Appatic

If you have a feeling that the title in this post is a bit familiar is because it is. The only thing different is the name at the start.  MyFav is what previously was called Fav4.org. The reason of the name and domain change are very obvious if you had seen and used the previous iteration. If you didn’t, then just read the post i made on it. On the other hand if you are looking for something like this for Google based services, then check my post about Gpanion.

In the case of its previous incarnation as Fav4, this is how i opened that previous post and i think it still stands as a relevant quick take on the rationale of where does the idea of MyFav derivates from:

Startpages seem to be in vogue yet again when it comes to the non-widget based kind.

Just startpages with shortcuts for the most frequently visited websites. No doubt that Opera 10 and Chrome 4 have something to do with this new found interest for what Opera calls the web Speed Dial and that later got shamelessly ripped off by Google with Chrome.

MyFav takes the idea of the Opera Speed Dial as a Startpage and gives it a form full of style and focus with a minimalistic sensibility. The base configuration is just 4 striking and very soothing looking icons for your 4 more visited websites. But then it is up to you to fully configure and customize how do you want it to work and look beyond that.

Guide

Start by clicking the customize icon, then go to the My Sites section and finally click in the All Sites tab.

There you will see the 101 sites (110 once you add the ones in the featured tab) with available icons from where you can choose your up to 25 favorite websites. To do so, just drag and drop the website labels into the empty right column at the right and put them in your desired order.

If you don’t see your favorite website, then ask for its addition via the suggest section.

Once you customize it beyond the initial default, you will have a space for 5 icons for your most visited/favorites websites. If you have more than 5, then you will need to click in the arrow at the right to show more and so on all the way up to 25 icons ( 5 views of 5).

If you want to change the default configuration, you can do it in the options section via the MyFav settings area.

From here you have 3 ways to change the way MyFav works, looks and behaves:

I.-Layout

You got 4 different layout modes to choose from:

1.-One Row – Multipage

Up to 10 icons per row (If you got the screen resolution for it, otherwise usually just up to 5-7) and that extends to multiple view pages depending on the number of websites you have set up.

2.-One Row – Magiscroll

Up to 25 icons in a single row that moves right or left depending  on the position of your cursor in the screen

3.-Grid

Up to 4 rows (if you got the screen resolution for it, otherwise just 2) with up to 5 icons in each row. So you actually lose the chance to display 5 sites with this mode if you have set up all 25 of them.

4.-Grid – Multipage

Not yet active, but i am guessing that it is reserved until there are more websites icon choices and that it will involve raising up the 25 icons limit. will update the post when this mode comes alive.

II.-Themes

Not really themes-themes, but backgrounds. Only 2 to choose from right now: White or Black. But there are 6 more to come if the grayed-out spaces are any indication.

III.-Preferences

• Set the behavior or MyFav with available settings to choose from:
• Sortable icons on homepage / Non-sortable icons on homepage
• Open links in new window / Don’t open links in new window
• Set search bar above or below icons / Don’t show any search bar
• If search bar is set, start with cursor in search box (this disables keyboard shortcuts)
• Choose search engine for search bar if set (Google, Bing, etc)
• Enable right click shortcut / Don’t enable right click shortcut
• Set, change or disable keyboard shortcuts

Set up MyFav as your homepage

Follow the video instructions for all browsers via MyFav Help Section.

Or just look for the general/main tab in any browser options/preferences section and change it by yourself.

Some Notes

Saying that MyFav is a improvement over Fav4 would be a understatement. This new iteration resolved almost all the gripes i had about it originally. Right now i think that the only thing missing is a way to be able to change the icons look (for the ones that don’t really match with how they should look) and a option so you can add your own custom icon.

But this of course, is just me nitpicking.

I actually found it so good now, that i am using it as my second start tab. But i also got a idea in how to use it as something else, so stay tuned for a later post about that.

Given that there are still some improvements of MyFav in the works, i don’t really consider this a finished post yet. So i will update it as MyFav adjusts again.

But i can do fully recommend it as the best basic startpage you can choose right now. So check it out.

Linkage

MyFav

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