How To Customize GMail’s Functionality And Look
Being a Web 2.0 enthusiast, I am all for web based tools. My email tool is no exception. I was lucky to be among the first to try GMail following its first beta launch, and I have been using it since then. GMail also happened to be an effective tool to manage my to-do list using the GTD (Get things done) methodology. More on how to use GMail for implementing GTD can be found here.
Over the time, I started to look into a way to add features to my GMail as well as customize its look and feel. My main concerns were its somewhat cluttered look and the fact I wanted to save my most used GMail searches.
Being a Firefox user, I decided to leverage Greasemonkey in order to customize my GMail. Greasemonkey is an add-on that lets you modify the way your Firefox pages look and run.
After installing Greasemonkey, I searched all over the web in order to find some scripts that will allow me to customize GMail. Apparently, I wasted my time. Gina Trapani, Lifehacker’s editor, has created Better GMail, a nifty compilation of the best Greasemonkey scripts that will allow to add new features to your GMail as well as customize its look and feel.
Features
Better GMail allows you to add a comprehensive suite of enhancements to your GMail: skins, saved searches, keyboard macros, secure access, attachment icons, attachment reminders, label colors, signature floating and more.
Installation and Configuration
- Better GMail runs only on Firefox. If you don’t have it installed yet, you can get the installation files from here.
- Download and install Better GMail.
- Restart Firefox.
- Go to Tools and select Add-Ons.
- Use the Messages and Sidebar tabs in order to add or remove features from GMail.
- Use the Skins tab in order to customize your GMail look. I personally like the Super Clean skin).
- Once you are done, hit Apply
- Restart Firefox, you are done
Enjoy!
Stay tuned from more Web 2.0 at Connected Internet.
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Comment by horisly on 2 July 2007:
i have never used firefox. using ie all the time.
but thanks for sharing all the same.
Comment by 3gp on 2 July 2007:
Interesting post.
Comment by Yael on 2 July 2007:
It seems much less cluttered, and nicer to work with.
Comment by Vijay on 2 July 2007:
I am not accustomed to Greasemonkey scripts though I do know about it. I simply would stick to the usual gmail for now, since I just use it for a few minutes each day to check my mail
Comment by Gili on 2 July 2007:
@ horisly - Firefox is faster and more secure than Internet Explorer. I really recommend it!
@Vijay - That’s cool. But fyi, Greasemonkey is not intrusive as it runs in the background.
Comment by listikal on 2 July 2007:
Better GMail is an excellent skin, but I’ve resorted back to the Old Style. It’s just as good and doesn’t slow it down.
Comment by Howard on 2 July 2007:
There’s also the Better GReader extension as well from Gina Trapani. Again, it’s a collection of GreaseMonkey scripts the same as Better Gmail.
Comment by Nirmal on 3 July 2007:
I’m waiting for Gmail to give me more skins and customizations. I don’t like using Grease monkey scripts.