Welcome Google users
Welcome to those of you that are migrating from iGoogle to Protopage this month. For those of you that are not aware, iGoogle is a Google competitor to Protopage that is being shut down by Google in a few week’s time.
We’re very proud to have outlasted our competitors, and have been able to do so because we have not relied on outside investors or venture capitalists to fund our operations.
We built Protopage to meet our own needs and desires for a start page, and we continue to work on the site to add and update features so that Protopage will be here for the long run.
We are a small independent company, and are unique in that we do not rely on the mercy of a large internet company in order to justify our existence.
Thank you to all of our loyal users. As we said when we launched Protopage 8 years ago, we are in this for the long term and we plan to see Protopage around for many decades to come!
October 4th, 2013 at 10:13 am
Just joining from iGoogle that I\’ve used for the last 4 years.
I already love my new home in Protopage which is even better than iGoogle !
Thank you for offering this great service ! :-)
October 4th, 2013 at 11:04 am
I moved over here from iGoogle, but that was several years ago (or was it only last year, I can not remember) when they first announced that they were going to shut down iGoogle. I figured I may as well get settled into another site there and then, rather than wait until the last minute. The best part was, that Protopage turned out better than iGoogle, with a lot more freedom of customization.
I am glad you guys are in this for the long haul. I wonder just how many more people you are going to get when iGoogle does properly close down.
October 4th, 2013 at 12:43 pm
I was an iGoogle user for many years and was forced to migrate, but I wish I had found Protopage a long time ago
October 5th, 2013 at 7:01 am
Thanks so much! I am one of those displaced igoogle users. I hope this new influx of people will inspire a rebirth of new widgets and fresh ideas.
October 5th, 2013 at 11:07 am
Now when iGoogle shutdown is very close, I went to test many of similar products and for me personally you guys blow all the competitors out of the water. Set up my new homepage and I love it! Keep up the good job.
October 5th, 2013 at 2:51 pm
I too am one of the people that are coming over from iGoogle. I am still in the process of setting up my new home page. So far I like what I am seeing. I do have one problem though. I have a Google calendar and there are three of us that use it. I don\’t see a way to show the other two peoples entry\’s. Is there a way to do this?
October 5th, 2013 at 5:35 pm
I’m moving over from iGoogle as well. I would like to set up my Protopage homepage to look like what I had in iGoogle. I’ve tried a number of widgets and most of them don’t work. I can add the widget to the page, but no information is displayed. I use Internet Explorer 10? Is this a problem? What gives?
October 5th, 2013 at 11:36 pm
I have been SO disappointed by the decision to pull iGoogle. Whatever happened to Google\’s motto: Don’t Be Evil ?
October 6th, 2013 at 7:03 pm
I am enjoying all the widgets on my new Protopage, but REALLY would love a translate gadget similar to the Google one, but am unable to find one that works. Would appreciate any help with this.
October 7th, 2013 at 3:58 pm
Now, if you could just make your gmail Widget display the contents INBOX (including the read mail) and NOT ONLY the unread messages, then it would truly be a great replacement for my beloved iGoogle.
October 7th, 2013 at 7:06 pm
I\’ve moved from iGoogle and to be honest I wish I\’d found protopage before. I love it. One thing though, the past two days I\’m finding that my news feed widgets are \’temporarily unavailable\’ for short (hopefully) periods. This NEVER happened on iGoogle. Hope this isn\’t going to be an ongoing problem.
October 9th, 2013 at 1:01 am
I read somewhere that you can import you igoogle gadgets etc straight into protopage, but I can\’t see how to do this. can anyone tell me how to do it please
October 9th, 2013 at 5:58 pm
i love your site. Protopage is easy to use. Tje ONLY thing missing is a personal Facebook feed. I love my FB feed on iGoogle. If you have that? I’d be crazy happy. Thanks.
October 10th, 2013 at 2:55 pm
Just moved from iGoogle. I guess they don’t care we are all leaving them. If that is true, I don’t care about them. Thank you Protopage for being here. I am glad I found you. I hope to learn more about how to work this page and look forward to many years on here. I was on iGoogle for 8 years – going to be a big change.
October 11th, 2013 at 2:07 pm
Are you experiencing and server troubles due to this influx of new users? I’m getting error messages for the first time since I started using PP a year ago. I’ve otherwise been as pleased as punch about ‘er.
October 15th, 2013 at 7:54 pm
Another iGoogle migrant ! Am going to recommend Protopage to all my family and friends in the same boat :-)
PS/ Would love a webcam widget. That is what I miss most from the old world..
October 15th, 2013 at 8:12 pm
^^^^ no need for a webcam widget after all^^^^^
Have just discovered Rich Text Notes with html editing :-)
Now happily embedding webcams.. Thanks guys !
October 17th, 2013 at 12:33 pm
hi,
im trying to replace igoogle with protopage, i have aded all the stuff i want, ie, gmail, cnn, techdirt, dilbert, local weather.
whenever i load the page, i get a popup for every widget asking if its ok to redirect
is there a way to stop this
using firefox, latest version.
ty marty
October 17th, 2013 at 3:22 pm
As an iGoogle migrant I am looking for a replacement. I am trying Protopage and whilst the look and feel is excellent, what is concerning me greatly is the total lack of widgets to replace those I had in iGoogle. I\’ve read all the enthusiastic comments on this board and don\’t understand why no-one else is mentioning this. I feel I must be missing something. I have no decent stock portfolio tracker, the email widget is incredibly limited in what it does, many of the advertised widgets don;t work or are obsolete, there are no decent pod catchers….I could go on, but you get the point. I have set up 7 or so tabs, but find that the only thing I have in each one is a widget for bookmarks, and maybe twitter or something. Nothing else is worth including. I try to set up webpages using the web page widget and that is just blank. You have one of the market leaders committing suicide, bloggers and jornalists keep pushing your wares and you are in a great position to clean up, but so far I am largely unimpressed with the content. What am I missing here ?
October 17th, 2013 at 5:38 pm
As soon as I saw an announcement regarding igoogle going away, I heard on TWiT about Protopage. Been using it for some time now and absolutely love it. Good Bye iGoogle……who needs ya anyway.
October 18th, 2013 at 1:54 pm
I don\’t remember when I did start to use IGoogle, and enjoyed it.
So I\’ve tried a lot of alternatives (about a dozen), and… you are really the best.
So thank you very much for this service !
October 19th, 2013 at 10:11 pm
So where are the answers to the questions which ask how to covert and add igoogle widgets to protopage. I use the TFL widgets all the time plus world, UK an London news from BBC – please publish a step by step guide to converting these useful igoogle widgets into protopage
October 20th, 2013 at 8:17 am
I was soooo angry as i saw, that iGoogle would be closed! But now with Protopage i have to say \
October 20th, 2013 at 5:24 pm
Just made the switch from iGoogle to Protopage and really like it.
I used to use the Google Bookmarks gadget that created a real-time folder view (using categories) of bookmarks. Anyway to create a similar widget to Google Bookmarks or another online bookmark store — ideally expanding your own to include categories. While there are a lot of tools that sync with browsers, I like to have online so I can access from anywhere. I also have too many bookmarks for a flat view without some filing systems.
Thanks.
October 20th, 2013 at 9:49 pm
Another igoogle refugee here. They broke my heart when they first announced they were going to shut down. So I set up Protopage using Safari, but I kept using igoogle, thru my Firefox browser and would peek in at my Protopage once in awhile, as I just couldn\’t ween myself off of ig. Well, now I\’ve been seriously using PP and liking it more and more. But now the only thing I\’m missing is ig\’s weather widget and language translator. I doubt that google is going to let a competitor have these, but third party widgets can be moved over.
Also, I wish Protopage would sync better with Apple\’s iPad, but to be fair, igoogle didn\’t work too well with my iPad either.
October 20th, 2013 at 10:03 pm
Hey Protopage web master, what is up with the apostrophes on this Welcome/Comments page? Please, no glitches. We igooglers have been bruised enough! ;)
October 21st, 2013 at 11:35 am
I too have begun the final move from the familiar iGoogle finding it time to do my fine tuning of ProToPage\’s setting and abilities which are comprehensive.
The only things lacking that I feel should be considered soon to attract the masses to ProToPage would be to embed some additional feed abilities adding more abilities to add Christian feeds and most of all to add a weather gadget with the abilities that Google weather has. If you research this request you will find it is also the most requested widget for the troubled igHome replacement for iGoogle.
This widget is unique to all weather offerings because it shows 4 days at a time and can be expanded to any number of cities globally taking up an entire column if one wishes with a smooth finished look. You can also tic a city being directed to Weather Underground Inc.\’s offering for that town.
This is a great gadget for those that travel nationally and internationally or those just wanting to keep track of friends and families weather.
October 22nd, 2013 at 8:40 am
I just made the switch from iGoogle a few months ago and like Protopage.
This morning however I was greeted with an ad banner which I can re move for 30 dollar a year.
I understand data centers cost money, but this is not really the replacement for the free iGoogle I was hoping for…
October 22nd, 2013 at 3:54 pm
Make paid themes, widgets or whatever. Keep basic RSS stuff free and AD-FREE. You guys are awesome but this new banner you just introduced is not what I expected when I switched few weeks ago, really. *Disappointed*.
October 23rd, 2013 at 3:53 am
I am new here too. I have checked out several competitors, but I like protopage best! The only thing that is missing for me is Facebook Feed!!! I am hoping this will be added soon. I hate actually having to go on the actual Facebook site. Otherwise, great site.
October 25th, 2013 at 1:40 pm
I, too, moved from iGoogle and took a LOT of time setting up my page. However, the new advertising banner has got to go, or else I am gone from Protopage. Very disappointed in the bait and switch Protopage has done here. I do NOT want to see ad banners! Please remove them.
October 27th, 2013 at 5:53 pm
I, too, have migrated from iGoogle, and I, too, wish I\’d found your site years ago. After a few hours\’ work, I have a simple, understated, easy-to-navigate and yet complex home page system. It\’s fantastic. Thank you.
I hope the surge in traffic doesn\’t cause you too many problems.
October 28th, 2013 at 6:42 pm
Hi
Please add Russian Google engine to the list of search engenes. Thanks!
October 29th, 2013 at 1:21 pm
Pretty impressed. Coming from iGoogle, which I hadn’t been using because of the impending demise. I would like to import bookmark files and a clear explanation of OPML import.
I already posted a notice on Facebook. Hope you get many other people.
October 30th, 2013 at 9:07 pm
I concur with pat wilson on October 4th, 2013 at 12:43 pm
“I was an iGoogle user for many years and was forced to migrate, but I wish I had found Protopage a long time ago.”
I am still getting set up and look forward to it!
October 31st, 2013 at 10:10 pm
Hi folks,
Reluctantly i am looking for my iGoogle replacement. I\’m surprised that Protopage is tied fro #1 for me as there are so many other higher recommendations I do not agree with! But, there are still a few things that make the cut difficult such as displaying the traffic on my local map automatically when I open my home page.
Is there somewhere to discuss wants needs and desires?
Thanks.
~Bob
November 1st, 2013 at 3:40 pm
This is a great answer for iGoogle, except that I can’t find a gmail widget. Email is a MUST! Can you help?
November 3rd, 2013 at 1:36 pm
Under widgets you can add your unread messages.
November 4th, 2013 at 3:30 pm
I set up my protopage a while ago, but didn\’t use it much because the email integration in iGoogle was more convenient. Obviously now I my options have changed….
Between my phone and the Gmail notifier plugin for Firefox, I have UNREAD emails pretty much covered. What I\’d really love is a widget that shows my Gmail inbox with the option to open, mark as read/unread, archive, and maybe even label ALL my inbox messages.
If nothing else, I need to see read messages in the preview. This does not appear to be an option in the widget. Maybe it is for other services, but not Gmail? Anyone got a workaround or an option somewhere I\’ve missed?
November 6th, 2013 at 11:19 pm
iGoogle has done me a favor wish they had done this a long time ago.
November 18th, 2013 at 10:44 am
Coming from iGoogle too, been testing out some of the alternatives and probably will end up with protopage…
However, how can I refresh all rss-feeds at once? Or, how can I configure the auto-refresh of the rss-feeds?
November 22nd, 2013 at 7:09 pm
i have been trying to create a protopage sign up for at least two weeks…everytime i hit the key to get activation i receive the following message:
We are experiencing a temporary site issue
Please try again. If the issue persists, you may wish to log a support request quoting this code: si-protopage-1385147117489-36983
this has been happening for weeks – can i join or not?
November 24th, 2013 at 12:16 pm
Changes in pagelayout cannot be saved. I always get the same errormessage: “Could not save your changes because you logged out with a different browser. To try again press CTRL-N to open a new browser window, log in and than click here.â€
Doing so gives no solution. Can anybody help?
I noticed that this comment had been posted in 2006, we are having the same issue now!!
Started off okay then after a couple of days this appears when trying to add a new widget
November 25th, 2013 at 8:24 pm
Displaced Google user….. I was lazy, waited until the last minute. I used Google for basics. Blogs I “had” to read and so forth. I LOVE Protopage. Please never leave!! I am using you for everything!! Notes, to-do lists, tons of bookmarks, tons of blogs- because it’s easy and easy to follow!! Something was always changing or whatever with Google, so I never completely invested. I’m very pleased so far, it is very nice to have somewhere (and only one place) to put everything I want to save on the internet. Thank you!
December 8th, 2013 at 5:48 am
I just got turned on to Protopage and love it. I only recently started to work extensively within the Google ecosystem of sites, tools, apps, etc, and was finding it extremely disjointed and hard to get around in. I ended up commenting about it on a Google forum and proposed that Google should allow customization of a personal menu bar or tool bar (I was never exposed to iGoogle, so can\’t comment on that). Someone on that forum referred me to Protopage and this is pretty much what I was recommending that Google should implement. I\’ll still be using many Google pages and tools, but now I\’ll be accessing them from one central location that I can customize so that everything is at my fingertips.
Thanks Protopage!
January 15th, 2014 at 2:20 pm
Why is Protopage blanked out as of Jan 14, 2014?
January 15th, 2014 at 3:02 pm
Anybody monitoring this? I\’m also trying to figure out how to import a large bookmark file – the OPML import is clunky enough, but if I have to reconstruct years worth of bookmarks link by link with no folder system that\’s probably a dealkiller for me.
January 25th, 2014 at 11:44 pm
Not just iGoogle. Today I migrated from myYahoo, due to the insanely bad redesign they did over there. Protopage almost completely replicates the usability of the old my Yahoo, lacking only — near as I can see, the ability to generate custom stock portfolios and custom sports score boxes. Maybe I’ll figure that out, too.
January 31st, 2014 at 3:54 am
Another refugee from My Yahoo. I have been working with protopage for 2 days and love it. It is far superior to My Yahoo, especially the ‘new’ My Yahoo, which is awful. However, for the last 5 hours I have been getting “We are experiencing a temporary site issue.
Please try again. If the issue persists, you may wish to log a support request quoting this code: si-www-1391139931115-4142” message. I have checked on several “Is it down” sites, and they all claim that the protopage site is up. I am also able to ping the site without problems. I have cleared browser and DNS cache, without joy. What gives?
January 31st, 2014 at 4:16 am
FOLLOWUP: 20 minutes after posting this, my page is back up after being down for almost 6 hours. Hope this was an anomaly. I would be happy to pay for this wonderful service, but want some assurance it will be reliable. Only time will tell.