My.MSN.com

Discussion:

My.MSN.com

(too old to reply)

LarryB

2010-01-28 17:41:02 UTC

Hi everyone,

Well, here we go again! It seems like every darned time I get really hooked
on a Microsoft product they drop it! This time it's my.live.com. While I
have no use for any of the other live products exept the email, I use
my.live.com as my homepage and have done so for the last year and a half,
since switching over from MSN Premium.

At any rate, I've gone to msn.com and set up a personal home page with lots
of rss feed gadgets on four pages, and with the exception of the awful ad,
it's not bad.

One thing my.msn.com does that my.live.com did NOT do, and which is quite
annoying, is to open the first feed of each gadget. Doing this makes each
page much longer than necessary and is somewhat distracting.

The ability to modify my.msn.com is very limited and I cannot find any way
to turn this off.

Can anyone offer any work arounds or advice?

PA Bear [MS MVP]

2010-01-28 19:35:25 UTC

Permalink

cf. http://liveunplugged.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!F92775FC46A390CA!974.entry

cf.
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.msn.discussion/browse_frm/thread/b5f42d1ae806d318

Post by LarryB
Hi everyone,
Well, here we go again! It seems like every darned time I get really hooked
on a Microsoft product they drop it! This time it's my.live.com. While I
have no use for any of the other live products exept the email, I use
my.live.com as my homepage and have done so for the last year and a half,
since switching over from MSN Premium.
At any rate, I've gone to msn.com and set up a personal home page with lots
of rss feed gadgets on four pages, and with the exception of the awful ad,
it's not bad.
One thing my.msn.com does that my.live.com did NOT do, and which is quite
annoying, is to open the first feed of each gadget. Doing this makes each
page much longer than necessary and is somewhat distracting.
The ability to modify my.msn.com is very limited and I cannot find any way
to turn this off.
Can anyone offer any work arounds or advice?

LarryB

2010-01-28 21:19:01 UTC

Permalink

Post by PA Bear [MS MVP]
cf. http://liveunplugged.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!F92775FC46A390CA!974.entry
cf.
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.msn.discussion/browse_frm/thread/b5f42d1ae806d318

.
Hello Pa Bear,

Thank you for your response, but actually I was asking whether anyone could
tell me if there was any way to stop my.msn.com from opening the first
headline/feed in the feed gadgets.

Not sure if I'm using the correct terminology and so that may be making it
difficult to understand my question.

I apologize if that's the case! :-)

Thanks, Larry

...winston

2010-01-28 21:58:01 UTC

Permalink

Hello Larry,
The My.Live notification was pretty much under the radar, akaik, only limited to the my.live.com page not widely distributed to
email(which they obviously have the ability to do since all Live ID's are either Hotmail type accounts(live,hotmail, msn) or 3rd
party accounts with email addresses.

With MyMSN the same old...wysiwyg and never forget that MSN has the right to change or modify its form, structure, and/or
availability at any given time. I can't remember the number of times that MyMSN has changed, unlike MyLive which remained
relatively unchanged and was, as others felt, a good alternative as a home page.

The only way to avoid the ad is to use a premium Hotmail Plus account(Hotmail.com, Live.com, or Msn.com) or MSN Premium
subscription(dial up, dsl, byo isp) account. Other Live ID's(e.g. third party email addresses registered as Live ID's ie. Yahoo,
Earthlink, Gmail, Cox, etc) don't qualify for the 'ad free' experience.

There is also a slight change in nomenclature. Adding content on MyLive was referred to as adding 'gadgets'. On MyMSN they are
referred to as 'modules'

Feeds(RSS) can be added as a module(via Add Content/Add RSS)..unlike the other modules which don't open the first item in the
module, the Feeds(RSS) do automatically expand the first line time. There does not appear to be a method to permanently shrink
that first line item expansion. In fact, if one shrinks that first feed line item(or expands a different feed line item in the same
RSS feed) and switches to a different page tab(since more than one page can be added) on MyMSN then later returns to the earlier
page, it resorts to the default(first item expanded).

The only other options I can suggest and neither rectify the issue of an RSS Feed expanding the first item and changing the entire
flow.....
a. Move the RSS feed to the bottom

b. Place Feeds on a separate page
- Up to 5 pages are possible
<qp>
You can have up to five pages on My MSN. This means that you can group and organize your modules (A component on My MSN that
contains information for a specific category, like news, weather, sports, or finance. You can add or remove modules on My MSN, and
arrange them any way that you like.) any way you want. For example, you can keep news-based modules on one page, and
entertainment-based modules on another.
</qp>

Finally, to ensure customizations are not lost use a Live ID which stores more content on the server. While MyMSN can be accessed
without a Live ID sign-on, if cookies are cleared, customization will be lost
--
...winston
ms-mvp mail

LarryB

2010-01-29 01:17:01 UTC

Permalink

Hello Winston,

Thank you replying! Yes, I got the notification across the my.live.com
pages and then from Winston's Space through an rss feed to my "Tech Page".
:-)

I signed up for a Windows Live Hotmail Plus account as soon as I switched
over to it and my.live.com from MSN Premium. Unfortunately, at least in my
case, that has not had any effect on the ad on my.msn.com, it is right there
on each of my pages.

The first thing I did on my.msn.com was to set up my pages like I had done
on my.live.com, as you suggested, a page for "News", one for "Tech", one for
"Blogs" and of course the home page. That does not stop my.msn from opening
the first headline on each gadget though, and I have a lot of gadgets on each
page.

I had used MSN Premium for several years and both my wife and I really liked
it, especially the email. Sadly Microsoft all but abandoned it in order to
focus, I believe, on their new "Live" push. MSN did not get upgraded for,
what, years? It would not work properly with Vista and most, including
myself, believed it was going to be "retired". That was when I decided to
look for something else.

I went to my.live.com for my home page and, again, was hooked almost
immediately! No ads, not a lot of customization, but enough, and everything
worked! For email I went back to Outlook and my wife just had to learn how
to use it.

Now, with my.live.com going away I thought I'd give my.msn.com a try.
Unfortunately, it's lack of customization, on top of the ad and it's rather
curious way of allowing certain rss feeds while not allowing others, is
leaving me a little cold.

For what it's worth, I'm also setting up and testing my AT&T/Yahoo home
page, since that's who I get my DSL service from. Same stupid ad in the same
stupid place, but it works the same way as my.msn.com and is significantly
more customizable. It feels clunkier than my.msn, though I think that's a
bit subjective! :-)

In any case, while you did not solve my problem, you DID answer my question!

Thank you for that!

Larry

Post by ...winston
Hello Larry,
The My.Live notification was pretty much under the radar, akaik, only limited to the my.live.com page not widely distributed to
email(which they obviously have the ability to do since all Live ID's are either Hotmail type accounts(live,hotmail, msn) or 3rd
party accounts with email addresses.
With MyMSN the same old...wysiwyg and never forget that MSN has the right to change or modify its form, structure, and/or
availability at any given time. I can't remember the number of times that MyMSN has changed, unlike MyLive which remained
relatively unchanged and was, as others felt, a good alternative as a home page.
The only way to avoid the ad is to use a premium Hotmail Plus account(Hotmail.com, Live.com, or Msn.com) or MSN Premium
subscription(dial up, dsl, byo isp) account. Other Live ID's(e.g. third party email addresses registered as Live ID's ie. Yahoo,
Earthlink, Gmail, Cox, etc) don't qualify for the 'ad free' experience.
There is also a slight change in nomenclature. Adding content on MyLive was referred to as adding 'gadgets'. On MyMSN they are
referred to as 'modules'
Feeds(RSS) can be added as a module(via Add Content/Add RSS)..unlike the other modules which don't open the first item in the
module, the Feeds(RSS) do automatically expand the first line time. There does not appear to be a method to permanently shrink
that first line item expansion. In fact, if one shrinks that first feed line item(or expands a different feed line item in the same
RSS feed) and switches to a different page tab(since more than one page can be added) on MyMSN then later returns to the earlier
page, it resorts to the default(first item expanded).
The only other options I can suggest and neither rectify the issue of an RSS Feed expanding the first item and changing the entire
flow.....
a. Move the RSS feed to the bottom
b. Place Feeds on a separate page
- Up to 5 pages are possible
<qp>
You can have up to five pages on My MSN. This means that you can group and organize your modules (A component on My MSN that
contains information for a specific category, like news, weather, sports, or finance. You can add or remove modules on My MSN, and
arrange them any way that you like.) any way you want. For example, you can keep news-based modules on one page, and
entertainment-based modules on another.
</qp>
Finally, to ensure customizations are not lost use a Live ID which stores more content on the server. While MyMSN can be accessed
without a Live ID sign-on, if cookies are cleared, customization will be lost
--
...winston
ms-mvp mail

...winston

2010-01-29 09:47:25 UTC

Permalink

Larry,
Thank you so much for pointing out two important issues. I've since revised the blog entry on Feeds and Ad-free requirements.

With respect to Ad-Free...
Apparently only MSn Premium accounts(primary and sub-accounts) are capable of ad-free. Hotmail Plus for all practical purposes(as
you reported) does not qualify*

* I originally tested only one of my Hotmail Plus accounts that showed as ad-free. After reading your post, I tested two
others(mine and my spouse) and had an additional third party test theirs. None of the those 3 were ad free on MyMSN.
- The only difference between the ad free Hotmail Plus account and the others...it was originally an MSN Premium dial up account
of mine(provided for and used by my later father). I kept that account as a Premium for a few years then in 2004 cancelled and
converted at the same time to a Hotmail Plus account over the phone through Customer Service. The fact that it continues to be ad
free on MyMsn can is unexplainable(possibly some bit not flipped or other reason only MSN can explain or will never figure out).

Thanks again for your due diligence in reporting your findings and allowing my blog entry to have more accurate content.

Regards,
--
...winston
ms-mvp mail

Post by LarryB
Hello Winston,
Thank you replying! Yes, I got the notification across the my.live.com
pages and then from Winston's Space through an rss feed to my "Tech Page".
:-)
I signed up for a Windows Live Hotmail Plus account as soon as I switched
over to it and my.live.com from MSN Premium. Unfortunately, at least in my
case, that has not had any effect on the ad on my.msn.com, it is right there
on each of my pages.
The first thing I did on my.msn.com was to set up my pages like I had done
on my.live.com, as you suggested, a page for "News", one for "Tech", one for
"Blogs" and of course the home page. That does not stop my.msn from opening
the first headline on each gadget though, and I have a lot of gadgets on each
page.
I had used MSN Premium for several years and both my wife and I really liked
it, especially the email. Sadly Microsoft all but abandoned it in order to
focus, I believe, on their new "Live" push. MSN did not get upgraded for,
what, years? It would not work properly with Vista and most, including
myself, believed it was going to be "retired". That was when I decided to
look for something else.
I went to my.live.com for my home page and, again, was hooked almost
immediately! No ads, not a lot of customization, but enough, and everything
worked! For email I went back to Outlook and my wife just had to learn how
to use it.
Now, with my.live.com going away I thought I'd give my.msn.com a try.
Unfortunately, it's lack of customization, on top of the ad and it's rather
curious way of allowing certain rss feeds while not allowing others, is
leaving me a little cold.
For what it's worth, I'm also setting up and testing my AT&T/Yahoo home
page, since that's who I get my DSL service from. Same stupid ad in the same
stupid place, but it works the same way as my.msn.com and is significantly
more customizable. It feels clunkier than my.msn, though I think that's a
bit subjective! :-)
In any case, while you did not solve my problem, you DID answer my question!
Thank you for that!
Larry

Post by ...winston
Hello Larry,
The My.Live notification was pretty much under the radar, akaik, only limited to the my.live.com page not widely distributed to
email(which they obviously have the ability to do since all Live ID's are either Hotmail type accounts(live,hotmail, msn) or 3rd
party accounts with email addresses.
With MyMSN the same old...wysiwyg and never forget that MSN has the right to change or modify its form, structure, and/or
availability at any given time. I can't remember the number of times that MyMSN has changed, unlike MyLive which remained
relatively unchanged and was, as others felt, a good alternative as a home page.
The only way to avoid the ad is to use a premium Hotmail Plus account(Hotmail.com, Live.com, or Msn.com) or MSN Premium
subscription(dial up, dsl, byo isp) account. Other Live ID's(e.g. third party email addresses registered as Live ID's ie.
Yahoo,
Earthlink, Gmail, Cox, etc) don't qualify for the 'ad free' experience.
There is also a slight change in nomenclature. Adding content on MyLive was referred to as adding 'gadgets'. On MyMSN they are
referred to as 'modules'
Feeds(RSS) can be added as a module(via Add Content/Add RSS)..unlike the other modules which don't open the first item in the
module, the Feeds(RSS) do automatically expand the first line time. There does not appear to be a method to permanently shrink
that first line item expansion. In fact, if one shrinks that first feed line item(or expands a different feed line item in the
same
RSS feed) and switches to a different page tab(since more than one page can be added) on MyMSN then later returns to the earlier
page, it resorts to the default(first item expanded).
The only other options I can suggest and neither rectify the issue of an RSS Feed expanding the first item and changing the
entire
flow.....
a. Move the RSS feed to the bottom
b. Place Feeds on a separate page
- Up to 5 pages are possible
<qp>
You can have up to five pages on My MSN. This means that you can group and organize your modules (A component on My MSN that
contains information for a specific category, like news, weather, sports, or finance. You can add or remove modules on My MSN,
and
arrange them any way that you like.) any way you want. For example, you can keep news-based modules on one page, and
entertainment-based modules on another.
</qp>
Finally, to ensure customizations are not lost use a Live ID which stores more content on the server. While MyMSN can be
accessed
without a Live ID sign-on, if cookies are cleared, customization will be lost
--
...winston
ms-mvp mail

LarryB

2010-01-29 15:38:05 UTC

Permalink

Hello Winston,

Well, you're certainly welcome for any small positive input I've made and
thank you for clearing up the questions I had about my.msn.

Just a heads up to Microsoft if anyone there happens across this post, I
would have paid to keep my.live.com, just like I would have continued to pay
for MSN Premium if they had kept it up to date, and just like I've been
paying for Hotmail Plus.

I don't use any of the "social networking" aspects of Live, but I'm really
sorry to see my Home Page go.

Anyway Winston, thanks again for being there and helping clear things up for
me....again! :-)

Larry

Post by ...winston
Larry,
Thank you so much for pointing out two important issues. I've since revised the blog entry on Feeds and Ad-free requirements.
With respect to Ad-Free...
Apparently only MSn Premium accounts(primary and sub-accounts) are capable of ad-free. Hotmail Plus for all practical purposes(as
you reported) does not qualify*
* I originally tested only one of my Hotmail Plus accounts that showed as ad-free. After reading your post, I tested two
others(mine and my spouse) and had an additional third party test theirs. None of the those 3 were ad free on MyMSN.
- The only difference between the ad free Hotmail Plus account and the others...it was originally an MSN Premium dial up account
of mine(provided for and used by my later father). I kept that account as a Premium for a few years then in 2004 cancelled and
converted at the same time to a Hotmail Plus account over the phone through Customer Service. The fact that it continues to be ad
free on MyMsn can is unexplainable(possibly some bit not flipped or other reason only MSN can explain or will never figure out).
Thanks again for your due diligence in reporting your findings and allowing my blog entry to have more accurate content.
Regards,
--
...winston
ms-mvp mail

Post by ...winston
Hello Larry,
The My.Live notification was pretty much under the radar, akaik, only limited to the my.live.com page not widely distributed to
email(which they obviously have the ability to do since all Live ID's are either Hotmail type accounts(live,hotmail, msn) or 3rd
party accounts with email addresses.
With MyMSN the same old...wysiwyg and never forget that MSN has the right to change or modify its form, structure, and/or
availability at any given time. I can't remember the number of times that MyMSN has changed, unlike MyLive which remained
relatively unchanged and was, as others felt, a good alternative as a home page.
The only way to avoid the ad is to use a premium Hotmail Plus account(Hotmail.com, Live.com, or Msn.com) or MSN Premium
subscription(dial up, dsl, byo isp) account. Other Live ID's(e.g. third party email addresses registered as Live ID's ie.
Yahoo,
Earthlink, Gmail, Cox, etc) don't qualify for the 'ad free' experience.
There is also a slight change in nomenclature. Adding content on MyLive was referred to as adding 'gadgets'. On MyMSN they are
referred to as 'modules'
Feeds(RSS) can be added as a module(via Add Content/Add RSS)..unlike the other modules which don't open the first item in the
module, the Feeds(RSS) do automatically expand the first line time. There does not appear to be a method to permanently shrink
that first line item expansion. In fact, if one shrinks that first feed line item(or expands a different feed line item in the
same
RSS feed) and switches to a different page tab(since more than one page can be added) on MyMSN then later returns to the earlier
page, it resorts to the default(first item expanded).
The only other options I can suggest and neither rectify the issue of an RSS Feed expanding the first item and changing the
entire
flow.....
a. Move the RSS feed to the bottom
b. Place Feeds on a separate page
- Up to 5 pages are possible
<qp>
You can have up to five pages on My MSN. This means that you can group and organize your modules (A component on My MSN that
contains information for a specific category, like news, weather, sports, or finance. You can add or remove modules on My MSN,
and
arrange them any way that you like.) any way you want. For example, you can keep news-based modules on one page, and
entertainment-based modules on another.
</qp>
Finally, to ensure customizations are not lost use a Live ID which stores more content on the server. While MyMSN can be
accessed
without a Live ID sign-on, if cookies are cleared, customization will be lost
--
...winston
ms-mvp mail