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Google rolls out new iGoogle for its US users  (View post)

hebbet [PersonRank 10]

Thursday, October 16, 2008
15 years ago9,496 views

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/whats-new-with-igoogle.html

<<I'm an iGoogle addict. I check my news, email, stocks, feeds and weather there and sometimes even manage to squeeze in a game or two during the day. Having everything in one place is super convenient, but I often wish I could deal with all my stuff without having to leave my iGoogle page. With today's release, I can. We've rolled out an updated design for iGoogle to all U.S. users, which includes full canvas views for gadget and support for full feed reading.>>

WebSonic.nl [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Haha :-) our messages where excactly on the same time [other post removed, thanks WebSonic! -Philipp]

Here is another post from the Google Reader blog.
http://googlereader.blogspot.com/2008/10/igoogle-launches-reader-integration.html

hebbet [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

there are about 5 posts in the google blogs ;)

Niraj Sanghvi [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Must be rolling out gradually? Because I'm in the US and not seeing it yet.

Brinke Guthrie [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

It's just plain terrible. will that javascript thing work? otherwise, I am so done with iGoogle.

Colin Colehour [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

I just got the update just now. My account had not had the new layout yet. Not sure I like the side tabs. Also, the gmail gadget won't allow you to minimize it to only show Inbox unread counts like the old one did. That's a bit annoying!

Brinke Guthrie [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

javascript:_dlsetp('v2=0')

that's the fix....and it doesn't work. Pure crap. Ah well.

Bill P. Godfrey [PersonRank 1]

15 years ago #

I hate the way the tabs are now down the side. My screen width is already at a premium and I don't want to waste it. Is there anyway to put it back?

If the answer is that there's no way to put it back, is there a good competitor to iGoogle?

Bill P. Godfrey [PersonRank 1]

15 years ago #

I'll answer my own question, http://www.google.co.uk/ig has the old design... for now...

David Mulder [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

I have been using the interface now for a few months already, or at least I assume everything is the same as the sandbox, but I wonder whether they released the social part as well, or is it purely the canvas view? Whatever they released, once you get used to the canvas view I assume you will love it... mostly... its great with applications like gmail, but gets messed up with most third party applets which force their own layout into the frame

Brinke Guthrie [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

"If the answer is that there's no way to put it back, is there a good competitor to iGoogle?"

"My Yahoo"

Sam Davyson [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

I think this new design is fantastic!

Daren Chapin [PersonRank 1]

15 years ago #

It's awful, just plain horrible. Whoever did this needs to read a basic book on information design. Please tell me there's a way to turn it off.

Daren Chapin [PersonRank 1]

15 years ago #

OK, *phew* it is not as awful as I thought. You do have the option of turning off the long descriptions of each article in the rss-type feeds (home tab => edit this tab => uncheck "show a short description for each feed article").

That makes it almost bearable, but we had the best of both worlds before with the javascript-enabled expansion of feed items – why make it all or nothing?

Giant step backward IMHO.

Brinke Guthrie [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

turning off the brief headlines is better, i agree. but you know, now you can't drag and drop between pages.

and google wonders why their stock has dropped, what, 45%? poor decisions that alienate their user base.

Mysterius [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

... Well, I for one like the new design.

KB [PersonRank 1]

15 years ago #

I live in Europe and got the new design yesterday. Seems that you can't switch back to the old design. Don't like the tab sidebar, takes to much space from the gadgets.

Above 17 comments were made in the forum before this was blogged,

txensen [PersonRank 1]

15 years ago #

I'm another one who doesn't like the sidebar. I already use a browser sidebar, and adding this new one cramps my gadgets. I wish top or side could be a user choice.

Russell [PersonRank 0]

15 years ago #

The problem I find with the new theme is its difficult to read with all the text and headline feeds all over. Can one change that and the font type?
  
Also cannot find spellcheck for Gmail in new interface or other functions like Bold, insert hyperlink....

Maria [PersonRank 0]

15 years ago #

Netvibes is a MUCH better solution. Google has lost me with this new change and Yahoo would never get me because they are just useless. Such a shame that they had to pull a 'Facebook' on its users... complete disregard for what the users want seems to be 'in' at the moment.
I invested a bit in moving everything over to Netvibes but I'm happy now. Try as they may, iGoogle's dead for me.

Schultzter [PersonRank 1]

15 years ago #

I think new design looks slick, but a way to minimize the sidebar would be practical – I spend most of my time on my Home tab. I agree there's a lot of chrome that takes away from usable space for information, I wish Google stuck to their minimalist roots!!! And a way to minimize that theme header would be excellent too.

FOR [PersonRank 1]

15 years ago #

I think it's too early to say whether I like the new design or not. Any change requires a bit of time for me to adapt. However, the fact that I can't push widgets from one 'tab' to the other is rather annoying. Also, I can't see why the older layout has to be totally phased out, rather than letting users pick. Odd.

Thomas [PersonRank 0]

15 years ago #

No more drag 'n drop of gadgets from tab to tab :(

txensen [PersonRank 1]

15 years ago #

I've taken Bill Godfrey's suggestion above and switched to http://www.google.co.uk/ig.

Vegetable [PersonRank 1]

15 years ago #

I really like this new design.

This is what I needed to switch from Netvibes to iGoogle. The previous iGoogle design was ugly. This brand new one is beautiful while keeping the minimalist Google look and feel that I like.

Also, I view this update as a major step forward for iGoogle. Full page app inside iGoogle really is a smart new feature, that may change the way we interact with Google – and everyone else – products.

Colin Colehour [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

I miss the plus option next to each posting. I don't want the descriptions displayed by default but having to force the user to have all feeds have a description versus the old way of just clicking the plus next to the feed item you want a description of is something I'm going to miss. :(

Also, the old version of iGoogle allowed you to mouse over a link and get the short description as a tooltip or almost like an ALT tag description. That's not available in the new version either.

fed up and moved [PersonRank 0]

15 years ago #

All I want it ask is how much did Google pay all you people who like the new iGoogle.

I hope it was a lot to have to put up with the Cr[put at-character here]ppy new design.

for those looking for a new home page try netvibes

Paul Ableman [PersonRank 0]

15 years ago #

I hate the new interface. I want simple/clean. The tabs on the left is my deal breaker now my "stuff" seems crowded on the page. What once took up very little real estate on the page seems to have taken over the page. I could live with the new look of the "stuff" but can't live with the left-handed tabs.

This is what I'm now using as my homepage: http://www.google.com/ig I'm not sure why exactly it works the "old" way but it does...for now. If they force the new one on me again without allowing to move, minimize or remove the left-tabs I'll use just Classic Google or Google News as my homepage.

Jeremy Davis [PersonRank 0]

15 years ago #

I am betting that this somehow will work better with Android. Their own Pres said they will make more $ of mobile than off anything else, so everything seems to be gearing towards the phones.

Jason C [PersonRank 0]

15 years ago #

Please let me go back to how it was! I don't like the sidebar hogging room (the vertical tabs consume WAY less real estate, come on guys!) and most of all, I *liked* just seeing the headline links. Having the first paragraph of each story, along with the much smaller font now, is visual chaos!

Faithful and devoted Google fan and long time iGoogle user asking for some "preferences" so we can customize things like the above!

Brinke Guthrie [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Colin; the (+) Option has just returned;

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/brinkeguthrie/Untitled-1.jpg

Colin Colehour [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

If I'm on Tab 1 and click the plus sign next to tab 4 which is my Google Webmaster Tools gadget tab, why can't it show the gadget titles in the list:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3283/2950532606_5d9cb855ef_o.png

The only way I can get it to show the feed titles in the sidebar, is if I actually click on that tab.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3214/2949687105_4a495794aa_o.png

What's the point of even listing the feeds/gadgets for a different tab if I can't see what they really are?

Colin Colehour [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

[put at-character here]Brinke, LUCKY! I still don't see them on my account. If you mouse over a link, does it show you the preview too without having to click on the plug itself?

Ionut Alex. Chitu [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

<<If you mouse over a link, does it show you the preview too? >>

Nope, no more tooltips, no more plus boxes. By default, you see a snippet from the article below the title, but this feature can be disabled in the settings.

Brinke Guthrie [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/brinkeguthrie/Untitled-2.jpg

Colin Colehour [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

[put at-character here]Brinke, I just got the plus icons back and the rollover preview is back too. :) I'm much happier.

I kind of wish they would make a iGoogle labs option in the iGoogle settings page.

Let the users decided if they want to:
* Have a sidebar or not
* Resizable sidebar
* Have plus icons next to each feed
* Font settings

Brinke Guthrie [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

I don't know why I see URLs in the side under each tab, as opposed to the NAME.

PS- where is the drag and drop[?]

bobby [PersonRank 0]

15 years ago #

I read about a site on John Chow's blog today called [43marks.com] – its like Pageflakes and iGoogle but better cuz you can add all your bookmarks and the bookmarks can be websites not just gadgets and RSS feeds although you can upload your favorite RSS feeds too. Its free and totally customizable re-arranging categories and bookmarks in anyway you want. I really do like 43marks much better

DaveB [PersonRank 3]

15 years ago #

I am kind of surprised at the negative reaction (here and elsewhere) to the new design.

I can see people with small monitors or laptops not being fond of the sidebar taking up screen real estate. They should implement a hide feature like Google Reader.

The overall design, features, and potential to be a true homepage where you can access Gmail, Calendar, Reader, and many more gadgets as they take advantage of the full canvas view is a big step forward in my opinion.

Brinke Guthrie [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

So....if you have some website with a button that says "add to my iGoogle."
You do that. But..guess what? It automatically adds it to the front page if that's what you left it on. But you dont want it on the front page. So you delete it and open up the new tab and try again. Since you can't drag and drop.

Huh???

Colin Colehour [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

[put at-character here]Brinke, I created a new tab today and interesting enough, it tells you to drag and drop items to fill the tab.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3145/2953233290_a2627cc7e5_o.png
Of course that feature doesn't work with the new version. :(

Jayenkai [PersonRank 2]

15 years ago #

Oh, ffs..
Someone could've warned me about the damn chatbox.
Now I've a permanent chatbox strapped to my igoogle page, meaning it's completely unsecure to leave it sitting on the family PC.

Thoughts on removal of A) Chatbox, or B) v2 igoogle..

David Bennett [PersonRank 0]

15 years ago #

That's so awful. Bye bye iGoogle until you get your act together. Really? A huge blank space on the left side of the screen? How absolutely awful. Not everyone really needs tabs. That's what my browser is for. Stop trying to be the kitchen sink google and focus on what you do best.

jenjen [PersonRank 1]

15 years ago #

I really wish they would let us either move the tabs back to their former home above the gadget/modules panel or minimize the tabs. I often use a teeny laptop and my iGoogle page was crowded before. Now it's much worse. It's fine on a big screen, but on the teeny one it's terrible. Google should know how popular these are getting.

Philipp Lenssen [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Lou Cabron reports of mass protests against the new design – including people releasing the email addresses of Google developers to flood them with complaints:

http://www.10zenmonkeys.com/2008/10/19/the-great-google-rebellion/

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