Listing The Web

Previously I've posted about services such as Symbaloo, Weblist, and Bundlenut which all provide users with the ability to list websites in a single place centered around a topic.  Each of these have strengths.  Symbaloo is designed to give the user an at-a-glance visual representation through a group of tiles (looking like rows of buttons) of all the websites saved.  A simple click on a tile and a new window opens to the linked site.  Providing a no-frill list with descriptions of each site Bundlenut takes the user to the website without opening a new window.  There is the ability to scroll through the websites, left to right, and superimpose the bundle list on top of any of the open web sites.  Weblist is by far the most sophisticated of the three.  In generating a list web pages, images, text, documents, videos and files can be added.

This fall one of my preferred places to get the latest, Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... hosted a post about a new web 2.0 app which Ferlazzo claimed was his current favorite for creating lists of web pages to be used in Internet Scavenger Hunts. Three months later it appeared on his year end The Best Web 2.0 Applications for Education 2012.  Urlist as described on the home page is:

a social platform for organising, sharing and discovering links. Collect your links individually or collaboratively, make lists about topics you love and access your resources anywhere, anytime.

This free service features the option to design three kinds of lists: draft list, reference list and chart list.  The draft list is for quickly saving links you plan to organize later.  They are saved in chronological order.   Links can be divided into sections using the reference list.  Your best list on any given topic is generated using chart list.  Additional features on the home page are:  you can take links from other lists to add to your own, there is a Urlist button which can be placed on your toolbar for grabbing web pages, you can flip through your links like a slide show, and you can invite others to add links to a list.

To start click on the green Make Your List! button.   A new window appears over the current page asking you to register using Facebook, Google + or by entering in an email address and password.  Although in the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy no age is mentioned I would get permission before having those under 13 years of age use the site.  A confirmation email with a link to activate your account is sent immediately.

It's interesting to note once your account is created you can still log in using those other platforms including Twitter.  When you log in you are taken to your dashboard (home) to begin generating your first list.  At this page you can manage your account keeping track of links, lists, followers and those you are following (if you desire). There is also a search box for entering in a key word to discover links and lists within the application.

To begin a list I selected the blue New List! button.  A new window pops up asking which of the three lists, draft, reference or chart,  you would like to create.  You can make up to 6 draft lists.

I decided to make a reference list for the 2013 Newbery and Caldecott award-winning authors and illustrators.  First enter in a title of your list when prompted, followed by clicking Create.  A new window opens.

If you click on the List Settings button in the upper left-hand corner you can edit the title, add a description, invite contributors, or change the type of list.  To add a link first click on the line to open up the field before you type or paste in the URL.  Prior to including any more links I clicked on Edit Sections to name the first section and add another.


After each link is added when mousing over the field, three choices appear.  Under options you can delete or share the link on Google+, Facebook or Twitter. Edit allows you to change the name of the link and add a note. You can relist or copy the link to another list at this point.

Comments can be added to the list by going to the bottom.  A completed list can be shared via email, Twitter, Facebook or Google+.  When you click on the green Play List button on the right, a new window opens.  Each web page can be viewed in its entirety.  From this venue each site can be relisted or shared on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ as well as being deleted or edited by selecting the arrow in the upper right-hand corner.

I added links to YouTube videos which worked very well.  Links to Vimeo were also operable.  Linking to songs created in UJAM played perfectly.  While links to Google maps won't open in the play venue they will open in a new tab when clicked.


Each generated list is assigned it's own unique URL.  Here is the link to my list, 2013 Newbery and Caldecott Award Winners.  In looking for ease of use, results which users can understand and view and time needed to complete a task, this application scores well on all accounts.  There are always different points within the process when the same tasks can be done, which is a huge plus.  I agree wholeheartedly with Larry Ferlazzo about Urlist.  It's going into my virtual toolbox.

Update:  As of December 31, 2104 this application will leave the Internet.  I was informed of this via an email.

Share and Share Alike, Privately

Just over six months ago a photo-sharing web 2.0 application came on the scene, 7Moments.  In the Help section they state:

With 7Moments you can easily share and exchange photos in a safe and private environment.  You create an Album, upload and import photos and invite others that can contribute to the album as well.

Still running in beta this service can be used by invitation only.  My invitation arrived in under a week.

To receive an invitation go to their site and enter in your email address.  Your invitation received by email includes a link.  The link takes you to their site where you are asked to enter in your name, a password and a check to accept their terms and conditions.

When you are logged in you can create a new album or adjust your settings (name, email address and password).  When you create a new album first determine a name for that album.   If you make a mistake in the naming of an album you can click on that title, as if it is a text box, and make changes.  You are then taken to what I would call the work space.

Clicking the option on the right of the screen, at the top of the screen and beneath your title, you can add photographs from your computer or import them from Facebook.  Photographs are uploaded from your computer by clicking on the white arrow to the center right of your screen.  If you want to see your uploaded selections as a group click the white arrow to the center left. 

If you want to view a single selection click on it.  You can then move through your photographs like a slide show.  Once at 7Moments a single image can be added to your selection, rotated left, rotated right downloaded or deleted.  To get back to the work space click on the esc key. 

At the bottom of the screen is a small row of tiles icon.  When you click on that it brings into view all the photographs in your album.  By clicking on any image in your album it appears in the center of the work space.

Across the top of the work space are a series of tabs allowing for:   the addition of photos and people, downloading the entire album (to a zip file on your computer) or your loved photographs, or viewing recently added, most loved, date taken and contributors.  At any time you can create a new album.  Each time you create a new album an email is sent with a link to that group of photographs.  Each time you log in to 7Moments the albums you have created will appear with the option of deleting them completely or working on them further.

Currently there are six styles available for an album:  Uptown Girl, Crystals, Jingle Bells, Fresh Powder, Golden Season and Winter Wonderland. 

Users of 7Moments must be 18 years or older.  The only sharing option at this site is private.  Albums can only be viewed with an authentication key through album owner invitation.  At any point you, as the album creator, can send an email invitation which includes a link to a specific album.  Only you can send out invitations. 

When an invitation is received a user will need to register to view and contribute by entering in their name, email address, selection of a password and accepting the terms and conditions of the site. 

An album is restricted to 100 users and one GB of disk space.  7Moments stands by their privacy; photos cannot be found by search engines.  Only people receiving an email can access the photographs. 

I have created two albums, Autumn Memories and Views of School Library Media Centers.  Whether working professionally or personally, group sharing could be done with complete confidence that only those invited would be viewing the album. For an educator this would be a way to share photographs with parents about activities in the classroom without posting them on a Facebook page or a less than private venue.

7Moments states that very soon photographs may be added via email.  They are also exploring about using 7Moments on an iPad, iPhone or Android device. (Please note:  As of December 1, 2013 this site will be closed.)

There Are Lists And There Is Weblist

In 2010 the American Association of School Librarians, a branch of the ALA, selected under the Manage and Organize Standards for the 21st-Century Learner: 2.1.2 - Organize knowledge so that it is useful., 2.1.4 - Use technology and other information tools to analyze and organize information. and
3.1.4 - Use technology and other information tools to organize and display knowledge and understanding in ways that others can view, use and assess. an application that is perfect for those of us that rely on lists or what I call one stop shopping for resources, WebList.  WebList is an interactive and dynamic content sharing site.

WebList is a free service that can be used without registering.  If you want to save and edit that list you will need to register.  To register enter in a username, password, first and last name, email address and country.

You will receive an email at that address confirming your registration, username and password.

As you can see by the home page you can browse categories of lists already created or start building your own weblist immediately.  First type in a name for your list.  By selecting Click here for additional list settings, a window pops up allowing users to add a description, tags (subject headings), choose thumbnail preview or show items on page, check add voting to items and make my list private.  If the list is made private only those with the special link received directly from you can unlock the URL.  Just by using the URL it will be closed.

Once this is completed adding the items begins.  When users click on web page a window appears in which as many web sites as needed or necessary can be added using the URL.  When that box is filled in click on next.  You can enter in the title and a description of each of the web sites included on that list.

An image can be uploaded from your computer or a URL to a image can be posted in the box. As with adding a web page when the images are uploaded or URLs are added, a title and description for each can be made.

When text is added to your weblist you have control over its appearance as you would in most document applications.  The text is titled and described.  It can be made bold, in italics, strike-through or underlined.  Four types of justification are available as are indent and outdent, subscript and superscript and horizontal rule.  Lists and images can be inserted.  A link can be created.  Three sizes of headers can be chosen.

Upload a document from your computer by clicking on add to list once a title and description are included in the window.

To add a video to the weblist enter in the URL from one of the following platforms:  MetaCafe, YouTube, DailyMotion and Vimeo.  Be sure to include the title and description before clicking on the upload button.

Any type of file can be uploaded from your computer.  As stated above remember to add the title and description before selecting the upload tab.

Each time an item is added to your weblist it appears on the home page screen.  When you have all the items selected for the time being click on Save Your List.  The window to the right will appear.

At this window the List Address can be sent via email or to the following social networks:  Reddit, Digg This, StumbleUpon, Mixx, Facebook or Twitter.  A unique URL can be emailed to yourself (recommended) or placed in your favorites so the list can be edited in the future.  A short URL can be sent to Twitter and a unique Invite URL can be emailed to others.

If you wish, when this window is closed, there are the choices of opening all windows, leaving comments, getting the full list information and sharing with many social networks.  If you are logged in you can also go back in and edit the list.

In order to provide easy access to appropriate Internet sources for younger students this web 2.0 application is an educator's dream.  It also provides another way to save research done on a particular lesson or unit.  WebList gets an A+!