My "Links" page can be used as your personalized start page.  The reason you might want to do this is to give you ideas for surfing the net.  As you might have guessed, I (Graeme) have been surfing heavily for some time.  Instead of just bookmarking (or favoritizing) my favorite links, I put them up on my Links page.   That way you can reap the benefits of my bookmarks.  Also, I can put better descriptive information on the "Links" page than I could put in a bookmark.

If you already have a personalized start page that you kinda like you don't have to give it up to use mine.  Instead, you might be able to add my "Links" page as a URL on your personal start page, so read on.

There are a few ways you could use this my "Links" page as your personalized start page.  Let me outline them for you...

1. Set your brower to start on http://mcraeclan.com/links.   If you're using Netscape Navigator V4, you do this by clicking Edit, Preferences, then under "Category", click "Navigator".  Then click the Radio Button labeled "Navigator Starts With Home Page", and where it says "Location" type your start page: http://mcraeclan.com/links.
   
   If you're using an earlier version of Netscape, the process is similar, but my advice is not to waste your time: upgrade.  It's free.  Click here for more information.
   
   If you're using Microsoft Internet Explorer, you set your start page by clicking View, Internet Options, then select the "General" tab, and then type http://mcraeclan.com/links in the top box where it asks what you want to use as your home page.
   
   Again, if you're using an old version (e.g. version 3) of Internet Explorer, you should go to the Microsoft Site to get a free upgrade.
   
   PROS: Simple.  Set it and forget it.  You can be assured that you'll have the same links that I use as my starting points for surfing.
   
   CONS: Restrictive.  You can't update these links, so your favorites might not be here.  (Although I'll be happy to consider adding your favorite web site, just email me.)  Solution: see option 2.
   
2. Use your favorite portal.  (A portal is a web page that can be used as your start page, and allows you to customize URLs to link to from your portal -- advertisers like portals because they know you'll look at the page often.)
   
   If you're using Internet Explorer, your default portal is http://home.microsoft.com.  If you're using Netscape Communicator, your default portal is http://home.netscape.com.   There are several other portals.  Maybe I'll add links to them in my Links page some day.  Even the E*Trade customer log-in page can serve as a portal, because it allows the user to customize URLs to link to.  Portals will become more common in the future due to their advertising potential.  Follow the instructions on the portal of your choice to add my "Links" page URL.  Then my Links will be one click away.
   
   PROS: Lets you keep your favorite portal.  Lets you have other URLs besides my links on your customized page.
   
   CONS: You're one click away (instead of zero clicks) from my Links.  Not a serious liability, in my opinion.  In fact, I use a portal.
   
3. Bookmark my Links page.  Or if you use Internet Explorer, add it to your Favorites.   I don't want to use the space here to explain the four different ways to do this depending on whether you're using Netscape V3 or V4, or I.E. V3 or V4.  But I would like to say this: Netscape has I.E. beat when it comes to bookmarks.
   
   PROS: Bookmarks (especially if you use Netscape) are the fastest known way to get to any web site.  They're easily customizable, can be organized in a tree structure, and they're private to you.
   
   CONS: You have to learn of the existence of a web site independently, then take the trouble to bookmark the site in order to use the bookmark.   Portals, on the other hand (and my "Links" page) will be updated automatically.

More ideas for later...

My "Links" page, while interesting, is not a portal.  You can't customize it.  I'd like to change that some time in the future.  If I simply provided space for you to add five images along with five links right at the top then you could customize the page and use it as a portal.  I'll work on that as a future enhancement to the web site.

Please feel free to share your thoughts with me, Graeme.