6.2. Recommendations
Virtual desktops are a powerful tool to manage and organize information gathered from several sources, including websites, social networks, blogs or e-mail accounts. Virtual desktop applications are quite intuitive and easy to use, but still some recommendations should be taken into account in order to make the most of their potential.
Arrangement in tabs and modules. A proper use of tabs and modules in a virtual desktop should be make in order to visually arrange information.
Each tab in a desktop will provide access to a webmix, that will be arranged according to a consistent approach (subject, language of resources, etc.). Tab arrangement may be changed by simply clicking on the tab to be moved and dragging it leftwards or rightwards to the desired place. Most applications also allow for the addition of an icon to each tab to distinguish them, which may be really useful.
Besides, each tab provides access to a webmix of resources composed by several widgets that will show the gathered contents. All widgets in a webmix should belong in a given subject or set of criteria; besides, module arrangement should also be consistent. In order to achieve that, remember that moving a widget is as easy as clicking on it and dragging it to the desired position.
Finally, it would be advisable to create a new desktop in the same account if you have already created too many tabs in a desktop, if you want to work with very different subjects or if several users are to share the same accounts.
Shared desktops. Virtual desktop applications make it possible to create webmixes with links to digital content for a personal use. Apart from that, they also provide the opportunity to publicly share those links comprehensively. By default, all desktops created by a user will be private until the user decides to share them. In this sense, it should be noted that these tools include the possibility to configure a public part and a private part, which means you do not need to publish all your contents, but only those webmixes and modules you want to share. You need to remember that during the publication process a given set of tags (with keywords for the content) will need to be included, as well as a brief description of the collection. A webmix may be shared through a link sent to contacts or on social media (Twitter and Facebook have a functionality for that).
You should also keep in mind that you may publish webmixes and also use your application to find and store interesting collections gathered by other users.
RSS feed. One of the main features of a virtual desktop is the automatic update of its contents through RSS (Really Simple Syndication). This a format used to distribute frequently updated information to users that are subscribed to this particular source of contents. By using them, you may simultaneously follow (with its corresponding automatic updates) several news websites, social networks or blogs, efficiently managing a large amount of information.
It must be noted that you need to introduce the link to the RSS source in the virtual desktop application in order to follow that RSS source. In some cases, the exact source URL will be required, whereas in some other cases only the publication URL will be necessary.
You can also add a website that has no RSS activation in one of the widgets. In order to do so, you may easily create the RSS source using one of the many websites that offer this service (e.g. http://createfeed.fivefilters.org/ or https://feedity.com/).
Finally, RSS sources included in a publicly shared webmix should be checked frequently. In many cases, links are broken or no longer updated, and whwn this happens the public collection will not look or work as well.