You create your own message to share with your friends and display it from your Google Homepage. Here is a small sample of the styles available.
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| configure= | create or change your own message | |
| preview= | see what your message will look like to others | |
| invite= | send a copy of your | |
| view= | view a message created by someone else who has sent their | |
| control= | obtain your keys, regenerate new keys, or delete your Beacon | |
| help= | display instructions on how to setup and use the Beacon Google Gadget |
First...

First you need to add the
Beacon module to your Google Homepage
as shown on the left. If you haven't already done so just click the 'Add
to Google' button now:
The first time you add the gadget you will be presented with a welcome
message and instructions leading you to the help function as
shown on the right. Your goal is to obtain and properly install the keys
to this gadget. There will be a Private Key and a Public Key.
The keys are matched to the e-mail address you enter. The Private Key
lets you create or change your message. Keep it secret. The Public Key
is needed to let someone else view your message. You can share your
Public Key with anyone as long as you want them to be able to see
your message.
Next...
Clicking the edit link leads you the initial settings as shown here.
Here you should enter your e-mail address in the space provided, select
the Function configure and press Save
When you do this the e-mail address you entered will be sent a message
containing your Private Key and your Public Key. Normally
the message will appear within moments but please give it at least 15
minutes before requesting it again. If you don't receive the message
check your e-mail address for errors. If you are sure it is correct,
check to see if your e-mail filtering will accept messages from
webmaster@echo3.net
Finally...
The e-mail message you receive will look something like the sample shown
on the left. Now copy your Public Key and paste it into the space
provided in your instance of the gadget where it says
Usually you can select the key properly by simply positioning the mouse cursor over it and double clicking. If this doesn't work, you will need to carefully position the mouse cursor over one end of it and then drag the cursor over it while holding down the left mouse button.
Once you have it selected then use the Edit menu to 'Copy' and 'Paste' it into the space provided for it.
Remember... use the configure function to create your own message.
Use the preview function to see what it will look like to those
with your Public Key. Use the view function when you want
to see someone else's message.
But I was invited...
If you were sent an invitation paste the View Key you
received where it says
Whenever you are viewing a message the Beacon Google Gadget will refresh itself automatically about once a minute. This way if your friend changes the message you will be able to see the lastest changes.
If you just want to test out a working View Key you are welcome to use our webmaster's key... we're sure he won't mind ;-)
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(1) Add the Beacon Google Gadget to your homepage:
(2) Copy the View Key you received from the e-mail message.
(3) Click the edit link on the Beacon Google Gadget.
(4) Paste the key into the space provided for it, where it says [View Key]
(5) Select the Function view
(6) Click Save.
In order to make your messages available to only those people you select we need a unique identifier for your message alone. That's the purpose of the Public Key. Any number of people may know your e-mail address or be able to guess it so we need a unique and secret identifier to pair with it so that only you can create or change your message. That's the purpose of the Private Key. When someone invites you to view their message they are sending you a value for you to paste in the space provided for the View Key.
No problem. Select the control function and you will see a panel with a Resend button. Click this button and the keys assigned to your given e-mail address will be resent to you.
The basic functions of the Beacon Google Gadget will work properly in nearly any browser but some implementations using IE do not work as well. If you are still using IE this would be a good time to switch to the Firefox browser. It is free and you can get it as part of the Google pack.
Select the control function which will lead you to a Regenerate button. Click it and you will be issued a new set of keys. The old keys will no longer work. You will need to share the new keys with those people who you do want seeing your message.
Let us begin by saying what we will not do. We will not use it to send you junk mail and we will to the best of our ability make sure it never falls into the hands of anyone else who might. We hate spam. We really do. Only messages initiated by you will be sent to your e-mail address as is necessary to allow you to configure your Beacon Google Gadget.
Since can you use HTML in your message one way to do this is to enter
We answer e-mail sent to webmaster@echo3.net Please include 'Beacon' in the subject line of your message.
Any use of the Beacon Google Gadget must include attribution to
http://echo3.net/beacon/
The Beacon Google Gadget is for entertainment purposes only and there
is no warranty expressed or implied that it is fit for any other purpose.
A Beacon Google Gadget must not be used on any website that includes:

This
work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.