My Yahoo! Blog

Election ’08 on your page.

We’re down to the final stretch of the election and there’s a lot to think about, especially for undecided voters. Dig into the issues that matter to you by adding election feeds to your page. Politics junkies can add this preloaded tab featuring the following elections feeds and more.

Constant updates from all the major news services get pulled together in one tidy feed from Yahoo! News, and RealClearPolitics collects all the latest state and national polls on their blog. If you prefer your political news straight from the elephant/donkey’s mouth, the Republican and Democratic parties are both blogging for your vote. You can even add messages from Obama or McCain to your page. Not sure if the candidates’ speeches ring true? Track the truthfulness with this feed from FactCheck.org.

You can follow the top contests in your state by adding feeds from your local paper or TV station. Check out the Local News section of Yahoo News! and scroll down to find the “add to My Yahoo!” buttons on the right-hand side.

Rebecca
My Yahoo! Editorial

Submit your favorite tab and get featured!

Do you have a tab on your My Yahoo! page? Now is your chance to share it with others!

Here are the rules…a good tab:

• Reflects a collection of feeds for a topic that’s appropriate for all audiences, e.g. Must-Watch TV, Golf, Food Fan, etc.
• Refreshes frequently (a minimum of once a week)
• Includes a minimum of 9 feeds

Don’t forget! The tab you share, including feeds and content will be subject to Yahoo! appropriateness guidelines. (Good rule of thumb—if it’s something you wouldn’t share with your mom or your friends, then hold-off including the feed.)

*A little secret for you…
This is a great time to choose an accompanying theme and create your own page colors.

Think you have a tab that is good enough to share with millions of other My Yahoo! users? Simply forward your tab idea by Thursday, November 6, 2008 through the “More Options” menu at the top of your My Yahoo! page.
• Click “More Options” then click “Share by Email”. Then in the “To” field, enter myy_tab_ideas@yahoo.com
• In the “Message Field”, include your first name or a nickname, along with the title of your tab.

Helen
My Yahoo! Editorial

Try Preloaded Tabs (Part 3) – Share with a friend.

Some of you have asked how you can share your feeds with friends and colleagues. You can do this easily by using the Share by Email feature. To do this, click on More Options.

Add the email addresses of the people you’d like to share your tab with. When they receive your email, they’ll be able to add your tab to their My Yahoo! page by simply clicking on a link within the email.

Go ahead and share your tab with a friend today.

Helen
- My Yahoo! Editorial Team

Try Preloaded Tabs (Part 2) – Create your own.

Did you know that you can create your own preloaded tab? Look for New Tab in the upper-left corner of the page. Once you click on this, give your tab a name.

Let’s say you’re interested in everything about television shows–you can title the tab Must-Watch TV. Once you’ve done this, you can start adding feeds to your tab.

How can you add a feed to a tab?

Adding feeds to a tab is easy. You can search for feeds thru the content showcase. Just click + Add Content and you can browse or search for related content feeds. Or, if you want to add a feed from a known site, go to the site and subscribe to their RSS feed. You can usually auto-subscribe from their site—just look for the My Yahoo! button.

Sometimes, only an RSS feed will be available. You’ll have to manually add this to your My Yahoo! tab. Where to find the RSS feed for a website? Usually it’s noted as “RSS” or with this icon:

Once you’ve located the RSS feed:

• Copy the feed, then go to your My Yahoo! tab, then click on + Add Content
• At the bottom of the content showcase, click on Add RSS Feed and paste the RSS feed in the field box that appears
• Once you’ve pasted the RSS feed, click the Add button and the feed will appear

Tune in next time for tips on how to share your tab with a friend.

Helen
- My Yahoo! Editorial Team

Try Preloaded Tabs (Part 1).

If you find that your main tab on My Yahoo! is filling up fast with feeds, consider adding a ‘preloaded tab’. What’s a preloaded tab? Preloaded tabs are a collection of feeds based on a single topic or interest.

My Yahoo! has created numerous preloaded tabs covering popular topics like football, cooking, videos, news, music, and more. It’s easy to add these and the beauty is you can add, delete, or rearrange the content and make it your own.

How can I add a preloaded tab?
Adding a preloaded tab is easy. In the upper-left corner of the page, click on + Add Content and a content showcase opens up.

Within the content showcase, click Preloaded Tabs and a menu of preloaded tabs will appear.

There are 18 preloaded tabs covering a variety of interests. To select one, simply click on the one you like. For instance, if you’re interested in Music, click the + Add image for the Music Tab and the tab—featuring all music-related feeds—will be added.

Try it out, and stay tuned for Part II when we’ll show you how to create your own preloaded tab!

Helen
- My Yahoo! Editorial Team