In the past, Google has been criticized for offering so many services yet not really integrating them together. iGoogle is the closest thing they have had to meshing services together by offering users the option to add gadgets including those for Gmail, Google Maps, Google Reader and more. The only problem is that these gadgets lack the features that you would get if you actually went to the homepage like Gmail or the Google Reader site.
Google has just recently started to address this problem in the new version of iGoogle which is available to a few random people. If you aren’t one of the lucky ones chosen by Google, you can still get access to the new iGoogle by simply pasting the following in the address bar after you go to your iGoogle page:
javascript:_dlsetp('v2=1');
Once you do get access to the new iGoogle, you’ll notice a nice, near full-featured, full-screen version of Gmail and other gadgets available to you. With the full-screen gmail, you’ll see that you can now switch between your Inbox, Trash, Spam box and Starred mail. You can also mark items read or unread, and even archive them. The only thing it looks like you won’t be able to do is apply labels to your messages.
Don’t mind the green, it’s just there because it’s part of my iGoogle theme. From the image above you can see that it looks almost like you’re viewing Gmail from Gmail, yet it’s actually iGoogle.
Other full-screen gadgets available include the weather gadget. They show you all kinds of weather information now. Another nice thing is that you can view individual feeds full screen. This is great, but we’re just waiting for when the Google Reader gadget is full screen and more full-featured, along with Google Calendar.
If for any reason you want to go back to the older version of iGoogle, go to www.google.com/ig and then enter the following in the address bar:
javascript:_dlsetp('v2=0');
Source: Google System
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Dunno why but for me this tip just does not work.
I tried it in FF3.01 and in IE 6.blahblahblah, it just made no change, no bar no nothing.
Any idea?
try this: [lifehacker.com]
btw, that worked fine for me..
I’ve got to say, I’m not a big fan of this new layout. Don’t get me wrong, the new features are more than welcome, but using a vertical tab bar on the left instead of horizontal above eats up way too much screen real estate. I’m using a 12″ tablet with a 1024×768 resolution. In standard layout this look is way too squashed, I can’t wait to use it in portrait mode.
Do you make sure you go to the iGoogle website first before you enter in that line of code?
It’s definitely a change, that’s for sure. And for those who like to make the most out of their precious screen space, this will not be for them.
You made sure to use the first JavaScript mentioned, right? The last one is to revert back to the old layout if you so desire.
Yep, I’m sure I opened iGoogle first and yep, I used the first of the JS-Methods, it just didn’t work.
Maybe this doesn’t work because I’m using the german iGoogle?
It did work for me, but only the first time. Now I’m back to the old (current) layout and I can’t get the new one (which I really liked while it lasted ^^) any more.
Never mind, I got the new interface back again. I don’t really know why, but I’m glad anyway. ^^
I’m one of the few random people.
In the new interface whenever I open a mail thread it shows me the entire thread, and I don’t even have a “collapse all” option.
I don’t like this.