Moving Gmail chat to the rigth column

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Posted in » Gmail, Usability - by Ades on February 6th, 2009

gmail_chat.pngAs you know, by default gmail chat box is on the left side, just below the main menu. I always felt like dragging it and putting on the other side. Because when you expand it, it pushes all your labels down making it difficult to access them. And if you keep gmail chat minimized then you won’t know who is online… so, it had this small usability issue.

But thanks to Right-side chat feature in Settings > Labs, now I can put it on the right column (see screenshot).

Recommended Solution

While Right-side chat solves the problem for one box, ideal solution would be draggable boxes. This way, users could arrange the boxes according to their preference.

Otherwise with the current solution we will have to wait for right-side calendar, right-side google docs..etc until they are developed.

Gmail’s new buttons

By the way, how do you like the new buttons in gmails?

gmail_buttons.png

For me, at first it was a bit confusing, since drop down menus are barely differentiable from buttons. But after using it a while it was ok.

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10 Responses to “Moving Gmail chat to the rigth column”

  1. By Swingers on Feb 6, 2009

    I love draggable boxes for customization. That’s of course ideal. What I like even better is the addition of Video chat inside of GMail.

    Working the UI for these behemoth apps must be a pain.

  2. By Adrian on Feb 6, 2009

    To be honest, I liked more the previous buttons. Their style does not match with the rest of the page.

  3. By Web Design on Feb 6, 2009

    Yea it’s Excellent Features for draggable boxes.

  4. By Scaricare giochi on Feb 7, 2009

    That is really a cool trick for gmail.

    I am gonna use it right away.

    Francesco

  5. By Hot Tub Chemicals on Feb 7, 2009

    I agree the previous version was better…but thats just me, i get where i like something and dont want it to change.

  6. By Webmaster on Feb 8, 2009

    Nice tip, but I prefer on the left side :D

  7. By CSS web design finder on Feb 10, 2009

    Nice tip, thanks. The new buttons are okay, after using them for some time you just get used to them :)

  8. By Minnesota Attorney on Feb 12, 2009

    Speaking of Google Labs, another great Labs feature is a tweak to the auto-signature. Instead of your signature showing up at the bottom of a message below other email forwards, the signature appears at the top of the message, just after the message you are currently writing. Find it here: Settings > Labs > Signature Tweaks.

  9. By Sri on Feb 12, 2009

    nice tips, anyone still using it web based? I prefer to load and read it with Outlook client, fast and simple..

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  10. By Expat Philippines on Feb 15, 2009

    never even used that google chat thingy. People actually use it??


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