Posts Tagged ‘Better Gmail 2’
Released a few fix-it updates to the Better Gmail 2 and Better Flickr Firefox extensions this week, which you can get by pressing the "Find Updates" button in your extensions dialog box.
Better Gmail 2 version 1.2 plays catch-up with Google's latest changes to Gmail: Hide Spam Count now works, and I swapped out Folders4Gmail (which no longer works) with Label Links, a script that does something similar to the Labs version of Nested Labels. Also replaced the CPU-hogging Highlight Rows with Keyboard script with something that does the same thing without the performance hit. Better Flickr also got a much needed once-over, and now doesn't break editing photo descriptions when Rich Edit Controls are turned on. Enjoy the updates! As always, questions about the extensions should go to the Better Firefox Extensions mailing list.
Mozilla just approved my latest update to the Better Gmail 2 Firefox extension, which now includes the ability to hide your unread Buzz count, and enable an audio notification when you receive new mail.
Thanks to Victor Zhang for creating the Hide Buzz Count script and Yansky for Gmail Sound Notify, and for giving me permission to include them in Better Gmail 2. Press play below to hear the new mail notification sound.
If you've already got the extension installed, click on the "Find Updates" button in Firefox's Add-ons dialog to get the new version. Otherwise, download Better Gmail 2 from Mozilla Add-ons.
Better Gmail 2 Updated · Google's Gmail tweak broke some of the more popular features of my Better Gmail 2 Firefox extension this week, including Folders4Gmail and Hide Spam Count. Thanks to the quick work of Arend v. Reinersdorff, the problems have been fixed. If you're a Better Gmail 2 user and your labels aren't collapsing properly or your Spam count is showing when it shouldn't, hit the "Find Updates" button in Firefox's Add-ons dialog to get the fix, or download the most recent version directly from Mozilla Add-ons. Thanks for your patience and for using the extension. As always, news and discussion about the whole series of Better extensions is always posted on the mailing list. · March 6th, 2010
Better Gmail 2’s Favicon Unread Count Fixed · Just released a fixer-upper version of the Better Gmail 2 Firefox extension which cleans up some wreckage a recent Gmail API change left behind. Specifically, the change broke Eric Bogs' and Peter Wooley's excellent favicon alert scripts, and man did THAT upset users. Happily, Eric and Peter came up with fixes right quick, and version 0.9.7 includes them. Here's where to get it. · November 19th, 2009, 4 comments
Updating the Better Extensions for Firefox 3.6 · Now that the Firefox 3.6 beta is available for download (portable version is here), it's time to start updating the Better Firefox extensions. The most popular ones, Better Gmail 2 and Better GReader, are already 3.6-compatible; the rest will come in the next few weeks. As always, join the Google Group to ask questions or make comments about the Better Firefox extensions. · November 11th, 2009, 1 comment
Better Gmail 2 Updated · Just pushed the latest version of the Better Gmail 2 Firefox add-on I maintain to Mozilla Add-ons, now with new options for favicon alerts and attachment icons. Here are full details and the changelog. · September 4th, 2009
The latest version of the Better Gmail 2 Firefox add-on boasts a useful new feature: a summary panel of unread email grouped by sender, as shown above. In version 0.9 of the add-on, check off the "Summarize Unread Messages by Sender" checkbox (on the General tab) to see a listing like this one above your inbox, or any label or search result listing. Click on any name with the number of messages next to it to filter down to just those messages. This new user script is courtesy of developer Winston Teo, who explains how he uses this grouping to clear out his Gmail inbox.
Also new in version 0.9: a disabled-by-default "Support This Add-on via Amazon" option. When you opt into that feature, your purchases at Amazon kick back a small referral fee that helps support development on all the Better add-ons. Thanks in advance for your willingness to check that box. See the rest of the changelog or just download Better Gmail 2 version 0.9 here.
Google's recent improvements to Gmail's labels broke one of Better Gmail 2's most-loved features: Folders4Gmail. Folders4Gmail displays labels with slashes in them as subfolders of a parent label, and I must say, I've missed it a whole lot this week.
Luckily, rockstar userscripter Arend v. Reinersdorff updated Folders4Gmail to work with Gmail's new drag-and-drop, hide-and-show label mechanism, and I just posted his new version in the extension. Grab the newest version 0.8.3 of Better Gmail 2 to get back Folders4Gmail functionality as well as Hide Spam Count. Check out what Folders4Gmail looks like in action in the screenshot. Arend recommends showing all your labels to get full-on subfolder action with Folders4Gmail enabled.
Also, thanks to the product manager at Google Apps who contacted me and Arend personally, apologized for making the label changes without sooner notice, and offered support and encouragement for updating the script and add-on. That was a nice big pat on the back for something a lot of developers have put time into. (Thanks also to the users who contacted Google asking them for their subfolders back!)
Until Mozilla Add-ons approves the newest version of Better Gmail 2, check off "Let me install this experimental add-on" next to version 0.8.3 here: Better Gmail 2.
Google's rolling out some improvements to Gmail labels today, including drag-and-drop labeling, smart hiding of labels you use less often, and a location promotion to right below your inbox. Gmail product manager Todd Jackson told me that about 29% of users actually try out labels in Gmail at all, and these tweaks aim to increase that number.
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Now that Mozilla's launched Add-on Collections, an easy way to subscribe to lists of good extensions for Firefox and friends, it only made sense to compile my series of Better extensions into a single collection.
Subscribe to the Better Webapps Firefox extension collection to get all the add-ons I'm still maintaining: Better Gmail 2, Better GReader, Better Amazon, Better YouTube, Better Flickr, Better GReader, and Better GCal. (Yes, some of these I maintain a bit more actively than others.)
You'll need Mozilla's official Add-on Collector to subscribe to the collection and others; if you do, you'll automatically get updates to it as we go along. If you have questions regarding any of the Better Webapps add-ons, hit up the mailing list.
Also, speaking of Better add-ons and collections, thanks to both Lifehacker and Download Squad for including Better Gmail 2 in their collections: Lifehacker's Must-Have Extensions and Downloadsquad Pack.
Just posted updates to two of my Firefox extensions: Better Gmail 2 and Better GReader.
Better Gmail 2 users can now enjoy the new Hide Labels in Message Row script (which hides labels until you roll over the message), and a Hide Spam Count update that doesn't underline the Spam link when you have themes enabled. Bettter GReader users will like that the Preview Item script no longer conflicts with Google Reader's new notes capability; and Show Feed Favicons has been fixed (for Firefox 3.1 users only). Both extensions are now fully Firefox 3.1 compatible, no hacks required. I'm not going to open comments on this post--if you've got questions or feedback, join the Better Firefox Extensions mailing list, which is happily going strong. I've submitted both new versions to Mozilla Add-ons for approval as well. Enjoy the updates and fixes!
The code that generates my series of "Better" Firefox extensions--Better Gmail 2, Better GReader, Better Amazon, and the rest--is now publicly available.
The Greasemonkey Multi-Script Compiler (GMSC) is based heavily on Anthony Lieuallen’s Greasemonkey (single) script compiler. Unlike Lieuallen's compiler, which is web-based, you've got to download GMSC, set up your user scripts by hand, and run the compiler from the command line. (It's PHP and bash, so Windows users, you need something like Cygwin to use this.) I've posted a first draft of the user guide in the wiki, and intend to flesh it out as folks start trying it out and asking questions.
I've been building and using GMSC to generate and update the Better extensions for over two years now, but since it started out as a set of quick and dirty for-my-eyes-only scripts, it's still very rough around the edges. I'm nervous about putting it out there for public consumption, but my hope is that better programmers than I am will start forking the GitHub repository and helping improve things. Eventually I'd like to release an easy-to-use webapp that lets anyone compile a custom extension with multiple user scripts and skins and a tabbed options dialog. We'll see how it goes!
In the meantime, hardy PHP programmers with an interest in giving it a try can find it on GitHub: Greasemonkey Multi-Script Compiler.
Many thanks to all the Greasemonkey programmers and especially Anthony Lieuallen, not only for building the extension and the compiler, but for open-sourcing it. Without their work, schmoes like me would never be able to build Firefox extensions so easily.
Better Gmail 2 Mailing List Now Available · Last week when Google made changes to Gmail that broke the Better Gmail 2 extension which I maintain, users were freaking out about their spam count showing and hierarchical labels not working and emailing me personally to demand to know when it would be fixed. I happened to be across the country attending a family funeral at the time, so it was nearly impossible to communicate to everyone individually that I'd get to it as soon as I could. To avoid having that lovely experience again, I've created a mailing list for Better Gmail 2, the central place for users and developers to powwow and troubleshoot issues collectively. If you're using the extension and have burning questions or tech support issues, that's the place to go from here on in. · March 9th, 2009, 4 comments
Google rolled out some changes to the HTML that runs Gmail in the last few days that rendered several of Better Gmail 2's features completely busted. (Yes, that's the technical term).
So I just posted a quick fix-it version 0.7.3.1, which includes changes from the very speedy and helpful Arend von Reinersdorff. (Arend is responsible for Better Gmail 2's most popular features, Folders4Gmail and Hide Spam Count, and I know--because users flip out the moment they stop working. Thanks, Arend.)
Sadly I had to remove several scripts which have not yet been updated to work with Gmail's new markup. Update, Thursday, March 5th: All scripts have been fixed in version 0.7.3.2, which is available now! Thanks for your help.
In the meantime, download the new fix-it version 0.7.3.2 using the Download button on the right, from Better Gmail 2's homepage, or just using Firefox's Add-on boxes' "Find Updates" button. Thanks for your patience with the broken features the last couple of days.
Minutes ago I posted an update to the Better Gmail 2 Firefox extension, which adds all sorts of functionality to Gmail. Since Gmail Labs launched, there's been less of a need for Better Gmail 2 features--so this revision clears out a lot of redundant stuff and pares things down to the items Google doesn't offer (yet?).
My favorite addition to this new version 0.7.3 is the awesome Unread Message Count in Favicon script, which adds that helpful little red unread message count to your Gmail tab's favicon (shown above). Note: A similar script which includes chat alerts is Gmail FavIcon Alerts, which I'll try to get permission to include in future Better Gmail 2 versions.
Download the latest version of the extension using the button here, or hit the homepage to see the changelog for the nuts and bolts of what was added, removed, and updated.
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