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Most web browsers provide you with a few options for selecting what you want displayed on the home page when you open the browser. Some web browsers, such as Firefox, have extensions available that provide additional functionality.

However, most of these browsers don’t provide many options for editing the home page and adding your own custom links. We found a free tool, called Homepage Maker, that allows you to create custom home pages for Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox, and Opera.

Homepage Maker creates a homepage that displays cool glass thumbnails for up to 18 of your favorite websites and allows you to give each of them a display name. The favicon for each website is also displayed, if found.

Download Homepage Maker from

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/customize-browser-home-page-with-homepage-maker-for-ie-firefox-chrome-opera.

Homepage Maker does not require installation. Simply unzip the downloaded file, and double-click the Homepage Maker v1.exe file to run it.

To add a website to your custom homepage, enter a name for the site in the Enter a Name to display edit box and enter the URL for the website in the Choose or Enter a URL edit box. If you want the links to open in a new window, select the Open links in New Window check box so there is a check mark in the box. Click Add.

You can use a solid color for a background (Use Background Color) or you can select your own image for the background (Use Background Image). If you choose to use your own background image, click the Browse button.

NOTE: If the image you want to use is online, you can enter the full URL to the image in the edit box below the Browse button. We recommend that if you want to use an image that is online, you should use one that is on your own site and not someone else’s. A link to an image on someone else’s site may not always be valid.

Navigate to the location of the image you want to use as the background image on your custom homepage. Select the image file and click Open.

Once you have added some websites to your custom homepage, you can view the list of websites by clicking the View List button.

The URL List dialog box displays. If you want to remove a website from the list, click the red X to the right of that website. You can also clear the entire list by clicking the Clear All button at the bottom of the dialog box.

To close the URL List dialog box, click the X button in the upper, right corner of the dialog box.

Homepage Maker provides 16 predefined URLs for you to add to your homepage. To select one of these URLs, click the down arrow on the Choose or Enter a URL edit box to display the list. Select a URL from the list to enter it into the edit box.

The name of the predefined website is not automatically entered into the Enter a Name to display edit box. Enter a name manually.

You can specify the font type, size, and color for the names of your websites on your homepage using the drop-down lists under Select the Font Type, Size and Color.

If you want a search box on your homepage, select one of the three provided in the drop-down list. Once you select the search engine, select whether you want it displayed below or above the links from the drop-down list to the right of the search engine drop-down list.

You can use Homepage Maker to directly set the homepage in Internet Explorer by selecting the Set Internet Explorer Homepage check box. However, you will need to manually change the homepage for Firefox, Google Chrome, and Opera. We will show you how to change the homepage in Firefox later in this post. For Chrome and Opera, refer to the help for each.

Once you have added your links and set the desired settings, click the Create button to generate your custom homepage.

To close Homepage Maker, click the X button in the upper, right corner of the dialog box.

The generated homepage HTML file (Homepage.htm) is created in the Homepage Maker directory in the Webpage Files sub-directory.

Copy the full path to the Homepage.htm file.

To set the homepage in Firefox, open Firefox and select Options from the Tools menu.

Make sure the General screen is active, by clicking the General button on the toolbar, if necessary. Paste the full path to the Homepage.htm file in the Home Page edit box. Click OK to close the Options dialog box.

To test your new, custom homepage, click the Home button on the Firefox toolbar.

Your homepage displays on the currently active tab, with your custom links and your chosen search engine box.

If you want to add more to your custom homepage in the future, simply open Homepage Maker and add or change your homepage. Your custom homepage opens in Homepage Maker as you left it, after your last changes. Click Create again to regenerate your custom homepage.