Customizable home pages make starting your day a little easier.

Going online these days isn’t about visiting just one website. You have to check your email, read blogs, confirm appointments, check the news…your bookmark list is probably getting too full to figure out what’s up where. If that’s the case, try out a customizable home page.

The greatness of these home pages is that it puts everything together—your email inbox, to-do lists, RSS readers, and much more—all on one single page. You can also add tabs for specialized pages in case your favorite modules get a little too much, and you can move the modules around however you want them. Here are four easy-to-use pages.

iGoogle
www.google.com/ig

Sign up for a Google account if you don’t already have one and have all your favorite Google services like Google RSS Reader, calendars, spreadsheets, Gmail and more magically appear on the same page. There are many “gadgets” to add into your page, too. The choices of the modules seem almost endless with many games and fun modules like “Joke Of The Day” thrown into the mix.

Yay!! You can change the theme of the page—and it’s not all about the colors,either. Google’s theme changes as the day goes by. Take the “Tea House” theme, for example: you can see the fox take a boat ride in the morning; wash his clothes in the afternoon; and go fishing in the evening. The “Sweet Dreams” theme shows a rising sun in the morning, while at night the sky turns blue with sparkly stars. There are six themes to choose from.

 Nay! We might enjoy all the quirks Google gives us, but the whole “keep-it-simple” look kind of destroys the fun. Take the calendar module, for example: it comes in Google blue and you can’t do anything about it. So if you have a nice pink theme going, this definitely kills it.

Netvibes
www.netvibes.com

Aside from basic modules such as weather and calendars, on Netvibes you can also add many other third-party modules. If you can create your own, you can also publish it and share with other members. Adding modules on Netvibes is also easy with its collapsible menu on the left where they list their most popular modules such as news modules and search engines. You can also change the colors of your Netvibes page.

Yay! What makes Netvibes stand out is their ability to add multiple RSS modules. In other home pages, you have to add a reader module then add different RSS feeds in it. But on Netvibes, you can have separate modules for separate RSS feeds, making it easier to organize and navigate.

Nay! Having endless modules to choose from can also be a bad thing. Some of the modules don’t work properly and seem to have been created by idiots. There’s no way you can rate these modules so you’ll never know what works until you add it to your page.

My Yahoo!
my.yahoo.com

This personalized page by Yahoo! has been around for ages. You can add many of your favorite Yahoo! services on the page with their easy to use “Content Search.” You are also able to change the themes and they range from plain colors to Hello Kitty backgrounds.

Yay! This is for serious newsreaders. If you are not one of those busy business people, just forget about it. No cool themes like iGoogle and no multiple modules like Netvibes. But look on the bright side, you won’t miss any breaking news because it gathers updates from AP and Reuters. Other services include stock portfolios, weather forecast, a preview of your inbox and, like other providers, you can add feeds from outside Yahoo!, as well.

Nay! My Yahoo! does not really offer anything that others don’t. It’s ideal for Yahoo! fans, meaning people who use a lot of Yahoo! services such as Yahoo! Messenger or email.

Windows Live
www.live.com

Once you’re there on the Windows Live page, sign in with your Windows Live ID (yeah, your MSN ID) and click on the link that says “Personalize Page.” If you want a news-focused or entertainment-focused page, you can choose from their pre-made ones, but of course the fun lies in the process of making your own.

Yay! The special thing about this is that you can share settings and gadgets on your pages with your friends. Just click on “share” and Windows Live will give you two options: post your page in Windows Live gallery or send a link directly to your friend.

Nay! It’s hard to add stuff onto your page. Somehow the web designer, web administrator, or whoever manages to make adding stuff overly complicated. First, you have to go to add stuff. Then click on its directory, then choose the topic you want, which leads to another sub topic…OK, we give up.