Gmail Themes
byWhile in the middle of my weekly segment on Talk1410am my computer screen flickered and my Gmail turned blue. Thinking something was amiss, I immediately signed out of my account. Once I logged in again I took notice of a little message at the top of the Gmail window – hello themes!.
I know there are many people who do not like change and I can be the first to admit that it takes me about 2 months to try something after John tells me it’s cool and I should be using it.
No need t worry though, there is a “default” setting that you can still use if you do not like any of the 30 new ways to have your email displayed. This includes picture backgrounds, minimalistic (no lines), animations, dark contrasts, and various colour options. Now if only they would spruce up their labeling system.
In case you miss the message at the top of your Gmail account, you can access the theme browser by going to Settings > Themes. Also it appears the switch has not yet been flipped on Gmail for domains and a few other accounts but the Gmail blog says the change will happen gradually over the next few days.
From the Gmail blog: “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.”
What are your thoughts on the new Gmail options and while we’re at it… are you one of those people who (still) completely oppose the Facebook layout changes?
18 Comments — Comments Are Closed
Love the options, I like the new facebook… change is good, options for tweaking things are always welcome! I’d get bored if I saw the same thing all the time.
Took a look – no themes support in my gmail. Boo. Maybe they’re rolling it out slowly?
@ Dan – that seems to be the case. I have it on my Miss604 account but not any of my others, or my Gmail for the sixty4media.com domain account.
I want 🙁
Thanks for the heads up! I’ll be looking for this over the weekend!
I’m on the outside looking in, waiting for my themes.
Yeah, it seems like the Gmail for Domains gets left out of a lot of this fun. I still don’t have any of that Google Labs stuff in my Gmail for @capulet.com or @darrenbarefoot.com accounts, let alone the fancy themes.
Can you make your own themes? Seems like there’s instantly a market for a half-dozen Gmail Themes websites.
I like the option to tweak your email account. I’ve already tweaked my gmail by using Greasemonkey extensions in the Firefox browser. I’ll definitely be playing with this when it hits my account.
On the topic of the new Facebook layout, I like the changes they made. Like a previous commenter said, change is good. Not everything is in a very intuitive spot, but I generally like the cleaner look to everyone’s profile.
Weirdly, while mine turned blue as well, there’s no message in Gmail, and there is no option for “themes” anywhere in my settings, either. So I guess it’s kinda stuck this way for some of us for the moment?
They’re rolling it out over the next few days.
At first I thought it was going in order of when the account was made, because my primary account had it and I’ve had that since the “Invite me to gmail PLEASE” days. But then my newer anothersamchan account has it too so that shot my theory out the door.
[…] Pour lire le communiqué officiel de Gmail, rendez-vous ici. […]
I think it looks great, too bad I don’t have a gmail account. I’d be all over the natural river rock theme.
As for facebook, I didn’t like it when it was about to happen, but I didn’t fight it either, and got over the changes pretty quickly.
I have my gmail set to Terminal, my geekiness shines with it! but I agree with Darren, I want my domain email accounts to have the themes too!
As for Facebook, I like the changes, just took about a few days for me to figure it out.
@ Tyler – I was waiting for someone to say they’re going to use terminal! Either you… or Duane… I just can’t do black background with lighter text – hurts my eyes.
I got it this morning and I like having themes. But like Darren asks, it would be best if we could make our own themes or atleast customize them. It’s a great part of our individuality. But what they have offered us is cool in itself.
all the options are great and I think it keeps gmail fresh and ahead of anything else out there. it’d be cool if they open it up and let the public create themes.
I love the new themes – it’s nice to finally be able to customize the appearance of my email window. Now, if they would just improve the appearance of iGoogle … oh well, beggars can’t be choosers, right?
As for Facebook, I’m one of those people who resisted the ‘new’ layout until they finally forced everyone to switch over … and, I’ll admit, after some time getting used to it, it does seem like an improvement.
Guess we all resist/welcome change to varying degrees …