Earthling

I'm looking forward to all those boxes being replaced by a more visually-appealing experience, and less clutter around my search box. And reduced load times.

Email preview, weather, traffic, Custom RSS feeds.

For me it's all about whether someone needs me for something, and since I'm compulsive about keeping up with my email, I need to see my email home page (yahoo, for the most part), and quick links to a couple of forum boards I haunt... so 1.) EMAIL and 2.) Links to forums.

After that it's news.. I want to know if the meteor is inbound and whether I have time for coffee before it hits. ;)

As above, I really like the email preview capabilities and different news feeds. I also think RSS widgets are pretty much a given at this point.

I was a Mindspring customer back in the day, and EarthLink was my ISP after the merger (until I moved to a part of Atlanta that EarthLink didn't serve with high-speed access). I really never used either company's portal. In general, I find portals to be too crowded and cluttered for my taste. That's part of the reason I never used Mindspring or EarthLink's dial-up software...it seemed like a complicated way to do something simple.

Instead, I use tabbed browsing for just about everything I need. I open the sites I want to look at in tabs, and I either tab through them or use keystrokes to close them. I don't usually even bother with a separate RSS reader. I have a couple of toolbar folders of feeds, and I scan through them.

B: Would you ideally like access to any other communication tools, or is email all you need?

Tracy: Are there any sites that always end up in your tabs? Do you have a default set of tabs you open up to start? If so, what are they?

It depends on whether I'm at home or at work. At work I have two sets of tabs that I look at daily for two types of ongoing research. I also have an ever-changing third set of tabs for whatever project I'm currently working on.

At home I have a set of tabs that's mostly fun stuff -- Web comics, sites I'm personally interested in. I have a couple of toolbar bookmarks for my LiveJournal friends view and my World of Warcraft guild's calendar. And I have two toolbar folders of RSS feeds. One is for news and the other is for friends' blogs and other blogs of interest.

My 2 cents: The two things that I always want open when I open my browser are Reader.earthlink.net and Vox.com.

I have slack time at work, and in years of Earthlink membership this is the first (maybe only) time I'm answering a question. I thought you could just respond. Obviously not.

Well I wish we could design the contents of our own page. And mine would be blank except for my emails. The rest of the stuff is just clutter.

The inability to add RSS content is what led me away from using start.earthlink.

To get me back you need those, the ability to select my own search engine, the ability to edit the page in a NetVibes manner, and general a de-NASCARification.

I REALLY GET TIRED OF TATTOOS AND DANCING ADDS ON
"MY EARTHLINK HOME PAGE COULDN'T THAT BE AN OPTION TO SEE OR NOT SEE. OR REMOVE IF WE DON'T WANT TO SEE THAN ALL THE TIME. TO ME ITS LOW CLASS

When I go to my.earthlink.net, I look at the weather, at my reminders, and at my RSS feeds, in that order. Then I go to the news headlines. I haven't yet made a habit of going to MyFavorites, although I think it would be great to have a little patch of favorites on the start page, rather than a deeper link.

I also LOVE the look of not-underlined links, such as those used in the blog. The page looks so much cleaner, yet the colored text makes the links obvious. Now, if we wanted to make our text colorful without links, that might confuse the reader. :-)

I like the EarthLink-AP news, but could replace it with RSS of my favorite news sources, under a common visual theme. I guess that is what "myFavorites" and Tabs are for. I would love an expandable webmail preview, or, even better, auto sign-in to webmail with myEarthLink sign-in. When MindSpring decides to be compatible with something other than GoogleTalk (like, maybe, aim), then a buddy list would be great. Weather is a must, along with sports scores and local movie times, things myEarthLink already does well. Also, with IE7, the "More" icon beside the Channels, under the Search Box, does not produce a dropdown list, preventing users from accessing EarthLink's "Amazon Books" page from myEarthLink.

11-20-2006, I am one of those people that had an i-opener system when earthlink bought it out many years ago. I like to have a start up page like that. it was so simple an fun to use! for someone like me. if you have one still there at earthlink to review you,ll see what I mean. the screen saver was tops. I miss that the most. earthlink has done a fine job BUT my i-opener was better. I,am sad my i-opener broke. well if you can make it like that or close I be happy for that. have a nice day. your,s respectfully lnd, n. wilson shareholder an customer.

Keep it "simple"

It ain't broke. No need to fix it.

Please stop the moving adds on the My Earthlink page. We are all paying a more than sizeable fee to use the service and should not have to endure such a large, moving distraction.

The site is great; too much space given to Google; do it in less space.make it easier to log on; make it easier to get to e-mail. make it easier to copy web info to a new message, really you are geat as you are or I wouldn't have an e-mail address the same for about ten years, Keep up the good work! Gordon

My 2c: You should remove all of the clutter on the page, such as the 'special offers' that appear in many of the boxes. I just rejoined Earthlink after six years with other ISPs, and at first glance I almost can't tell what is advertising and what is news.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with....any ETA on the new page?

We would like to remove the AARP bracket and all other adv informtion, and remove all the adv information as well in the web mail site.

The most useful thing on my earthlink "home page" is the stock market information with the listing of 30 stocks in which I have an interest, either as owner or potential purchaser. Most of the rest of the stuff I don't need or use.

My2c: Paying subscribers should not have to see advertisements on the home page or in webmail. I would also like to be able to choose my local news provider and should be able to remove it altogether if I don't want to see it.

Personally I only use the start page for e-mail preview, and for quicklinks to favorites (no need to open the bookmark/favorites menu is nice), although the system for adding my favorites to the quicklinks is a bit clunky.

Also I agree with others, lose the ads. If I'm paying for the ISP service I shouldn't have to see all those ads, or the google quicklinks

I would like Favorites Center to be something other than a star and more obvious.

I want an at-a-glance view of things I have chosen to see. In otherwords, move the ads, the extra services, links, etc. down & let me see my stuff when the page first opens. If I have time, I will scroll down to see what you have chosen to share with me. Also, thin up the tool bars to give more viewing space. 1/4 of my screen it used up with earthlink tool bars & that scrolling "news" bar that I could happily live without.

Increase blocked emails allowed

I love the start page, but I agree with the rest. LOSE the advertisements and Google bar. I have dial up and it takes a long time to load a page especially when that page has unwanted garbage.

I agree with others, we shouldn't have to see ads on our homepage if we are paying customers. Adding favorites is cumbersome, so I usually keep my favorites in my IE folders.
Spam is kept to a minimum in my inbox. Actually it never ends up there, great job!

On the few occasions that my connections seemed shaky or bad, I would have liked to be able to access a system status page with one click from myEarthlink.
Make sure the site works well with Safari.
(I have used ELN since nearly the beginning, when Dayton set it up primarily for Macintosh computers.)
A clean design is much more valuable than clever or cute.

There is just way too much going on within the start page. Not only is it too busy, but it's archaic. I'm looking at a website from circa 1996. It's "amateurish". This is one of the main reasons I cancelled my earthlink internet. We shall see what actually happens with this revision. Thanks!

Been a customer for nearly 10 years. Love my earthlink homepage! Use it everyday for weather, news and general information. Enjoy the fun features, and would like to see better options for local news and up to the minute news. At times, I switch between my earthlink page and my excite page. Excite does a slightly better job on some of these features - It also has moon phases, tide reports and cartoons.
Here’s my suggestion, add in whatever features you want, but be sure to keep the page customizable! Allowing the user the ultimate control is the key! Consider the functions of most browsers, and don’t make great efforts to duplicate them. Essentially, make sure the page has a clear purpose and identity or make sure the user has the option to create their own.
Finally, remember that many of your customers use dial-up – I did for many years. I remember several instances where new designs caused myearthlink to become unusable. It just took far too long for the page to load. Moreover, in terms of my needs, many of the features causing things to slow down were extraneous. Again, can’t stress it enough, the key is customization! Allow the user to decide what works for her/him. Personally, I think one of google’s greatest insights, which lead to their success began with simplicity. Combine that with stability across platforms (I’ve always been a Mac user), good results and you’re second to none!

The things I look for are news (altho duplicate headlines are annoying), Weather, horoscope, search engine (Pls stay with Google), stock pricing, sports, and all the rest on the existing start page. What would be novel is a site recommender for surfing. Anything that gets the brain cells stirring. Thanks.

1) I basically like Earthlink's home page flexibility. Anything that can increase options while leaving the user free to tailor to his/her wishes would be appreciated.

2) I am not a fan of Google. I would like to see selection of primary search service become an option.

3) I look at the Earthlink home pages primarily for weather and news. Earthlink currently provides two pages. I would like to see it expand the option to 5 pages, so that each could become user-defined dashboard for quick-glance update on events; and each could be kept relatively clean and uncluttered of extraneous content.

4) As a part of the above, I would like to see RSS capabilities incorporated into home page options. I would prefer this to the current method of electing local news feeds.

5. I would also like greater flexibility in reflecting weather and financial information on the page. Give the user greater "dashboard" capabilities to aggregate a variety of detailed information on a routine basis.

6) Above all else, I agree with those who urge you to "keep it simple". Give us simple tools, and freedom of choice to use them.

Leave it alone!!!! It ain't broke, don't fix it!!!!

a preview of my e-mail and the weather forcast not just the current temp

Years ago, when I first chose earthlink, the start page could be more individualized stylistically. This was one of the features that drew me most to earthlink, and I've often wondered why they did away with it. The page could be designed seasonally and there were more options for the look of the page year-round. It seemed more like "home" and I spent more time looking at and reading things on my start page. Now it's just getting to my favorites list or webmail page and that's it. I've only changed the colors on it once in a year or more because it doesn't matter, isn't that fun, and doesn't look different enough for me to take the time to do it. Kids' MySpace pages seem to have a lot of nice ways to be decorated for personalization. Those were the good old days for me with earthlink.

hi, i've been a customer for earthlink for about 5 years now and i love it. sometimes i think it is slow but i think that is with all sites. i would like to see us be able to have a one click access to our bank so that we can check our accounts and pay our bills and such. and after the one click you would still need to put in account number and password but it would be so much easier.
thanks
anthony

I have never been a very user of the myEarthlink page. The only thing interesting on the top half of the page is the weather info. Lose the link sections and the google search box. ( I have the google toolbar installed ) This takes up half of the screen even if the sections are minimized. Second, make the news areas customizable. I may be interested in baseball and soccer and not basketbore. give me more then a just the headline

I may be one of your less sophisticated customers, even though I have been around a long time. I use duial up and hate the time it takes to download home page ads. Once I get on I read the news, go to email and maybe Goggle something or use a Favorite. Once in a while I'll check my movie list. The rest is pretty much off my scope. It would be nice if the few news stories were not repeated so often. It would be nice if stock prices came up on the first screen rather than being depressed by ads and links. It would be nice if there was a manual (even a downloded manual that I could print) so that I could understand some more of the many bells and whistles. And it would be nice if the email counter worked more than half the time

I agree with everyone who says to get rid of the Google Search box. The EarthLink Toolbar has it and you can program the IE7 search to EarthLink Search Powered By Google. So, that is three of the same search.

I need email more accessible at a glance, Google, no Ads,
stock market with free access to analyst's reviews, a National news link,local weather, and a good local news network, not BayNews9 in St Petersburg as WTVT, CHANNEL 13 is much more comprehensive; and no pop up or flash type advertising period.

A short (8 - 10) entries of my favorite sites.

Keep it simple and have it load up a lot faster. I'm paying an arm and a leg every month for satelite service because of where I live. I feel that if I'm paying a lot for a service it should be of a higher quality. No clutter and have more blocked emails allowed and very few ads. Otherwise, I like the idea of looking at the weather and seeing what the low for the night is going to be. I also like the news from my area as well as the nation and world. I haven't tried rss yet because I do not know exactly what it is and I'm scared to open it.

I have always enjoyed your page as is, and I know change is inevitable I hope your new one as interesting as the last for this big dummie.
Thanks.

Good Morning; 11-29-06 My only comment is more a request. I would love a quick click option for commentary and idea's for open disscusions on the net. That is all, thank you.

I like the EarthLink start page, but would like some of the Page 2 items to be able to appear on Page 1 (and vice-versa). There are some items that a stuck on page 1 that I'm not interested in.

I have stayed with EarthLink because I like the start page better than ***'s. :-)

I think the ads need to go. When I read email I don't want to see ads in there taking up space. I too am on dial-up and it takes too long for the email to load when the ads are up there dancing around taking up valuable time!
I think I pay enough for my connection without all this.
tabbed pages would be great. I use firefox as my browser and love the tabbed page browsing.
I can't wait to see all the neat changes coming.
S~

There are many boxes and options on the start page that I don't use. Presently the only option I have is to minimize them. I'd like to be able some of them go away for good. Also, since I do pay Earthlink every month for service, I'd like to see ALL the ads go off my start page.Please make it so.

As someone mentioned, the news headlines are repeated in TOP NEWS,INTERNATIONAL NEWS and US NEWS..........this is rediculous. AP news is a terrible news source. Is there an editor at AP news service? If so, this person is sleeping on the job.
I am still on a dialup connection and would be nice not to see so much garbage that has to be loaded.
On EarthLink's WebMail, why should we have to see advertisements??
My main beef is seeing the same news stories repeated in the above mentioned categories.

I am a Road Warrior and have used ELN for many years, from 2.0 to DSL. At times I need a dial up on road, so I like being able to use both modes of Internet Connection. I know revenue is important along with eyecatching graphics and displays, so go for the Bling. What I would really like to see is a online troubleshooting tool similar to HPs. Unfortunately at times my email goes on the fritz and I have to call a CSR. It would be so easy to have a diagnostic tool that I could use myself, with maybe fixes available for download as I work my 12 hour 7 day a week Mechanical Consulting Projects. I am probably asking for to much, but I dream of this tool.

It would be nice to know the terror threat level and related stories and info.

God Bless Susan Weller and all who are afraid to open something they don't understand! While I'm not exactly stupid, I feel so when faced with all the jargon used in the Computer/Internet business.

I was, at one time, an instructor with a major airline teaching new-hires the reservations system. At the beginning of the class, I told them I would not be teaching them HOW it worked, just how to work it. I compared the system with a car. When I need to go somewhere, I get in my car, turn the key and expect it to go without my knowing how a combustion engine works. I would then explain that a comparison could also be made to a paper filing system and a desktop.

Ditto my PC/ISP - I get in (boot it up), turn the key (download myEarthLink) and expect it to take me where I want to go without knowing how a binary system works! Using the mouse as my steering wheel, I navigate the internet knowing I'll have to make some turns, stop every now and then, maybe back up a few times, but I want to get to my destination on the shortest route possible, without the distraction of billboards (ads) and too many signposts (weather, news, stocks, Google, Amazon, etc).

Years ago there were two, very effective efforts to remove billboards and litter from our landscape. Today, on the "cyberhighway" we are accosted at every turn by the same culprits.

Please make our Earthlink experience as clean, modern, concise and easy as possible. The easier you make it for us, the less we will have to deal with your shameful decision to outsource your customer service/technical support departments to other countries.

I'm still using the old start page instead of the Total Earthlink on my PC. I like it better. I have the Total Earthlink on my laptop. I also have the new Internet Explorer toolbar. So, counting up search boxes, I have a total of four (4) on the laptop opening page. Yes, I know some of that is my choice, but four is too many. Three of them are Earthlink's and the one I use is on the Internet Explorer bar. I too wish we could lose the dancing or tattooing ad at the top of the page. The "local" news box is OK, but it seldom has useful content, mainly because of the the sources. It isn't updated often either. I don't have any problem with the news content, except it often repeats stories under different headings. (Maybe it's a slow news day) I'm thinking it has to do with key words. Earthlink is still the best with hard news and less pop culture or trivia. I just want the news and weather.

I want to see a well done "reporter on the street" asking questions of the average day folk what they think about current events. The "free speech" segment on H/C fox is a good idea. If it's done right. I believe the world would love to hear what people think, as a change from the talking heads. We all know the media is P.C. too a great extent. Some more, some even more. The whole concept that I've got I can go into more detail if you contact me.

I would like an easier entry into the E-mail. A user name only would be great instead of the complete E-mail address. The current format of the webpage itself is great. The only thing that might improve it is a window with links to the user's local news.

Indeed I am human. My previous comments were in error. I was thinking of a different webpage. Earthlink is great the way it is in my estimation. I would like to see a little more user friendly E-mail though! Signed: human

More options and give us the abiltiy to design our start page to suit us. Favorite search engine is Dogpile, and sites such as Amazon, ebay, Paypal, Overstock, NASA, Kodak, are good. Email program choice is Incred-mail, and I enjoy the web mail also. Word of the day/picture of the day are nice touches. Local TV listings would be nice. Well those are a few of my favorite things - there are more already on my start page.

SIMPLIFY

Let us design ALL of our own elements (not just a few of them), and determine our ownplacement of elements on the two pages.

For instance, I'd like much more room for My Favorites on page 1, and would prefer to relegate all of the seldom used Earthlink admin contact links to the second page.

I would very much like to have available an Earthlink interactive calendar on the home/start/page or desktop on which to keep track of appointments, birthdays, etc.

I love the changes that the "My Earthlink" page has made. The email preview and TV favorites are great. There is one thing about the TV favorites and listings that I wish could show the correct time in my time zone.

The myEarthlink page should not have 3rd party advertisements if the user is a paying Earthlink customer... it gives prestige and importance to paying earthlink customers

Any word on what "the beginning of 2007" means?
I am eager to see the changes!

thisjustin: Hang in there -- I'll have an update for you very soon.