Beta testers needed for a Doodle Kisses toolbar

[Adina P]

In order to get your daily fix of doodles, we have created a new Doodle Kisses Toolbar.  This toolbar will be embedded in your browser and give you updates and links from DK while you are online, no matter what site you are on.

We have it set up to give links to the home page and various sections of DK, to give you a live feed of the latest activity, to give you a search box to search DK, and then several links to other including our Facebook page and our fundraising Amazon affliliate link.

Let me know what you think.  Are there other helpful links that we should include?  Should we eliminate any of the current toolbar links?

Can we get some testers for this?  I want it to be really useful and could use your feedback on what functions / links work best for you.

This toolbar is provided by Amazon/Alexa and as such is rock solid from a security and privacy standpoint.

Go here to download it and check it out:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/com.alexa.toolbar/atbp/uo16_U/download/ind...

Let us know what you think.  Thanks so much for helping create the most useful stuff for you, the best doodle owners in the world!

PS.  Here is where it sits in your browser and what it looks like:

 

 

 

Note:  Toolbars are compatible with Internet Explorer (PC & Mac), Firefox (PC & Mac), and Chrome (Windows only).

[ClarkP]

@Joanne:  I'm working on the link to "My Page"...

@Andy:  Yes, I have changed the forum link to default to the latest posts.

I'll let you know when the changes are made.  You won't have to update anything, the change will get pushed out to you when you reboot your browser.

Thx!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

@Clark. Thxs

[F, Calla & Luca]

I have lots of tabs open in Firefox most of the time. DK, Gmail, other mail and things I use all the time. They are all on my toolbar. How will this toolbar make things easier for me and how much landscape will it take up?

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Try it.  It is all I can say. You can always uninstall it in a week if it is not for you. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

OK

[F, Calla & Luca]

I just wrote a longer response and only OK posted : (

[ClarkP]

Hi F,

If you don't have a one or two click way to get to the places linked on the toolbar, then it might be handy for you.  From anywhere on the web, in two clicks you can get to: the DK forum latest activity, groups page, blogs page, and your DK inbox.  There is a headline display of the latest activity and a drop-down of the ten latest activity items.  There is a search bar for searching DK.  There is our Amazon link, Facebook link, and a Gmail link.  It all depends on if you think those things are valuable enough to give screen space real estate to.  We know it's a trade off.  Convenience vs. how much screen space you have.

You might prefer to have tabs open.  I do that a lot too, even with a toolbar.

The amount of real estate required can sort of be seen in the screenshot above.  All the stuff circled in yellow is what is added.  It adds a bar approximately the same height as the address bar across the width of the browser window.  If you have limited screen size, it might not be worth taking up that space.  For example, I have a netbook (a tiny laptop) that has a small enough screen that I don't install any toolbars at all - this one included.  The screen real estate is just too valuable.

It is easy to uninstall if you find it isn't valuable enough to keep.  Let us know what you think.

[F, Calla & Luca]

OK. I did install it. Early impressions. I like being able to search right on the toolbar. I like that the shortcut links open in a new tab. I think the changing update will annoy me more than help. There is a time delay with it since I saw a reply I had made 24 minutes before. Also, I really dislike that it replaces what I had open in DK when I click on it. I went to check on how long ago I had written the reply I just mentioned and, of course, my reply was gone since this feature does not open in a new tab.

The links to DK-Amazon and Gmail are redundant to me. Gmail is always an open tab for me and I have the DK Amazon link on my toolbar. I do wonder how this link opens to my Gmail inbox, though.

So all in all I think I probably will not use the toolbar. I think it will be most helpful for folks who don't keep multiple tabs open, or who don't have their most often used sites on their toolbar. It might occasionally be of use to me if I am looking for a specific response but that is a rarity.

I'm guessing that this will not work on my Xoom tablet, Android OS?

[ClarkP]

It replaces what you had open in DK when you click on it?  Is that when you click the DK Logo in the toolbar?  That link will go to DK no matter what page you are on.  So it will replace any web page with DK.  If it is a different link that is replacing your open DK page with the DK homepage, let me know.

My solution to that was to try to make that link open in a new tab.  But I don't see an option for that.  My other thought was that you probably don't need to open DK from the toolbar if you already have DK open.  ;-)

You are right that this only works on three different PC/Mac browsers (IE, Firefox, and Chrome).

[F, Calla & Luca]

Yes and it is a different link. The link that shows the latest responses. And yes, I did realize I didn't need to open DK again : )

[Elizabeth, Bailey & Bruin]

I keep getting a "not responding" message.  Any suggestions?

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

When I go to install this toolbar, I get a message that Firefox stopped me from installing or something. Now, John always tells me to be careful what I download on my computer, especially if the man asking me to install it has an odd mustache in his profile picture :) What to do...what to do...........