS Feed or the module will automatically add to your page. Example: Furthermore, if you want to add a netvibes button to your website, write to http://publishers.netvibes.com.

4. Using your Web Browser

- Firefox Feed Aggregator Preferences:

In Firefox 2.0, you have an option to choose a default RSS Aggregator. Select Tools > Options into the Feed tab where you can choose an aggregator. If netvibes is not on the list, refer to http://eco.netvibes.com/tools/ to quickly install netvibes feed reader button into your Firefox browser.

- Firefox Extension:

netvibes created an extension for Firefox that enables it to automatically detect if there is feed in a page and to add it directly into your netvibes page. The Firefox extension is available at http://eco.netvibes.com/tools/

See video below:

This is generally a problem with the website itself. You can however, try 2 things:

1. Contact the Webmaster of the website and ask for help. Most websites have their contact information at the very bottom of their homepage ; and

2. Use the webpage widget. Add Content > Essential widgets > Webpage > Add to my Page > Edit > paste URL > OK

• Scroll over the top border of a module (make sure you’re over a blank section and not over any buttons).
• Drag & drop the module into the new tab.
• Click on the new tab to ensure the module is present.

• Click on the tab
• Click on “Edit”
• Enter a new name below “General options”
• Click “X” to close the tab

See video below:

A podcast is a type of media-based RSS for distributing audio and/or video content over the Internet. It can be use like a radio in a media player software or used for playback on MP3 players and computers. For more information about podcasts, please refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast How do I add a podcast?

Podcasts work just like regular RSS feeds, so you can add it using the same methods you would to add an RSS:

There are 3 main methods:

1. Using a Blog/Website’s Address (Automatic Feed Detection)

• Add content > Add a feed
• Enter a feed address or Blog/Website’s Address (Automatic Feed Detection)
• Add feed
• The window will then appear with 'Add to your Page' across the top. If it contains what you're looking for, click on it. If not, click X at the top right of the window.

If the blog or website publishes Podcasts, netvibes automatically detect it and add it as a new widget on your netvibes page.

2. Using an RSS or Atom Feed Address (Manual)

• Add content > Add a feed
• Simply enter in a Podcast address (URL) and netvibes will add it as a new widget on your netvibes page. To find the Podcasts address on a website, check the header or footer of the page, or your browser’s address bar for an RSS/Atom/XML logo:

RSS RSS Atom Rdf XML

Then, simply right-click it and copy the link address and paste it into the ‘Add a Feed’ tool discussed above.

3. Using your Web Browser

- Add2Netvibes Bookmarklet (any browser):

Go to http://eco.netvibes.com/tools/. Drag the Add2netvibes button directly into your browser’s bookmark toolbar. Now whenever you surf to a blog or webpage you like, simply click the Add2netvibes button in your toolbar and a window will pop-up to allow you to instantly add the site’s feed to your netvibes page. - Firefox Feed Aggregator Preferences:

In Firefox 2.0 & 3.0, you have an option to choose a default RSS Aggregator:

• Select Tools
• Options into the Feed tab where you can choose an aggregator.

If netvibes is not on the list, refer to http://eco.netvibes.com/tools/ to quickly install netvibes feed reader button into your Firefox browser.

- Firefox Extension:

netvibes created an extension for Firefox that enables it to automatically detect if there is feed in a page and to add it directly into your netvibes page. The Firefox extension is available at http://eco.netvibes.com/tools/

Looking for podcast is like looking for RSS feeds look out for an orange coloured icon. Don’t be put off by the extensions of the feed as they can be .rss, .xml, .php and others sometimes.

There are 3 really easy ways to find new podcasts in netvibes:

• Go to the widget directory available in your page: Add content > Browse categories
• Go to the netvibes Ecosystem (link located in the bottom of your page or at http://eco.netvibes.com). Click the Podcasts tab and search for the type of podcast you’d like to add.
• Or, go to Add content and click to add a Podcast Search widget (Essential widgets > Essential widgets > Podcast Search). You can use the widget to quickly and easily search your favorite podcast search engines for new podcasts

Where there is a podcast in a RSS feed you should see a small Play button near the title. Click on it and the netvibes player will start playing it and audio controls will appear at the very top of your page. Selecting the download button enables you to listen to it on your MP3 player or media software.

iCal can also refer to iCalendar, the standard calendar format used for calendar data exchange. iCalendar allows users to send the content from their calendar to other users. For more information about iCalendar, please refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICalendar

This can be done 2 ways:

1. iCal Link

Add Content > Add a Feed > Simply copy & paste the iCal address (URL) in the “Enter a URL (RSS/ATOM or autodiscovery) field.

2. Online iCal Calendars

Online iCal calendars usually provide URL links to themselves. Again, simply copy & paste the URL via the Add a Feed widget and Add.

iCals can be identified via its red & white square logo. Simply copy & paste the URL via the Add a Feed widget and Add.

A widget (also known as a “module) is a component of a graphical user interface that the user interacts with. The word is a comprised of “window” and “gadget” - inspired by: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/widget

Browse categories

To add a module:

• click on the module eg. in Essential Widgets* you have the Webnote module
• The webnote window will then appear with 'Add to your Page' across the top. If it contains what you're looking for, click on it.
• If not, click X at the top right of the window.

The same process applies for all modules within Browse Categories.

*Essential Widgets are useful for day to day management of your life. To illustrate, there is the Weather widget - prepare yourself for a rainy day. Hotmail widget - view all unread emails in your Inbox. Flickr photos widget - colour your page with personal photos and for your eyes only. Digg widget - social bookmarking and blogging of technology and science articles. Meebo widget - instant messaging everywhere.

There are at least 40 Essential Widgets to add to your page and access at your convenience.

• Click on ‘Add content’
• Browse Categories
• Essential Widgets
• Select “featured widgets”
• Type in a subject/ keyword

Search

The window will then appear with 'Add to your Page' across the top. If it contains what you're looking for, click on it. If not, click X at the top right of the window. Alternatively, see all results directly on Ecosystem http://eco.netvibes.com

• Go to the to top right of the widget
• Click on “X”
• Select “Delete forever”

• Go to the to top right of the widget
• Click on “X”
• Select “Archive this widget”

The widget will then be saved to your Private Activities.

Not all modules have this option but most do. Simply click ‘Edit’ in the top right of the widget and change the Title or Name field.

Tab

Click on the unread number indicator eg. (41) near the tab title, select OK when the confirmation message appears. All the feeds in that particular tab are now marked as read.

Module

Click on the unread number indicator eg. (33) near the module title, select OK when the confirmation message appears. Only the selected feed is marked as read.

See screenshot below: