Thus, there are a number of sites that are intended to help put all of your online presences in one place. I’ve tried a few of these aggregators. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, so check them out, and see which options might work for you.

DandyID

Of the services I discuss here, DandyID is the easiest to set up, because it doesn’t try to do too much. This is a simple service that creates an online profile showing your name, bio, contact information, web links, and your online identities. You can specify your online identity for over 330 social networks, including sites from the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia and Poland. Plus, you can add sites not on its list.

When you first sign up, DandyID has an option for importing contacts from services like Gmail, although the import failed for me, and there doesn’t seem to be a way to try again. I’m not sure what advantage you get from importing your contacts, anyway.

The profile page DandyID creates is very basic and not very customizable. But Facebook users may choose DandyID because it offers a very nice app that allows you to embed your online presences into your Facebook page.

Retaggr

Retaggr bills itself as “the modern day equivalent of a business card.” Aliza wrote about this service last year, and noted how it had improved a few months later.

When you sign up, you’re taken to a well-designed form where you provide Retaggr with information about yourself, and about the places you have online presences. I counted over 180 different social networks, and you can add sites not listed. (Apparently, you can import some of this information if you have a FriendFeed account, but that option didn’t work for me.) You can also add information about groups with which you are affiliated, and widgets allowing people to IM you directly.

You get three ways of displaying the information you’ve entered:

• A profile page on the Retaggr site (and which can be used with a custom domain name if you buy its premium service). The page can be set to display your status from Twitter and Facebook, blog entries and even pictures from Flickr.
• A virtual “business card” that can be embedded almost anywhere on the web, and in email signatures.
• An “add me” button that can be used to encourage others to connect with you.

ClaimID

While you can use ClaimID to list your profiles on social networks, the site is really about aggregating any web page or site that you wish to “claim,” either as author or subject. This is done by adding MicroID code to the web pages in question to show you have access to them.

So instead of offering you a list of social networks, as DandyID and Retaggr do, ClaimID offers a “Post to ClaimID” bookmarklet that you install in your browser, then click it whenever you want to add a site to your ClaimID page. You can then organize the links into categories and annotate them as you wish.

This site might be a good way for, say, writers or web developers to put together a portfolio, although if you don’t need ownership verification, it would be easy to produce a similar-looking site with basic web page editing tools.

GizaPage

As Scott discussed recently, GizaPage’s concept is simple: One URL displays a series of tabs showing the social network sites you select. Web developers will recognize that this is essentially a “Web 2.0″ version of HTML frames, with options that allow the GizaPage owner to select who gets to see what. I like the concept, but the site seems often to be slow and buggy for me. But it has potential, and is definitely worth watching.

Chi.mp

By far the most comprehensive option for managing online identities is Chi.mp, which Darrell recently wrote about. Read his review for details; I’ll just say that Chi.mp offers many options that none of the above services do, notably:

• A custom domain name as a standard feature (optional with Retaggr).
• The ability to show different information to public, work and home groups.
• Some customization of the site’s template.
• Twitter-like posting of status and images.
• Contact management (Chi.mp calls it the “Ultimate Black Book”).

Because Chi.mp has so many features, it takes more setting up than the other options, and, I suspect, more maintenance. But it may be an attractive option for those who need a hub for their web presences, and are willing to spend the time to use its features to the fullest.

Conclusion

There are a number of other services for aggregating social network identities. Many of these products are in beta, or just don’t seem to work very well. I’ve tried a few, and will hold my opinions until we see how they develop. Like the social networking field itself, I’m sure that the best services will survive, and others will fade away.

For now, though, I found Retaggr to be the most useful service for managing online identities, although signing up for DandyID may be worth it just for the Facebook app.

How do you manage your social identities?

Ever Improving Evernote

I blogged about Evernote back in April while they were still in private beta. Mike Gunderloy has also covered them several times. Judi Sohn has also mentioned them a few times including recently.

The latest from Evernote seems to be some tweaking to add more finesse to the application’s versions on the Web, via Mobile Web and on the iPhone such as:

• Rich text editing including bullets, colors, and styles on their Web version.
• A new web clipper Firefox and Flock extension for Windows, Mac and Linux.
• The ability to change the title of a note during web clipping
• The ability to edit text notes on Evernote Mobile Web and soon on iPhone.

I like the way Evernote uses social media communications to stay in touch with customers including FriendFeed and via a Facebook fan page.

Joint Contact Gets Even More Twittery

In my constant quest for the ideal project management tool for Web work, I took a look at Joint Contact last month, especially taken with their ideas around using Twitter as part of project management. The latest version of Joint Contact includes the ability to send automated Tweets (through a Twitter account with protected updates) when users add documents, images or tasks. Team members who are comfortable with Twitter can be in the loop via their favorite Twitter tool or platform including desktop with Twitterific or Twhirl and via SMS.

Again, to use Twitter as an integrated part of the Joint Contact project management process, the company is emphasizing that the Twitter profiles created must be protected to keep the project messages secure. Regardless of how it plays out, this is an interesting example of a business application for Twitter and for the use of SMS communications for project management. (Joint Contact on Twitter)

Backboard Gets More Secure

Last month, I also posted about Backboard, the handy and elegant feedback application. Since then, the company has enhanced security, providing an access key for extra security when sharing your Backboard with a large group. You can also restrict access to your Backboard to a group confirmed with their own password-protected accounts.

Backboard Groups let’s you share multiple Backboards with the same team and the Address Book Import let’s you easily add your contacts from your Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, LinkedIn and Outlook. Another helpful feature is supporting multiple versions of the same document so you can change your file and get feedback on the new version.

Backboard is one of those Web apps that I really loved in demo but haven’t used it in my Web work to date, but I can definitely see using it in the near future.

Retaggr Enhances Profile Cards

I played around with the Retaggr profile card back in June and thought it was a nice, compact way of displaying one’s credentials. The latest from Retaggr includes:

• The ability to add professional affiliations.
• The ability to include your card in your sig file.
• A feature where you can compare your card with others.
• Host custom widgets in your card.
• Add any profile link into your card even if not a Retaggr partner.

I’m going to use Retaggr soon, really I am. I have an account but have yet to be able to embed it into my blog. So many apps and widgets, so little time. (Retaggr on Twitter)

Zemanta Odds and Ends

Just got an email from the folks at Zemanta. I blogged about them twice – here and here. While I don’t usually find Zemanta helpful blogging at WWD, I am finding that I use it for other pro-blogging gigs and even more often for my personal blogs.

Zemanta’s latest:

• They now support Windows LiveWriter.
• They are suggesting content from CrunchBase.
• They’ve expanded their Amazon books integration to include book covers.

Zemanta does help me enhance blogs in a pinch so I’d put this under the “useful app, using it” category.

You can also find Zemanta on Twitter.

BTW, I really like being able to follow my favorite companies and apps on Twitter.

Are you using any of the apps mentioned here? If so, how are you using them?

Once you set up a free Retaggr account, you can add a photo, include your status that can be easily linked to your Twitter account to show recent tweets, and link to your blog and include the RSS feed to pull up the most recent posts in your card.

You can also include your brief bio or profile and an email icon and your contact number on your card. Again, think of this as your business card, but don’t worry – your email address is protected.

To really enhance your card, you’ll want to add in all of your sites, blogs, microblogs, bookmarketing, social network pages, and more and Retaggr will link to them. The card customization process also includes a Facebook badge and a way to add other widgets you’ve created. If you’ve got a FriendFeed account, that will actually speed up your customization process.

You’ll be amazed at not only how many links you can create in your Retaggr card to all the publishing, communications and networking tools you use (lots and lots of them), but also how Retaggr displays everything in a very clean and compact format. (See my retaggr profile card at the bottom of this post or visit my retaggr page.)

Your card is easily embedded through the code the site provides to you or via one of those tiny buttons that represents your card and leads to it when clicked on. What I love about retaggr is that it gives people a hub point for connection to you and also displays the breadth of your presence and participation on the Web. What I was a little confused about was that on the home page of retaggr, it says that it is compatible with WordPress, but I was not able to embed my card into this post (WordPress stripped out the code every time).

On the social networking side of retaggr, you can tag people you know in images anywhere on the Web when a site is retaggr-enabled, including your own. First, you can make your own site retaggr-enabled. Once you do this, any image you see on your site will have a little “tag” icon next to it. Click on it to draw a box around any person in the photo to tag them. This means that other people who have photos of you on their sites can tag them with your name. If someone tags a photo on their site with your name, retaggr notifies you and provides you with a copy and link to the image.

Your retaggr card can follow you around to any retaggr-enabled site so if you leave a comment, anyone can find you through your profile card. You can also save other people’s cards in your account and create your own contact database of cards.

If you’re looking for a neat way to display your credentials and links to your sites and networks, retaggr makes it easy. The more people who use retaggr, the more pervasive the connections and the greater its value as an introduction tool that integrates and shares more than just your name, title, phone number and email address. Old-fashioned business cards have nothing on retaggr.