Symbaloo - Organize your favorite websites visually in one place

Symbaloo - Generic webmix

Description: Symbaloo allows you to organize all of your websites in one place. It is free and its biggest advantage over some other solutions it that it is based on a visual organization. Your preferences are stored in a cloud so you can seamlessly switch between your devices. The following short video provides a quick overview of how this service works.

Creating an account: It essentially works as a bookmarking service. You can share your bookmarks with anyone by making them public or share them with a select group of users. The first thing you will want to do is create a free account, which is very simple, you only need to fill out four fields. 

Symbaloo - Creating an account

Creating a webmix using quick start: Once you sign up, you can start creating your webmixes, you even have an option to select the quickstart option, where Symbaloo will let you create a webmix using some favorite websites in less than a minute. The first options include websites from categories spanning: News, Social Media, Email, Shopping, Music, Banking and Travel. A view of this quickstart set-up is provided below:

Symbaloo - Quickstart set-up And the result of my selections is provided below. You will notice that the news websites are actually RSS feeds and once you click on them, you will see a list of the most recent news stories. If you were to click on the Facebook icon, it would open Facebook in a different tab of your browser and if you have your computer set up in such a way that your passwords are stored, it would shoot your straight into your profile. I also think that the Google search bar is a great touch, though it is not as easy to access once your start playing with some of the widgets that essentially overlay that same spot once initiated, such as the calculator.

Symbaloo - Webmix example Creating a webmix from scratch: If you wanted to add another webmix, that might be used for a different purpose, you just click the plus sign (+) towards the top right hand corner and you will be given the following options. You can either create a style where the tiles are displayed or where RSS feeds are displayed. Furthermore, you may choose to search for something, if you have a particular interest and want to see whether someone has already created a webmix that deals with that interest. If you choose to search for one that has been already created, you should know that your ability to customize your webmix will be limited.

Symbaloo - Adding a new webmix Adding a Tile: Once you name your Symbaloo webmix, you are ready to create your tiles. To create a tile, select any spot where you want it to go and you can then either create a tile or search for a tile. If you choose to create a tile, the following menu will appear, where you will be able to customize your tile down to its color. If you start adding a more popular website, the images will be automatically suggested making this process easier.

Symbaloo - Adding a custom tile Sharing a webmix: Once you create your webmix, you can choose to share it with others, either publicly or more privately. You can also choose to share it through social media. To do so, you click on the sharing button on the top of the page and select the options that best fit your purpose. An example is provided below:

Symbaloo - Webmix sharing set-up Customizing your webmix: By clicking the options icon on the top of the page, you can customize the background of your webmix as well as the size of the icons and other features. This can give your webmix a little bit of a personal touch.

Setting Symbaloo as a homepage: To set your Symbaloo webmix as a homepage and make your work worth the effort, click on the link on the left side bottom of the page, which will launch a pop-up window with further instructions that are browser specific. An example is provided below.

Symbaloo - Creating a homepage

Final thoughts: I have been very impressed with the way Symbaloo works and plan on using it. In fact, I will create multiple different tabs, for different purposes, that way I can share some Symbaloo webmixes with others, while keeping other webmixes private. I hope you will enjoy using it.

Disclaimer: Please note that all of the information provided above is accurate at the time of posting and works within the United States, though access to this tool may be limited in some other parts of the world.