The Inquisitr » igoogle

iGoogle Gets Direct Access to Gmail Chat

JR — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:11:49 +0000

Google’s Gmail Chat (aka Google Talk) feature is now available within your custom iGoogle homepage.

Google added the chat functionality into iGoogle this week, noting that with the recent redesign, Gmail access was available — but instant messaging was not.

“Having the ability to work on email right on my iGoogle page has been awesome, but I simply couldn’t get the same Gmail experience without the chat feature,” writes Google Talk engineer Rhett Robinson.

The new function pulls your chat settings from Gmail and gives you a similar setup. It also adds an option for non-Gmail users to sign up for iGoogle-based chat with any working e-mail address.

Google has been testing the feature on a small-scale for some time, Robinson says. It will be rolled out to all U.S.-based iGoogle users over the coming days. You can manually add it onto your account immediately, however, by clicking here.

Google

iGoogle Finally Gets User Generated Theme Support

Duncan Riley — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:58:04 +0000

Google has announced that iGoogle now supports user generated custom themes.

The new theme building tool allows users to upload a photo, and crop the image to fit iGoogle, pick color schemes to match, and even share created themes.

Google rolled out themes for iGoogle last year, but allowing users to create their own themes had been sadly missing. A move that is perhaps overdue, but welcomed none the less.

The custom iGoogle theme tool is available here, although notably it showed a 404 not found when I first tried to visit it, so it might be in the coming shortly category.

Google Gets Greasemonkey, Sort Of

JR — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:16:09 +0000

Greasemonkey, the oh-so-handy customization tool for Firefox, is now coming to Google’s Chrome browser, too.

The expanded extension, first revealed on the Google Operating System blog, is becoming available before Chrome’s official extension API has even hit the masses. In what’s sure not to be a coincidence, Greasemonkey’s creator — Aaron Boodman — happens to work at Google as a Gears engineer.

As of now, the Greasemonkey Chrome version functions only on the developer edition of Chrome. It also has to be launched by adding “–enable-greasemonkey” on to the end of a target. One wonders, though, whether the support will eventually become integrated into a future Chrome build, given Boodman’s Google connection.

The news may serve as a comfort to any Chrome users who are also frustrated with the recent iGoogle change. A Greasemonkey script is already floating around to let you remove the new left-of-screen sidebar implemented into the portal page. While developed for Firefox, the function will presumably now carry over into Chrome as well.

iGoogle Update: Did Google Listen to the Complaints?

JR — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 18:01:39 +0000

I’m happy to report that, following widespread criticism of its new iGoogle design, Google has returned some of the missing functionality to the service.

The switch, seen by most users starting Thursday evening, set off a wave of reaction around the Web. While some media outlets saw the iGoogle change as a great upgrade, others — us included — questioned whether the “upgrade” was really an upgrade at all.

Late Friday evening, though, one of our chief complaints was resolved, and the ability to see expanded story summaries within the widgets magically reappeared. When the new iGoogle first debuted, it limited you to either seeing only headlines or seeing full summaries of every story within every widget on the page. This struck me as a significant downgrade from the previously available option of being able to view headlines alone, then click on an adjacent “+” to see a short summary of any individual article. Seemingly, someone at Google suddenly agreed.

It’s hard to say whether the numerous comments left here and on other sites played any role in the reversal — one would imagine the folks at Google were at the very least aware of the outcry, which quickly made its way onto Google News — but regardless of the reason, I’m glad to see that the iGoogle team has come to its senses, at least somewhat. The wasted space with the left navigation bar is still a nuisance, and the impossible-to-disable full-page widget function hasn’t won me over. I’d much rather see options presented so users could choose whether to have these new configurations or not. (Hint: Here’s one unofficial way to reclaim some of that control.)

Still, the page is far from the cluttered mess that menaced me for the first 24 hours. Sure, I’d take the old iGoogle back in a heartbeat. But at least this is a step — and maybe, just maybe, it’s a sign that Google is listening…even if only a little.

Original story: Google, Please Give Me My Old Home Page Back

Google, Please Give Me My Old Home Page Back

JR — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:43:38 +0000

Let me just come out and say it: I hate the new iGoogle. And I want my old home page back.

As you may know, I’m generally fond of many of Google’s offerings. But this change is just godawful, and it’s on a service that I (and many others) really depend on throughout the day. And I’m far from alone in my sentiment.

A Downgrade

The problem, to put it simply, is that the new iGoogle looks and functions like a downgrade from the last one. Honestly, if someone just showed it to me with no context, I would have taken it for an old alpha version of the service. There’s suddenly a huge amount of clutter, wasted space, and missing features. The new left navigation bar eats up valuable screen real estate and serves as a general annoyance. If some people prefer that to the small top bar navigation that used to be there, fine — but how about a choice instead of a forced change?

The new iGoogle also gets rid of the ability to show story headlines with the option to get an expanded summary within the widgets. You used to be able to see the headlines alone, then click on a “+” to see a short summary of any given article. Now, you are limited to the choice of headlines only — with no expansion capability — or a full summary for every headline on the page, which adds to the clutter problem.

The “Advantage”

The new configuration’s only real “advantage,” if you want to call it that, is the fact that you can now view any widget in a full-page mode. To me, that’s absolutely not the purpose of this utility. If I want to view something in a full-page mode, I can open it in another tab. I use my iGoogle page to get a quick glimpse of content at an easy glance, then decide where to go. If I want full-page in-window reading, I’d go to Google Reader.

The Real Reason?

But therein underscores what may be the ultimate reason for the change: The now-unavoidable full-page mode allows providers to place ads or other revenue-generating material within their content, whereas the previous non-full-page widget with optional expansion did not. It’s a benefit for the advertisers at the expense of the users.

Come on, Google. You guys are better than this. Give me my goddamned home page back — or at least give me the option to choose between the two. This is a downright downgrade from a user perspective, and you know it as well as I do.

iGoogle Update: Did Google Listen to the Complaints?