Favorites - the little things to which we're loyal. Toothpaste, pair of jeans, ice cream flavor, actor, day of the week...let's not forget our favorite portal! Most of us instinctively use the same search engine or portal every time we surf the Net. Whether it's Netscape, AOL or Yahoo!, we know our way around the site and probably have a mental list of why it's our "favorite." But does your faithful cyber-scout know you?

Portals are designed for those that use the Internet as a daily tool. With a search engine, business headlines and weather, the portal is sometimes our first and last stop online. To make this type of online experience easier, most portals offer free "personalization," which puts content you're interested in all on one page. In fact, Excite.com describes it as "customizing your service."

GWI put Yahoo! to the test and discovered how easy it is to transform a standard portal into a site that's uniquely you. Here's how:

Step 1: Log In - register by choosing a username and password.

Step 2: Change Colors - choose a theme or background color for the main page.

Step 3: Choose Content - from horoscopes to stock portfolios, diet tracker and address book, local weather, even inspirational quotes, you can choose from a variety of personalized content - updated every day!

Step 4: Change Layout - you can choose where on the page you want your chosen content to appear.

Step 5: Add/Delete Special Interest Pages - you may add pages dedicated to topics such as entertainment or finance. Have handy reference to your family's favorite web stops like an online newspaper, Barbie.com, or the Boston Red Sox of course!

Personalizing or customizing a portal is not only convenient, it's a great way for families to monitor information available on the main page. Lycos.com is one portal that offers a kid-friendly link with easy access to games and homework help. Whatever you decide, set the site as startup page on your computer and enjoy the VIP attention!