About the Portlet Tools
I've set up some tools to make it easier to create custom versions of these little first- and third- column gadgets called portlets. I can go into deeper explanation later; for now, just look at the "contents" tab of this folder to see the portlets, in the folder like any other item. The simplest type, called just a Portlet, contains a text area, like a Page item. The other types can contain that text area plus either items from a Smart Folder or from an RSS feed. I've included all three kinds here.