Gmail Skinning - A Quick Guide

serverph

Jul 31 2005, 08:31 PM

tired of the same GMAIL look? GMAIL starting to melt your eyes with its antiseptic colors?

i know it can be a bit harsh... but didn't you wish that you can change how your gmail looks when you log into it?

surely you will want to try this out: SKIN GMAIL!

some basics:
* you would need a GMAIL account (obviously!

if you still don't have one, PM me, and i will gladly send you a gmail invite.

)
* you would need firefox since you would be using an extension file [URIid extension]. if you don't know firefox, you're missing out on the best explorer alternative there is.

(newbies, just google it).
* you need to tinker with CSS to achieve the look you want. a downloadable sample is made available on the page below.

* if you are going to overwrite anything on your system, make sure to make backups (just to remind you so you don't go blaming me when something goes wrong in your attempt to skin gmail.

)

VIEW sample skinned GMAIL.

now to the good stuff... Here is an ABRIDGED version:

QUOTE

* Install the URIid Mozilla/Firefox extension.
* Download this CSS file.
* Locate your profile folder and the chrome folder within that.
* Copy the downloaded CSS file to the chrome folder and rename it to userContent.css (if you already have such a file, you will have to merge the two).
* Restart Firefox.
* Visit Gmail.

For a longer explanation, visit:
http://persistent.info/archives/2004/10/05/gmail-skinning

post screenshots of your new skinned gmail!

---

ADDED:
* to date, FOUR gmail skins you may want to try or dissect:
http://www.skingmail.com/allskins.php
* It's Not Working - Help!: some tips and pointers
http://www.skingmail.com/not_working.php

Kubi

Jul 31 2005, 09:57 PM

Cool! It actually works for me! Bwahaha. I installed the same one you did, the rest didn't look too great.

Thanks

Florisjuh

Aug 1 2005, 07:55 AM

Very nice and handy tutorial for Firefox users, too bad I made a switch to Opera right before I went on vacation (whch I am right now so I use the internet exploiter).. Lucky I aint that bored by the gmail skin

skynet

Aug 1 2005, 08:21 AM

My bad, I didn't use firefox

I wish it can be used for all browser

especially netscape and IE that I currently use.

Altough, after look at downloadable skin I think the original gmail interface is better. And I'm not good enough to make one

mayank

Aug 1 2005, 10:36 AM

hey thnx buddy for this great tutorial. i think this a really good idea of skinning the gmail..it will be great enough if google can come up with skins for gmail...that will support all the browser as well..so that people who dont use firefox will also be able to skin their gmail.

shigajet

Aug 1 2005, 12:51 PM

Thanks for the tip - it'll be useful for me since I use Firefox most of the time. I don't have any complaints about the default Gmail mailbox skin, but just in case it needs a fresh look, I'll know where to turn to.

SecureA

Aug 2 2005, 03:29 PM

wow, wonderful trick!

Frozen

Aug 3 2005, 06:13 PM

Thanks man. This is really helpful

I am going to pick the silver one i think o.O

Ingrid

Aug 5 2005, 05:50 PM

I did exactly what you said, but it doesn't work. I already restarted my computer so that ain't it. Are there any specifications needed to get it work? I like the skin so it would be great if I get it worked

The white one is pretty boring..

Inspiron

Aug 6 2005, 10:07 AM

I think its only a temporary skin. You won't be able to see your skin on another computer without firefox installed with that skin mod for gmail. It's like cheating Firefox to believe and change the skin when you logon to gmail. So its a local computer thing. Nothing is changed on gmail I suppose. It's just how Firefox display it to you.

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safe.as.haz

Jan 20 2008, 08:19 PM

QUOTE(Inspiron @ Aug 6 2005, 10:07 AM)

nice. more to the point when are gmail gonna have there own feature like this so it will be a different skin worldwide?

mahirharoon

Nov 28 2007, 11:05 AM

we can skin ie 6 or 7 whith ie7 pro - ie7pro.com

heavensounds

Mar 22 2007, 06:28 PM

Hehe..this is a good one, but it is not useable for me since I use Opera and as far as i know, opera doesn't support personal css styles...maybe in the future. I really like the idea and the way you thought about it...I acctually didn't know that gmail uses CSS - I am happy to hear that, because it is by far the best system for web-site building!

Best whishes

Zlash

Mar 22 2007, 04:21 PM

godd tutorial. I use Mozilla Firebird for my mail so I don't really care about the Gmail skin

possible123

Mar 16 2007, 05:03 PM

That tutorial isn't the only way to skin gmail. I know of a few other ways. All require the download of Firefox extensions.

First up is gmailskins.mozdev.org/

It is an extension designed specifically for skinning gmail, but it contains a few other things.
You can't make your own skins yet.

You can also use greasespot.net/
It is the home of the very popular Greasemonkey extension for Firefox. They have a lot of skins for
gmail and other things that add functionality to Gmail. You can find greasemonkey user scripts at

userscripts.org/

If you want to cut to the chase and find gmail related scripts, you can find them at
this search result page

Greasemonkey and Gmail Skins aren't the only way to skin Gmail. There is also Stylish at

userstyles.org/

They have both the styles and the download link there. Again, if you want to get to the gmail
styles fast, you can find them at
This other results page.

As for people saying that it is against the TOS to do this, I disagree. Like many posters
before me said, it is just how the browser views the content. No change is being made on the server.
Except for Gmail Skins. The Gmail Skins extension makes a "hidden label" in Gmail. You know
how labels work in Gmail, right? Gmail Skins basically makes a label that is hidden in some views.
That label contains your preferences. If your friend's computer has Gmail Skins on Firefox, and you log onto that computer, your settings will come into effect.

Not that any harmful changes are happening to the server though, just a little label.

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Gmail Skinning - A Quick Guide - via CSS! :D

Gmail Skinning - A Quick Guide - via CSS! :D

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