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September 3, 2007

Customize iGoogle's Layout

Now you can edit the layout of an iGoogle tab. Choose between 7 layouts:

(1) single column (this is pretty ugly)
(2a) two equal-sized columns
(2b), (2c) two columns: a narrow one and a wide one (there are two flavors for this layout)
(3a) three equal-sized columns (this is default one)
(3b) two narrow columns and a wide column in the middle
(4) four equal-sized columns

I think the most interesting layouts are the ones that combine different types of columns, so you can have more space for the gadgets. The last layout is great for wide-screen computer monitors.

To edit the layout of a tab, click on the small arrow next to its name and choose "Edit this tab". You have the option to rename it and choose a new template. For now, there's no option to change the layout for all the tabs at once.


{ via Google Blogoscoped }

38 comments:

  1. Yes, I just saw this yesterday. It helps keep my page a bit neater,

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  2. I think this is the most interest layout:

    | --------- | -- |
    | --------- | -- |
    | --------- | -- |
    | --------- | -- |


    It gives much space to certain gadgets with lots of content, and adds smaller helper gadgets to the right.

    On a side-note, the column layout is now also part of the (older) tab-sharing feature, as you'd expect.

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  3. Just watch this style I've found for iGoogle at

    http://userstyles.org/styles/3290

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  4. This has been something that has stopped me from using iGoogle since it's release, Now I can finally see my heavy content on my 13" display. My comics page can finally be read!. I love it! Now was it that hard to make? Surely they could have done this since the start of iGoogle

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  5. The layout is screwed up for me in both IE and Mozilla. An entire empty column is being used by the "Home" tab. :p

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  6. Ummm...my iGoogle page is COMPLETELY wrecked now. As in, I'm getting messages I can't close and the like. Plus, all the content thingies are one by one in a row.

    Any ideas, Google or Googlites?

    Tom Anderson

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  7. Just To add: I don't know how I got it to be this way. Any help is appreciated from anyone who knows ANYTHING about getting iGoogle to work again!

    thetechnojedi AT gmail DOT com.

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  8. Hmm... my igoogle has only possibles to change between 1-3 columns?
    Why?

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  9. MyYahoo just forced people to switch to new version today, no switch back option so far I can find. I hate it. So try consider iGoogle. But it only has 3 columns... very upset

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  10. i think the igoogle new layout with a wasted column for my home folder & sports folders is terrible. i want just my plain 3 columns back. all they did was make everything smaller. i finally got it the way i wanted it and they add a dead column.

    wow -- i already left yahoo for all their advertising content, google is screwed up

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  11. I don't like the new igoogle page how can I get the old one back?

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  12. I want my 3 columns back, too! Google should not be forcing change!!

    How do I get my old iGoogle page back??

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  13. Yes, put the tabs back on top, not the side. OR give an option, at least.

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  14. the google layout change sucks, I like the tabs across the top, it was crisper, cleaner... this column thingy of my tabs on the left hand side is crappy and ugly... how can I reset to how I had it PERFECT for me...

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  15. I liked the old igoogle, I hate the new igoogle. It doesn't sit right with me, I do not want to go to it. If I can not get the old one back, I'll have to find a new homepage.

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  16. i don't want side-tab too. pls change it back!

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  17. Please make the side tabs optional or revert to only on top. Also, since the change, scrolling in an opened subject keeps jumping back to the top.

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  18. I don't like the tabs on the left, to much clutter and wasted space.

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  19. Use the URL http://www.google.com/ig?gl=all and you'll get back to top tabs.

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  20. Yes, i agree, the "home tab" is about the stupidest thing you could have added to the page. An entire waste of space. Fortunately, the above post is accurate. Unfortunately for google, this is the extent of their help. While people are leaving because of this stupidity, they could have just made the "home tab" optional to begin with and thus avoid a lot of pissed off people. Our personalized home page is just that. Walking all over it with a sweeping change and not allowing us to choose it is foolhardy. Methinks perhaps google is getting to big for their britches. Time to keep my eye out for a better system.

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  21. The home tab is just the default. You can add more tabs to your home page to organize the content: News, Videos, Art etc.

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  22. How do you get rid of the Left Home Column?
    Does anyone know?

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  23. Where can you get backrounds for igoogle?

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  24. I hate the tabs on the side. I also want to move the gadgets between columns and can't figure out how.

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  25. The left column with just the Home tab is a step back for igoogle. Wake up to what the people want!

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  26. google did this once before and everyone hated it .so they going to try and force it again .i dont want a third of my screen empty .If google going to behave like Microsoft I am outa here

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  27. I can't get my layout off a single page, there's no tabs button for me to click! What do I do so I can have more colums?

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  28. Terrible new layout, just terrible. Now you can't even get the old one on Google UK, which was my work-around. Time to find another home page.

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  29. Its an aesthetic disaster. The ghastly asymmetry is an offense to good design. My Google mail home page preview gadget has become impossible to take in at a glance like before. Its kind of like Gates left his desk at Microsoft to go undercover at Google.

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  30. I also hate the home tab on the right side of my igoogle page. I thought it was something i did and spent hours trying to get rid of it. Please 'people that be' take it off!

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  31. Seems Google won't give me the option to have my tabs organized the way i like them ... across the top. So I'm off. There are alternatives. Perhaps Netvibes or Yahoo or Pageflakes or even Windows Live Personalized Experience still believe in choice!

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  32. GODDAMN, the .be has been changed too. Why don't they get that almost everybody hates that side-tab?!? Not to mention I have to select 'minimize' in a dropdown now...

    This is really ruinin' my day X(

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  33. i HATTEEE the side tab and i want it gone. it ruins my whole page

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  34. Give us the option for top tabs!!!

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  35. How can I arrange the gadgets? If one gadget is on the top of the column of gadgets, is there a way to move it down the column below another gadget? The side index is no problem for me, but the ability to visually recognize the gadgets upon opening the page is a time saver. I cannot seem to find a way to move the gadgets around. Any suggestions? Christine

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  36. HOW DO I GET THE OLD LAYOUT DESIGNER BACK? THE NEW ONE IS CONFUSING AND BUGGY! (AT LEAST TO ME)

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