How-To Geek
Ask the Readers: What Do You Have Set as Your Homepage?
When if comes to setting a homepage in your browser, it’s really based on personal preference. Today we want to know what you have set as your homepage in your favorite browser.
Browser Homepage
There are a lot of search sites that allow you to customize your homepage such as iGoogle, MSN, and Yahoo. Some people enjoy having a homepage set up as a dashboard of sorts. While others like simplicity and set it to Google or leave it blank. Not surprisingly in a small office or corporation you will see a lot of workstations set to MSN or the company SharePoint site.
![sshot-2010-06-01-[20-57-50]](http://cdn.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/sshot20100601205750.png "sshot-2010-06-01-[20-57-50]")
Unfortunately, a lot of free software tries to change you default homepage as well, like in this example when installing Windows Live Essentials. Make sure to avoid this by not rushing through software install wizards, and carefully opt out of such options.
What is set as your homepage in your favorite web browser…both for work and at home? Leave us a comment and join in the discussion!
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Comments (155)
Programmer by day, geek by night, The Geek, also known as Lowell Heddings, spends all his free time bringing you fresh geekery on a daily basis. You can follow him on Google+ if you'd like.
- Published 06/2/10
Yahoo for both because I like their finance page and their fantasy sports page!
However with Chrome, the concept of a Homepage isn’t as important anymore.
I don’t really use a homepage; I have Firefox open my tabs and windows from last time. Really, if it were up to me, I’d never close my browser, but it needs to happen every now and then.
I used to copy and paste all the open tabs’ URLs to a text file and reload them when I opened Firefox again, but since, what, version 2.5 or something I’ve just had it do that automatically. The homepage back then was about:blank, if that counts.
iGoogle, with easy access to my gmail, weather in my area, wikipedia, quotes of the day, CNN headlines, wiki how to’s, and Digg top stories :)
I have Refdesk.com set as my home page.
about:blank as I like to start fresh every time!
Plain old google!
I have iGoogle set up with Weather and a bunch of Tech feeds. However, I rarely use it anymore…considering something new… and by “new” I mean Blank. lol
Of course about:blank !
I’ve never been particular about a homepage, but I’ve become a fan of Chrome’s builtin homepage. It shows thumbnails of recently closed tabs, and clicking on them opens those pages. Note that they’re *cached images*, not the pages themselves, so the homepage opens instantaneously. You can also “pin” certain pages if you’d always like them to stay there.
I’m surprised how useful I’ve found it. Now I remember to check woot every day. :)
I will use iGoogle on and off, but right now I just use Speed Dial in Chrome.
I use the Lifehacker featured MyFaves (formerly Fav4.org). I’m considering something else, though.
Google UK. Saves having a separate link on my browser.
iGoogle.com on both..
GMail, GReader, GTasks and GCalendar rocks!
I have to say i rarely if ever use my homepage……but i have it set to ‘www.fav.es’
Use Opera Quick dial and Safari version of it. Just started using Chrome because it starts faster and also use it’s ‘quick bookmarks’
Depends…
My Chrome browser is the “Google Home Page”, or the basic “most visited” page.
IE is set to blank – stupid thing takes too long otherwise.
Opera is set to the Opera home page, but I haven’t looked at it in 3 months.
Safari – Google Reader
I’ve used iGoogle as my home page for a couple of years now. I like it becase I get all my rss feeds in one place, plus a twitter app, weather, sports scores, and stocks.
I usually set mine to http://www.dailyrotation.com. It aggregates headlines from many websites of your choosing and can add others if you wish and presents it in one page. I could likely do the same thing with any rss aggregator but have always liked Daily Rotation.
iGoogle
Google.com. Simple and to the point. Plus it has links to all my Google Apps at the top.
It’s going to be great to have a custom background for Google.com!
i google on 2 computers and 5 other computers in the senior room just google
I use ‘blank’ for my homepage in every browser.
The Custom Start Page in the screenshot below.
http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/5445/capturedhj.png
I think I downloaded it off of lifehacker a year or so back, but every browser I routinely use is set to open it as default. Most of them open it locally, and the rest view it from my Dropbox Public Folder.
Google.
Opera SpeedDial @ home – no other browser
about:blank – IE8 @ work
igoogle – FF @ work
Google Reader
blank is my home page
chrome://newtab
I have my own personal blog set as my homepage. This helps me to make sure my websites are still up and running and also reminds me to write articles for my blog.
i use igoogle so i can have all my favorite sites just a click away
Google Reader
and
My Yahoo
Was Google, then iGoogle, then Netvibes. Just switched over to Speed Dial for FF & Chrome.
about:blank because it’s the only thing I KNOW I’ll want to see…
protopage
Youtube & free online typing lessons
iGoogle fits my needs and you can set it up your way
about:blank :)
http://www.google.com most often… my main workstation is igoogle
I used to use about:blank as my default page, but setting the homepage to an actual web URL has let me know when I am properly connected to the Internet or if my VPN is giving issues.
google.ca
Firefox/Google Start page. Searching through gives the same results as Google but als helps Mozilla make some money :)
iGoogle.
Firefox (at home and work)
Netvibes – http://www.netvibes.com
FastDial, in Firefox.
plain google. anything else becomes a mind-suck, esp first thing in the morning.
I use gmail and google reader as my homepage.
I just have to say that nobody using SRWare Iron (not to say Chrome) would EVER set their homepage to MSN. Well, nobody in their right mind at least.
I use iGoogle as my homepage… and have been since it’s inception!
about:blank – plain and simple
iGoogle because I can customize it to suit my needs.
https://www.google.com/
Bing at work, I like the pics :-)
iGoogle at home on all my machines for the gadgets
I love to use allmyfaves.com
It serves as a general directory for me, and lists my personal faves. It has a weekly faves row that I find interesting to look through each week.
I try to keep up on current technology, and this is the best place that I have found that allows me to pick and choose from hundreds of feeds about things that interest me. If you have not found this site, you should take a look at it and at least bookmark it for future interest. There is something for everybody there.
MSN on FireFox and Google.com on Chrome
http://www.google.com. I could do a about:blank and search through the toolbar. Then I would miss the doodles :)
I use iGoogle both at home and at work. I use it for checking gmail, news, weather and blogs, including this one.
http://www.dailyrotation.com and in the upper right How to Geek
On Firefox – about:blank is my startup page, but Google is my “Home” page
I hate Internet Explorer assuming what web page you want in a new window, MUST be the last web page you accessed. Huh?
i use
howtogeek.com
cybernetnews.com
lifehacker.com
anandtech.com
google.co.cr
Google Chrome with iGoogle home page. With beautiful wood grain & lots of news. Incl How to Geek, local radar, a couple games, and my gmail all there. Uncomplicated, easy, FaSt. I have Firefoxy too w/My.yahoo. Seldom use it though. Too jumpy and complicated.
iGoogle. Nothing else serves me better.
iGoogle. It makes a great customized homepage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
chrome start page… it doesn´t need to be loaded and has my favorite pages attached to it..
I use google.com/ig with earthlight
chrome:newtab
chrome://newtab
I use Flock. I have Bing as the homepage. Not that I use it, I like the photos. Planning to switch to Wolfram|Alpha and a custom search engine. They have the feature.
about:blank for me :-)
http://www.google.ie/
I keep Bing as my default homepage usually, though I sometimes switch to the Chrome New Tab page for quick webapp access. It’s sort of fun to have my homepage and default search set to Bing when I’m using Google Chrome :)
Yahoo Singapore ^__^
Bing – nice new picture every day
Blank page
About:Blank :D!
Blank homepage :) Because I want firefox to start faster :)
iGoogle
I’m with 3 mobile broadband in the UK, so I’m faced with three’s homepage every time firefox fires up. Used to be iGoogle.
IGoogle with How To Geek as one of the options along with weather, stocks, sports, news and comics.
I have my company’s website – Helps with traffic I figure!
Home PC – iGoogle
Netbook – iGoogle
Work – iGoogle
Just because it’s handy for all of the above! I use the same account on all, so all my tabs and gadgets are the same.
news.bbc.co.uk
In Linux:
Chrome:
Extension: Ubuntuforums Start Page
or
Speed Dial
Firefox:
Speed Dial
In Windows:
Firefox:
Speed Dial
Chrome:
Gmail
Yahoo (Daily News)
Lifehacker
Howtogeek
Ghacks
TechFlash
and (of course):
Speed Dial
or
Extension: Ubuntuforums Start Page (just in case)
(Kind of the Lay’s Potato Chips “Betcha can’t have just ONE” approach)
Kind of hard to limit it to just one with all the multipage options, built in
and extensions (and tabbed)
Internet Explorer? Hardly ever use it.
flavors.me
I use different browsers to do different things: IE points at my employer home page, as our content management system only works right with IE; Chrome points at iGoogle, where i keep most of the stuff i check regularly during the day; Firefox opens pointed at employer pages on Facebook, Twitter, and a local event tracking site.
iGoogle is set as my home page, however don’t use it as much as have Chrome open tabs of where it left off and have a group of 4 or 5 pinned tabs. That and the new tab page means the home page has become a lot less important for me.
igoogle for me
Speed Dial on every browser in every OS but Safari. Got ‘em all synced too.
iGoogle on Firefox and Speed Dial on Chrome.
I have my gmail…used to be iGoogle, but I wasn’t hitting the news links as much anymore. I can’t stand MSN! As a corporate IT guy, MS often sets the homepage to MSN. I also find it odd that windows updates site is a blocked active x control by default…Microscrew’s own update website…LOL
refdesk.com
My homepage in Firefox is the Speed Dial, maked witk speeddial add-on
Chrome: iGoogle with weather, calendar, gmail, useless knowledge, date&time, quotes of the day, my recipes and simply recipes.
IE: about:blank
On Firefox and Chrome, I use igoogle. I have 6 tabs sorting my RSS feeds into different categories such as Home for news, weather and puzzles, Tech for How-to-Geek, and about 30 other appropriately subjected feeds, Sports, Health, Writing, etc…
Google news.
blank
google chrome’s new tab page
Swiftfox + Foxtab as my first choice
Opera Speed dial
Fast Dial (FF add-on) page. But before I discovered Fast Dial about:blank was my starting point.
I have an instance of ScrewTurn Wiki set up on my local machine, and I use it for a home page. I use it both for a portal to create links for my frequently visited web pages, and for recording important information I need to keep available.
I have Firefox 3.6′s default Home Page (http://www.google.co.za/firefox?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official). I used to have my Bank as my Home Page, but it took forever to load and most of the time I didn’t need to go there…
This is a screenshot of my Homepage. That is a offline webpage.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_MjMoYA90ZkY/TAfbV47yF9I/AAAAAAAABSI/5BEeHtJ3wsw/s640/Screenshot.png
I use IGoogle which is customized with the tabs that I like to see!
I have Speed Dial for Firefox as my homepage.
In IE I have Google as my home page
In Firefox I have a weather page
Had about:blank and Google.com. Recently been using https://www.google.com/accounts/ManageAccount to give quick access to analytics, webmaster tools, and the rest of the Google suite.
A custom web page running on an internal server with these CSS links that fill in the center of the page below a scroogle search bar.
* Top
* Home Stuff
* Entertainment
* Computers
* Finance
* Work
* Recipes
* Search
Refdesk on Windows Firefox and Netvibes on Ubuntu Firefox
fav4.org
Eyecandy + Utility!
For Safari (which is my main browser) I have Google Reader. For FF (and technically IE though I’d never use it) they open to a blank page.
I’m considering creating my own locally-hosted dashboard page however, and setting everything to open that.
I use a customized iGoogle home page at both work and home in Firefox
A custom web page running on an internal server
I have set it to 3 pages.
My university website
Gmail
Facebook
about:blank
I have tried others, but I hate waiting for a page when I just want the Web Browser for somethig else. All my home-like things are on my Favorites bar.
igoogle
Usually I just have it load my tabs up from last time.
Always one tab that’s always open though to engadget.com
Can’t miss my geek gadget news. Really wanting a Dell Streak!
my yahoo, i’ve had it forever. has local weather, calendar, news, favorites and no google spyware, etc.
Firefox addon SpeedDial (built into Opera, and there’s also a version for Chrome). 60 pages I use regularly (8×8 with 4 still unused), including GMail, Yahoo! Mail, my bank, some shopping sites, and (of course) HowTo Geek.
My browser homepage is http://msnbc.msn.com
about:robots in FF :)
google.com in Opera and Chrome
That’s all.
But most of the people are using Google as their homepage. do u know wts the real matter?
blank!
about:tab using the add on “New Tab Page”
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/13005/?collection_uuid=e01fec8f-ecbc-f56e-ca39-63b91e71627f (it doesnt work with FX 3.6.3 but i use “Add-on Compatibility Reporter” to force compatibility)
I added all my most visited sites on the list and i open whichever i want to at each startup .
I have iGoogle at home, work and cell phone.
I have Woot set as my homepage at home and the state agency’s website set as my homepage at work.
Firefox: FastDial
I have ChookChooks.com as my homepage.
News, Weather, and lots more… :)
Opera 10.53 — kotaku.com
Bing – love the pics and the smooth orange font (eye candy whore here). Plus, I hate how the new Google logo and search bar look, got a feeling its made to look nice only on a Mac.
Yahoo.
Bing, I love the daily pic
IE = Google
Firefox = Google
Chrome = Google
Because Google website is light on all browsers (not a lot of pictures or flash or …ext)
Bing, like to see different, awesome pictures everyday. It’s pretty simple, and light for modern computers, so I like it best.
Astronomy Picture of the Day. Have had that as my home page for the last 8 years or so.
I believe some of you would really benefit from giving feedly.com a try – an incredibly user friendly interface for any feeds you may need – works with Firefox and Chrome I believe!
http://www.google.com
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random for ie and blank for ff
In IE8 its Google (basic search) and in Firefox its iGoogle.
Firefox always starts slow for me, so since I’ve got to wait for FF to appear, it may as well get some useful stuff. On my main page I have Google Reader, Top Stories, Google Financial Portfolio and then the rest of it below those (including the new Packman for when I really want to be distracted).
In Firefox I also have it open a second tab, pointed at DailySudoku.com’s “Classic Play” page for the current day. I learned a while ago that this Java based sudoku board didn’t like internet explorer, so now I play every other day or so just from opening FF.
i dont have any startingpages.
waste of time if u gotta wait to load that site to go somewhere else afterwards
Google.com, when I open my browser I want to look something up.
about:blank FTW!
As I have Google Chrome, I use the New Tab Page. I used to use the New Tab page with Speed Dial, but it was quite slow.
Before Chrome, in the Firefox days I had iGoogle.
Oh yes, in Chrome I have Facebook open as a Pin Tab as well as the New Tab screen
I set my homepage blank so my browsers open faster. That way it takes less time to get wherever I want to go.
Speed dial
iGoogle with News, Gmail, Weather and a currency converter
Firefox with Speedtabs. 9 websites on my front page
I very impress to this site i proud of my all question given answer so Easy…………….
Ankiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.
Opera’s Speed Dial. Not much of a reason to use google/bing/etc. as a home page when I have at least two ways to search from the url/search bars.
Google Reader or Netvibes
I use myfav.es my homepage, you guys here should try it out!
My blog.haha
I created a webpage on my desktop so i open it up and click on the links ( sites ) i need to go first and usually i check my gmail or facebook accounts first….:)…but i liked having more options than opening a homepage everytime my firefox browser…
ed
Speeddial2 for Google Chrome is the best choice for me. http://j.mp/dH4A8K
I moved to it from regular speeddial which is from different developer. Must say speeddial2 ss much better – faster, better designed and with lot of extra options (delicious integration, bookmarks and history search, more theming and miscellaneous options, browsing statistics, … as well as ability to export your settings).
HTG of course!