Welcome to another installment of our Weekly Website series.
Our review this week is going to be a little short, but it’s for a site that packs a big punch.
Alltop – Top Hawaii News
The Internet is such an amazing place these days, and the evolution of how I use it in my everyday life keeps making leaps and bounds. It was only last August when I showed how I use an iGoogle page to keep tabs on Maui. While I still have that tab page, I made a switch a few months ago to rely more on Google Reader and now have close to 30 Hawaii or Maui themed blogs I subscribe to and enjoy daily. But Alltop goes one further.
Taken right from the Alltop homepage:
“Alltop is an ‘online magazine rack’ of popular topics. We update the stories every hour. Pick a topic by searching, news category, or name, and we’ll deliver it to you 24 x 7.”
And wouldn’t you know it, Hawaii is one of those topics.
Features
The Hawaii section on Alltop features the latest articles from over 100 Hawaii blogs and news sites (including ours!). And the variety of what you’ll find is incredible. There are blogs from different news orginizations on Hawaii, various non-profits and other groups, travel advice, a few realtors, and individual bloggers living both in Hawaii and from across the globe. Some have a statewide focus while others have a feel local to an individual island or town. Whatever you’re interested in that hour on any given day, you’ll be sure to find something.
Once you find an article from one of the blogs, just put your mouse over the title to see a short abstract. If you like it, click the link to go to the entire post. That’s it. Really. How cool is that?
It’s a matter of personal preference, but whenever I discover a site or blog on Alltop that I find myself returning to regularly, I grab the site’s RSS feed and load it into Google Reader. I’ve probably found a dozen blogs this way that might have otherwise been buried in search results elsewhere. This has been a really great find for me.
About Alltop
“Two guys and a gal in a garage,” according to their About Alltop page. Yet another great concept on the web, demonstrating that you don’t have to be a big company to do cool things online. One of the reasons I love this profession. There is also a great set of FAQs on the About page, so be sure to check those out if you want more information.
Talk Story
Are you new to Alltop, or have you been using it already? Tell us what you think, and what other topics you think are pretty useful there. I’ve been meaning to check out the Hockey and Photography pages, but there truly isn’t enough time in the day.
As always, be sure to leave comments on this review as well. If you know of a website or blog you think we should feature in our Weekly Websites series, check out the contact details below.
Mahalo.
The Weekly Website Series here at our blog showcases various websites and blogs that we like to frequent, as well as recommend to others. There are so many Maui and Hawaii focused sites out there, it might seem a little intimidating at first. By featuring sites that we us ourselves and have found very helpful and engaging, we hope to introduce others to the very best out there.
To follow along with future editions of our Weekly Website Series, be sure to subscribe to our blog feed to get the latest posts and updates. We already have a bit of a queue, but if you haven’t seen one of your favorites yet, you can contact us or send me a note on Twitter.
