Aggregate Pages and Their Application for Teachers/Entrepreneurs

What are aggregate sites?

By and large, aggregate sites are web pages designed to collect large amounts of data in small, understandable ways. These sites may use widgets or other RSS feed tools to track information/text from the moment of its publication. They are often used in website building and marketing as a form of content aggregation or means to encourage traffic/backlinking/SEO optimization in Google Analytics.

However, as the author of To Make A Website says,

While there are several great ones...there are also plenty of spam content aggregating websites that you shouldn’t want any part of.        --Matt Clark, 2015 

This week I explored two legitimate sites for content aggregation: Netvibes and Protopage.

Features:

Netvibes

• track sources
• track topics
• notification options integrated into Windows
• public dashboard settings
• ability to create multiple dashboards--presumably for both individual (as with Tweetdeck) and public (as in Wix or Wordpress) use

Protopage

• track topics via RSS feeds
• NO notification options integrated into Win7, Win8, Win10, Linux, or MAC but notification options can be adjusted via Chrome
• public & private dashboard settings
• ability to create multiple dashboards
• organizational widgets
• tools for site optimization and naming

Applications for Teachers:

• track personal and professional data (social media sites, work & personal emails, news sources, field-related topics, personal interests, etc).
• create a platform through which students can learn more about organizations or specific subjects
• create to-do lists students can modify

Business Applications:

• backlinking
• traffic generation
• SEO optimization
• overall improved Google analytics scores

Overall Takeaway:
For Netvibes, it is not clear what is displayed, when, and with what security/audience options in place for features like facebook, twitter, Instagram, etc. that may also be associated with the account user.
For my public dashboard, I could also NOT resolve the issue that all that displayed was the loading symbol [Loading...], see image below or this live link: 

Initially, I ran into a slight resistance with Protopages as the site:

• appeared to be lacking aesthetically when compared to Netvibes and 
• was down for maintenance the first instance I attempted to access it (see image below).

However, as you can see HERE I was able to get my site up and running with a few widgets. Unfortunately, there are still a few minor bugs surrounding the "delete widget" button--but you can get around this by editing an empty widget box to reflect the RSS origin or another more viable site.

Overall, if you're a teacher who doesn't need to have high analytics scores and/or already has a dedicated system in place for contacting students I recommend simply using a custom desktop skin to organize all of your personal, professional, and system information. Although the overall process of using widgets effectively and securely may be a steep learning curve for some, I have used Rainmeter (Windows 7 and up) in the past with a high level of success. You can create a fully custom and aesthetically astounding desktop experience that directly follows these same RSS streams as (sometimes untrustworthy) aggregate sites using this platform (if you also use Windows), GeekTool (for macOS), or Conky (for Linux). For more information, I highly recommend following r/Rainmeter on Reddit and following their tutorial tips. Happy organizing!