Gmail - New Feature, Themes!

[Cleverboy]

Boy, this is just beautiful. Google... I'm never looking back.

If I didn't need them to login to some services, I'd just let my Yahoo and MSN accounts rot. Everytime I turn around, it just keeps improving... unlike so many other of these companies which seem to forget about their different services after launching them.

~ CB

[2056]

i mostly use the mail app with my gmail acct
but this is a very nice feature to have.

[rdowns]

No themes in my settings. Nice but I rarely use the web interface.

[jessica.]

Agreed I rarely use the web app, just mail. But it's nice to have choices. ;)

[TuffLuffJimmy]

I'm confused. Is there actually a new theming feature or are you just showing off a firefox extension since you failed to display the entire web browser window?

[QuarterSwede]

Oh great, now it looks like MySpace (puke).

[Cleverboy]

No themes in my settings. Nice but I rarely use the web interface. I find myself as a multivore with these technologies. I'm using the built-in iPhone app to read my Gmail less and less, and the mobile web app (for Gmail) more and more. The desktop web app is so easy to get to from my Google personal page (ig), its easy enough just to click over to check every now and again. Moreover, Google has integrated it with its Jabber-compatible system, so that while I'm in Gmail, I can actually get a Google chat message sent to me and it appears instantly, whether I have a chat client open or not. These themes are great, because with the wonderful character themes added to the personal page (and the recent layout update for the tabs), it all just feels much more specific to my own tastes... instead of some vanilla look-and-feel.

They need to add themes to the mobile web apps too, that are in sync with the desktop themes. That would be even better. I'm confused. Is there actually a new theming feature or are you just showing off a firefox extension since you failed to display the entire web browser window? Um... yeah... its a "firefox" extension. That... makes total sense.

Sounds like they're just started rolling it out. Like they did with IMAP support.

~ CB

[TuffLuffJimmy]

Um... yeah... its a "firefox" extension. That... makes total sense.

Sounds like they're just started rolling it out. Like they did with IMAP support.

~ CB

Sorry, but I have a couple of firefox extensions that theme gmail, so it does make sense.

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k187/the2headedboy/Picture1-31.png

[Cleverboy]

I'm confused. Is there actually a new theming feature or are you just showing off a firefox extension since you failed to display the entire web browser window?Sorry, but I have a couple of firefox extensions that theme gmail, so it does make sense.
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k187/the2headedboy/Picture1-31.png I won't argue that it makes sense to YOU. :) But, see... I posted two screenshots. The second one clearly shows the new "themes" area inside the Gmail interface.

Showing the web browser, on the other hand wouldn't actually help disprove much at all (at least not to me). I'm sorry, I'm just not into conspiracy theories where someone claims Google added a new feature, just so they can mess with people's heads. I'll leave that to this guy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9SK_M_nVWA). :D

~ CB

[TuffLuffJimmy]

I won't argue that it makes sense to YOU. :) But, see... I posted two screenshots. The second one clearly shows the new "themes" area inside the Gmail interface.

Showing the web browser, on the other hand wouldn't actually help disprove much at all (at least not to me). I'm sorry, I'm just not into conspiracy theories where someone claims Google added a new feature, just so they can mess with people's heads. I'll leave that to this guy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9SK_M_nVWA). :D

~ CB

sorry, I didn't actually look at the second picture.

[Cleverboy]

The thing I like also, is that it asks me for my zipcode when I activated it (the standard ALERT! at the top of the Gmail page noting a new feature), and said it would change the theme's appearance based on location (and like the Google personal section, the time of the day). It's a pretty unique thing. I remember I'd worked with a company that was developing a themed browser, back in the days of NeoPlanet. We'd made the browser interface based on HTML, and I'd begun working on a few versions for some of our affinity partners that would change the look of your browser throughout the day. Google's doing the next best thing by theming their interfaces. --By not making it user-editable, they keep it away from becoming "MySpace". ;) Although... some of these... are pretty whack. Like the one called "Terminal". Fun for the geeks I guess.

~ CB

[mantic]

No themes here either.

[Cleverboy]

No themes here either.
Should be there soon I guess.

Spice up your inbox with colors and themes
http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/spice-up-your-inbox-with-colors-and.html
Gmail fans have been building unofficial extensions to spice up their inboxes for a while, but up til now themes haven't been an integral part of Gmail. We wanted to go beyond simple color customization, so out of the 30 odd themes we're launching today, there's a shiny theme with chrome styling, another one that turns your inbox into a retro notepad, nature themes that change scenery over time, weather driven themes that can rain on your mailbox, and fun characters to keep you in good company. There's even an old school ascii theme (Terminal) which was the result of a bet between two engineers -- it's not exactly practical, but it's great for testing out your geek cred. We've also done a minor facelift to Gmail's default look to make it crisper and cleaner -- you might notice a few colors and pixels shifted around here and there. To customize your inbox, go to the Themes tab under Settings (http://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#settings/themes). We'll be rolling out themes to everyone over the next couple of days, so if you don't see them yet, check back soon. As for which theme to choose, don't ask us. We're neutral (http://www.swissworld.org/en/politics/foreign_policy/neutrality_and_isolationism/) ;)

~ CB

[SnowLeopard2008]

Hmm I rarely use the web interface, rather preferring the Mail app. But it looks ... stunning. My jaw just broke through the house's foundations... :D

[edesignuk]

Still waiting for it to activate on my account, looks very nice though.

Another improvement.

Hotmail/everyone could learn a thing or two...

[xUKHCx]

Still waiting for it to activate on my account, looks very nice though.

Another improvement.

Hotmail/everyone could learn a thing or two...

It now has a much nicer standard theme. I have gone for Tree for now. Will have to look through them all and give them time to work out which one I like best.

I'm still waiting for the whole googlemail vs IIR thing to be sorted. I am tired of people sending me emails to both @googlemail.com and @gmail.com. They fail to realise they are the same bloody thing however because you can only send as @googlemail they get confused again.

[edesignuk]

I'm still waiting for the whole googlemail vs IIR thing to be sorted. I am tired of people sending me emails to both @googlemail.com and @gmail.com. They fail to realise they are the same bloody thing however because you can only send as @googlemail they get confused again.You should have registered via a US proxy ;)

[xUKHCx]

You should have registered via a US proxy ;)

Yeah I know that now :o but unfortuately I assumed this was a user adjustable setting and didn't know about this silly issue at the time.

[edesignuk]

Yeah I know that now but unfortuately I assume this was a user adjustable setting and didn't know about this silly issue at the time.hmmmm. There has to be a solution...just can't think what :confused:

edit: those bitches. the only way I could think they've blocked.

[iBlue]

Yeah I know that now :o but unfortuately I assumed this was a user adjustable setting and didn't know about this silly issue at the time.
it really is silly, I wish they'd cut that out. I have a few gmail addresses and it annoys me that I have to plug in a US proxy when I register to get @gmail.

aaaanyway, I like the new themes. I started with "tree" as well but the ninja was cute and I put it on. It brought me good luck with something too. :)

[OllyW]

You should have registered via a US proxy ;)

Or registered when it first came online.

Early UK subscribers to Gmail got to keep their @gmail.com :)

[edesignuk]

Or registered when it first came online.

Early UK subscribers to Gmail got to keep their @gmail.com :)Yup, I was one of them.

[andreab35]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5F136 Safari/525.20)

Finally! I've been waiting for this feature for quite a while!
A lot of people don't have their accounts to support themes yet, including me, but Google will get there.
I love Gmail!

[blairbeckwith]

This alone made me switch back to Google Apps from MobileMe.

I'm using "Shiny".

[Nicolecat]

I found this today too...
It's pretty slick...although I would have to say that I'm indifferent, it's not like I stare at my email all day. :D

[rhett7660]

I just found this today also.... some pretty cool looking themes! I am using the night one right now....... Pretty cool...

[Baron58]

"Steel" rocks!

[mantic]

Yeah they just showed up for me. not bad. I have to say i've gotten use to regular gmail and i think it was fine. this might take a little getting use to.

[ratattak]

im loving the terminal theme

[kabunaru]

im loving the terminal theme

Looks like Matrix. :D

[ratattak]

Looks like Matrix. :D

it was fun and all, but i had to get rid of it. it was hurting my eyes. I'm sporting the Shiny theme now.

[kabunaru]

it was fun and all, but i had to get rid of it. it was hurting my eyes. I'm sporting the Shiny theme now.
Space theme is good too.

[mknawabi]

the terminal theme didn't really seem too awesome, maybe if they used a better font, hehe. (ill try and fix that with greasemonkey.) however, that minimalist theme looks great

[clancemasterj]

I like the ninja one.

[atlanticza]

Now only if we can personalise the themes of this forum...

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

"Tree" with updated weather is quite nice...

...though I'm not gonna see it very often. I IMAP my way into GMail from Mail.app 99% of the time...

[yoppie]

I'm using the space/planet theme right now.

[appleindeed]

thats all we need, more customization to make it look like myspace. No thanks. Although hotmail or windows live email update isnt great either. All of them look messy.

[Cleverboy]

thats all we need, more customization to make it look like myspace. No thanks. Although hotmail or windows live email update isnt great either. All of them look messy. The reason myspace looked crappy, is because they not only had a bad layout, they allowed people to drape crappy animations and distractions all over their pages in non-standard ways.

Adding the ability to view various themes, artistically rendered by competent designers doesn't even "kind of" resemble the same thing. Moreover, you don't even need to switch away from the default theme if you don't want to (making it a moot point). In the end, all you're saying is that you don't want to switch from the default theme. Interesting, many of the themes, simply change the default color scheme to something some people may find more soothing.

Why "myspace" is the "sawed-off-shotgun" of design criticism, I'll never know. It hardly makes any rational sense when some people make the comparison these days.

~ CB

[belvdr]

True, but either way, I like the plain vanilla style. I have a gmail account, but never use it. I prefer the classic Yahoo interface over the gmail interface. It's simple and I can get through my mail quickly without all the fancy stuff.

[iBlue]

The ninja theme is kind of cute. The picture at the bottom of the page changes periodically. Over the last few days I took a few screenshots:


http://up.edesignuk.com/files/2/ninjathreat.png

http://up.edesignuk.com/files/2/ninjabow.png

http://up.edesignuk.com/files/2/ninjaclean.png

http://up.edesignuk.com/files/2/ninjaflowers.png

http://up.edesignuk.com/files/2/ninjaoffering.png

http://up.edesignuk.com/files/2/ninjasumogeisha.png

http://up.edesignuk.com/files/2/ninjateatime.png

[CarlsonCustoms]

I really like the themes actually.. Makes it dressier.

Zack

[deorg]

Im using the terminal screen and it kicks ass:)

[Karasu]

I've started using Tea House. I love the little fox that walks around the bottom of my screen.