Need an alternative to MyHQ for my homepage(s).

September 3, 2008 10:30 PM

Need to find an alternative to MyHQ.com. MyHQ is a web-based homepage that is simply lists of links that you can add to, customize, and organize into categories. You set it as your homepage, and voila!, every place you regularly visit on the internet is right in front of you. Their site is currently down, which has happened before, but this time I fear its for reals. I am literally lost without it (not to mention the 100+ organized links that I no longer have access to).

This is different from social bookmarking (please do not recommend delicious.com; its a wonderful site, but won't suffice for this purpose). This would be like if you had access to your computer's bookmarks list as a homepage, from any computer, anywhere. There has GOT to be another website that is comparable to MyHQ. Anybody know what that is?

Thanks. I'm staring at the blank browser window and am completely clueless without my handy homepage! (I actually had to TYPE "ask.metafilter.com" into the URL bar...oh, the horror!)

posted by iamkimiam to Computers & Internet (19 answers total)

You can do that with a local file on your computer. You don't need a web site for it. Edit the local file with your HTML WYSIWYG editor of choice.
posted by Class Goat at 10:49 PM on September 3, 2008

Response by poster: Thanks, but I need to be able to get to the page from any computer and any browser, easily. In the past, I would just go to "www.myhq.com/my_username"
posted by iamkimiam at 10:58 PM on September 3, 2008

Firefox 2.0 and the myportal extension will do this.

Unfortunately, the extension is not being updated for 3.0. That said, I'm sure Google Chrome will have a whole mess of add-ons for it soon.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:05 PM on September 3, 2008

I need to be able to get to the page from any computer and any browser, easily.

That's why God gave us USB Flash drives.
posted by Class Goat at 11:18 PM on September 3, 2008

Maybe de.lic.io.us ?

I use netvibes.com for rss aggregation, but you can use it for non rss feeds as well.
posted by iamabot at 11:26 PM on September 3, 2008

Best answer: There is a bookmarks module for iGoogle, if you want to set up a google account as your homepage. Accessible from anywhere, customisable.
posted by jacalata at 11:30 PM on September 3, 2008

Best answer: A similar service is protopage.
posted by jacalata at 11:34 PM on September 3, 2008

Thinking outside the box here: Go out and get a USB flash drive. They're small, cheap and if you hop around computers, they're pretty handy to have around. There are a load of portable apps available, including Firefox so you wouldn't have to worry about finding a new website to hold all your bookmarks because they're already in the palm of your hand!

Aside from that option, I second utilizing Google bookmarks and iGoogle.
posted by sambosambo at 12:37 AM on September 4, 2008

(myhq.com is alive and well for me)
posted by scruss at 4:37 AM on September 4, 2008

I would use delicious for this, too.
posted by DarlingBri at 5:38 AM on September 4, 2008

Best answer: At the risk of getting mocked unmercifully, I use google homepage for this...the google bookmark add-on.
posted by kattyann at 6:16 AM on September 4, 2008

I know you're not a delicious fan, but I really do recommend Firefox and the Delicious Plug In for always accessible bookmarks.
I label them how I want, irregardless of how they are 'socially' marked and also click "Do Not Share" for anything I, um, don't want to share.
This works brilliantly for me, as I have a PC at work and a mac at home and never have to worry about reminding myself to look at something when I get home.
posted by willmize at 6:34 AM on September 4, 2008

Netvibes is pretty neat, more RSS based, maybe that is what you are looking for? It's been around for a while and while I no longer use it (I don't need anymore distractions than I can provide myself without thinking ... ) it still has all my (mostly dead) feeds from a few years ago saved and organized how I had them set up.
posted by shownomercy at 6:44 AM on September 4, 2008

Response by poster: Don't get me wrong, I LOVE delicious, but it simply does not work for this purpose (the links aren't easily accessible and customizable/organizable...see screenshot link in next sentence for idea of what I'm seeking).

Now that MyHQ is back up and running, here's a screenshot of my desktop—I am looking for a web app that is comparable to this (as you can see, I've got hundreds of bookmarks, and since I'm constantly changing them a flash drive would be a pain for syncing).

I think that ProtoPage and Google Homepage will both make fine backup plans for the next time MyHQ goes down. Thanks!
posted by iamkimiam at 7:17 AM on September 4, 2008

Response by poster: er, I meant "a screenshot of my homepage"
posted by iamkimiam at 7:20 AM on September 4, 2008

Foxmarks is quite like what you are looking for -- it's a bookmark synchronization tool but if you use the Foxmarks server you can connect to it at my.foxmarks.com and read your bookmarks from anyway. The interface isn't as clean as your screenshot but it's not too bad.

It's also really really convenient if you bookmarks stuff from more than one computer.
posted by katrielalex at 7:42 AM on September 4, 2008

I think Protopage is exactly what you're looking for.
posted by SheIsMighty at 9:39 AM on September 4, 2008

Have you thought about having a personal wiki?
posted by Pronoiac at 9:51 AM on September 4, 2008

Seconding (or whatever) iGoogle. You can de-theme-ify it and just add your feeds to the page, even "drag and drop" arrange them (on the right browser). You should be able to get just what you had on myHQ, according to your screenshot.
posted by tractorfeed at 12:00 PM on September 4, 2008