I love books. As a child I became tearful when I saw books being burnt in Francois Truffaut’s Fahrenheit 451. Like many adults I also enjoy watching some of my childhood cartoons that with today’s technological standards look like antediluvian!

Long ago at a time when we were not all mesmerized by the Internet, in a land where one still had to walk to bookstores to buy paper books, I read a storybook. The story was about Gavin, a decent normal father who happened to be a hero in a battle with no antihero. I could not remember the name of the book or the entire story. I searched the Internet for Gavin but all to no avail. This triggered a search for my other favorite childhood stories. Myths and Legends of Vietnam, Russian Fairy Tales and Stories of Giants were some of them. To my surprise I could find them all and all for free!

PortalPanel does a few things well, including organizing your bookmarks, giving you access to the most powerful RSS Reader, and keeping you connected to your social networks. Besides major functions and capabilities, the application has a lot of tools that are no less important and useful, however, sometimes they do get overlooked.

1. History Folder

It’s the first folder on your left. The History folder is there by default and it’s notoriously easily overlooked. The folder holds all your browsing history, just like all major browsers do these days. It’s convenient in case you visited a page that you really liked, but forgot to bookmark it. If this is the case, open your History folder, locate the link and bookmark it from there.  If your browsing history includes something you’re rather ashamed of (today I clicked on a link to an article about Selena Gomez), click ‘options’ and select ‘clear history.’  Your folder is now wiped clean and your dignity has been saved.

From its inception, PortalPanel has maintained a YouTube channel. Initially it featured just a brief introduction about the application. Currently, we have 11 professionally produced active videos… and counting. The videos range from 35 seconds (yes, talk about valuing your time!) to just under 10 minutes. So there’s a clip for everyone, even if you have just a minute to spare.

What’s in the videos for you? Everything! From a simple ‘how to’ that covers a process of setting up an account to a recently updated showcase video to separate videos on the most popular PortalPanel features such as our very own RSS reader “News Portal.” The YouTube channel provides vital information for new users and keeps existing users up-to-date.

If you’ve never visited our YouTube channel, we hope this blog post will encourage you to do so. While you’re there, make sure you subscribe to our channel and hit “like” next to the videos that you enjoyed.

A bookmarking app, video bookmarking tool, calendar, and now RSS reader, PortalPanel has truly grown and matured. Apparently, all the changes and additions have slightly overwhelmed some of our users, especially those new to PortalPanel; as a result, we’re being asked to summarize or provide ‘in-a-nutshell’ description of our app more often than before.  

For some of you, an updated video tour may be a good place to get (re)acquainted with the app. Regardless whether the tour alone can sufficiently satisfy your curiosity, consider this post to be our best attempt at answering the following question: What is PortalPanel and how’s is it useful for me?

The easiest way to fall in love with PortalPanel is to think of it as your home page. Tell your browser that you DEMAND PortalPanel is your home page starting NOW! Think of PortalPanel when you start your desktop or open your laptop in the morning. It smells like morning coffee and bagels; like a new successful day; like a fresh start. ‘Homepage’ is in PortalPanel’s figurative DNA. PortalPanelis your homepage that features all the news you want to read; all the links you want to save and re-visit; all the cool YouTube videos that you may want to share with your friends or post on your business Facebook page.

It’s one page to rule them all; it’s simplicity and convenience packed in the awesome design and delivered at no cost without torturous ads or interruptions.

When we started mapping out our RSS platform, we had no idea that Google will make a decision to retire their rather popular Google Reader. Some of our team members were avid Google Reader users, so we met Google’s decision with mixed feelings. One thing we won’t deny: we worked very hard knowing that our product would find its users regardless of whether we’re going to succeed with the Google crowd or not. So, if you’re looking for a copy of the Reader, our News Portal is not one. If you’re looking for an alternative to Google Reader that is a robust product by itself as well as an integral part of PortalPanel bookmarking app—this is it!

PortalPanel’s RSS platform, called News Portal, allows each user to create their own news stream, including the ability to customize the way they receive and consume the news. Users can enter their favorite RSS feeds or choose from a list of trending feeds recommended by the PortalPanel team.

This time I’d like to point out some of the design improvements that were also implemented during the latest batch of updates.

Why focus on design? It’s a fair question; after all, one might think that applications like PortalPanel need to be mostly concerned with functionality. In reality, design makes PortalPanel truly unique and is as important as all the innovative features. Consider this post an insight into the creative minds of our designers and a glimpse behind the scenes of PortalPanel. In other words: this is why we do what we do.

Most designers these days strive to achieve what’s usually called a “clean” design. It’s especially important if you’re creating an app whose primary function is to help organize other people’s web finds. If your goal is to help others with being more organized, you better be pretty neat yourself, right?

Since we embarked on this mission, we had no choice but lead by example. Therefore, PortalPanel’s homepage is a true specimen of minimalism and simplicity. If you’re not a registered user, there’s absolutely no reason for you to linger… and that’s the whole point.  We have nothing to sell; you either want to give the app a shot or click away. Our home page design conveys this message; hence, it hasn’t really changed since the day one.