AOL Opens Site To Third-Party E-mail, ContentAOL Opens Site To Third-Party E-mail, Content

Internet users can now access multiple e-mail accounts from AOL.com.

The company said Wednesday that it is revamping the site to offer increased choice and customization. The site will debut various features over the next several weeks. The features will allow users to add their own links to the main navigation bar and access custom feeds from social networking sites, news sources, and other Web sites.

AOL said the plans represent its first step in opening the site to third parties.

"With the launch of mail aggregation, AOL will be the first among the big traditional portals to offer a centralized e-mail experience," Bill Wilson, executive VP of programming at AOL, said in a prepared statement. "We know that consumers today have multiple e-mail accounts on different services to keep tabs on daily, and we want to make it easier for them. This is an important first step in opening up AOL.com and giving users the ability to populate the AOL.com homepage with content and services they use on a daily basis, regardless of where it lives."

Yahoo e-mail accounts, Gmail, and Hotmail will be available through icons on AOL's site. Mail Preview Panels allow users to see if they have new messages on their AOL, Gmail, and Yahoo accounts, as the mail arrives. Users can instantly click on and read messages in all accounts, and AOL now provides a link for each mail provider so users can open a window for composing messages with one click.

AOL also altered its navigation bar to allow direct access to more of its own content, including that produced by TMZ, StyleList, ParentDish, Wallet Pop, Asylum, and more.

Future additions will include a "keyhole" view of social networks to allow users to manage all social networking feeds from the site, a customizable RSS feed reader, and freedom to add a link to any Web page to the main navigation bar.

"For a portal to be relevant to consumers today, it has to recognize that users seek a variety of different experiences and connections with their various networks and information sources," Wilson said. "AOL is embracing this with the new AOL.com, becoming the first truly open portal experience offered by one of the big traditional portals."