Where do I protest this new iGoogle?

October 16, 2008 5:48 PM

Ok, WTF. I go to my home page (iGoogle) and suddenly everything has changed. I hate it, it literally hurts my eyes, I can't find anything. I am not kidding. How do I fix it or where can I protest?

As an added horrible bonus they have also screwed up my gmail too. Where can I get a fix for THAT? This sux, I have had this gmail account for like 5 years now I have to find a new email service. Any thoughts?

posted by DetonatedManiac to Technology (22 answers total)

What do you mean? iGoogle and gmail look the same as they have in the past for me.
posted by dunkadunc at 5:55 PM on October 16, 2008

This describes what has happened. I don't know if they're going to roll out a "switch to classic-mode" or not. Greasemonkey may be your only hope.
posted by ktrey at 5:56 PM on October 16, 2008

I'm personally partial to my.yahoo.com, which is probably because I work for Yahoo, but my wife also prefers it to Google's equivalent and she doesn't mind shoving her Google preferences in my face when they exist.

As for mail, you get what you pay for when you rely on free services, be they Google, Yahoo or any other. There are lots of low-cost email providers that can give you (arguably) better service for a low fee, and if you search the site, you'll find some recommended ones (that's how I found my current mail provider.)
posted by davejay at 5:56 PM on October 16, 2008

Give it a while. You'll probably get used to it. This is not a snark.
posted by zsazsa at 5:57 PM on October 16, 2008

Here's another article describing what's the deal with the new iGoogle.
posted by Ike_Arumba at 5:58 PM on October 16, 2008

FWIW I just got it today and it's pretty slick. No more multiple tabs open for gmail and igoogle . . .I can easily access all that on the one page, and reader works the same way. Give it time, it's like switching from Windows 3.1 to Windows 98 . . .a bit of a mind fuck at first but it's got a lot going for it. As for your gmail being messed up, we'd have to have more info on what the "being messed up is," I suppose.
posted by Medieval Maven at 6:08 PM on October 16, 2008

This page has the key to turning it on or off:

Quick tip to access the new iGoogle:
- go to google.com/ig
- paste this in the address bar:
javascript:_dlsetp('v2=1');
- to go back to the old version, paste in the address bar:
javascript:_dlsetp('v2=0');

I haven't tried it but apparently some have with success. I didn't care for the new setup at first, but I think I will get used to it, so I'll keep it for a bit.
posted by TochterAusElysium at 6:09 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

The official Google Blog has a post up about the iGoogle changes, and solicits feedback at the address [e-mail]. Maybe they can pass on your concerns?
posted by danb at 6:12 PM on October 16, 2008

I was "given" (forced to a new version of iGoogle several weeks ago. There are many items I do not like such as the tabs on the left. Waste of good space. The mail view changed too. After sending them much feedback, like zsazsa said above, time healed all wounds. I like most of the changes now but for the left tabs. Changing to another service will force you to get used to something new anyway, so why not give these changes a chance before the hassle of getting an all new email address?
posted by JohnnyGunn at 7:27 PM on October 16, 2008

Response by poster: well i went directly to "www.gmail.com"... it turns out that gmail is ok, Thank god... But now I'm gonna have to have a book mark to open it up in a separate tab. Slightly aggravating since I used to be able to open it up in a separate tab when I clicked "in box" in iGoogle.

I guess if gmail is ok I can live with this new iGoogle thing. But I'm gonna have to find a way to collapse the text associated with headlines and ask-mefi posts etc.
posted by DetonatedManiac at 7:29 PM on October 16, 2008

Response by poster: I mean GEEEZ - a few years ago I tinkered with it for like 3 months to get everything I wanted to see on one page... and it has been fine ever since... now i have like 2.5 screens worth of scrolling

(still venting sorry)
posted by DetonatedManiac at 7:32 PM on October 16, 2008

Yeah, I agree that it sucks- I hate the tabs on the side. The new page appeared without warning and had no means to switch back. I tried http://www.google.co.uk/ig and it came up fine (old way), so that may provide some temporary relief...
posted by horsemuth at 7:37 PM on October 16, 2008

you can collapse the text by going to http://www.google.com/ig/settings , scroll to the bottom and uncheck Show a short description for each feed article and then click save at the bottom right and side.
posted by horsemuth at 7:39 PM on October 16, 2008

Response by poster: what is this canvas view buzzword? what is a canvas view?
posted by DetonatedManiac at 7:40 PM on October 16, 2008

oh also, it seems as though you can drag widgets to other tabs now. Arrrgh!!
posted by horsemuth at 7:41 PM on October 16, 2008

It basically means that you can expand the widget to cover most of the page.
posted by horsemuth at 7:42 PM on October 16, 2008

Response by poster: I feel like some sort of crotchety old man... but while that change in settings gets me back to original layout space wise, now I cannot enlarge to read the initial blurbs about articles I am interested in, where are the pluses and minuses?
posted by DetonatedManiac at 7:45 PM on October 16, 2008

Response by poster: whatever, I don't care any more... that has already eaten up too much of my time today.
posted by DetonatedManiac at 7:49 PM on October 16, 2008

To get to normal gmail quickly from your homepage, click on "gmail" on the white header bar.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 7:50 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

I agree that the whole tab thing on the left is a waste of space. it's eating up so much space that my other stuff is squished and unreadable. When you're on a 13 inch notebook screen where you're multitasking and firefox doesn't even take up the whole window, you don't appreciate people F-ing with your space like that.
posted by zhivota at 10:13 AM on October 17, 2008

Response by poster: since writing this google, in its infinite wisdom, put the pluses back on the iGoogle home page. Coupled with the fact that I am still able to access the normal gmail I dropped my protest. This issue is resolved.
posted by DetonatedManiac at 9:13 PM on November 17, 2008

Hi. Looks like those of us in the UK (or some of us at least) got the switchover to iGoogle 2.0 today, and as I'm one of those people who hate the side tab placement, I've gone digging for answer for reversing it... Looks like you can use http://www.google.com/ig?gl=all to view it in "classic mode" with the tabs at the top, at least for now.
posted by iivix at 4:54 PM on July 14, 2009