Jake Kasprzak Online

Much has been said about the new version of Gmail by those who have been able to use it. And much of what has been said about this new version of Gmail has not been particularly positive, according to this article. Those who have been able to use the new version have given a number of reasons they consider those still unable to use the new version fortunate. The most common complaints tend to be that this new version takes longer to load, and that it is more likely to cause the browser to crash. In addition, as has been said here before, many Greasemonkey scripts that have worked with Gmail do not work with this new version.

However, since this new version came out, some new and updated Greasemonkey scripts that work with this new version have become available. And coincidentally, news on Lifehacker was posted today about the Better Gmail 2 extension being updated with new scripts to give it new features. And here, I list some of these scripts that make some improvements to this version of Gmail. They are listed in no particular order. Those who would like to see them ranked in order of usefulness may collectively decide on which of these are most useful by participating in the poll at the end of this entry. And without any further ado, here are ten scripts that can be used with the new version of Gmail.

1. Gmail Filter Assistant. This script allows you to quickly set up a filter for e-mails after you display a message. This is convenient for when you decide that you would like to quickly create a filter for e-mails that are similar to the one that you have just viewed. And this is one of the scripts that worked with the previous version of Gmail, and have been updated to work with the new version of it. In fact, the original version of it was once named the “Download of the Day” on Lifehacker, as you can see here. There may be those who find that the “filter messages like these” feature in the newer version makes this script unnecessary. However, the “filter messages like these” feature directs the user to a longer process for setting up filters. As the author of this script says, this script makes setting up filters much easier.
2. Gmail Beautifier 2.1. Would you like to be able to widen the body of the e-mail you are viewing, and remove what is on the right side of the page in order to widen it? In addition to giving you this option, this script makes other improvements, such as the improvement of the appearance of buttons.
3. Gmail Real Estate (Minimize Header, Nav or Ads). This is similar to the previous script listed here, except that it allows the user to minimize the header at the top of the page, the navigation panel on the left side, and the panel on the right side. It is also an updated version of a script that worked with the older version of Gmail.
4. (New) Gmail Bottom Posting. This script is another one that worked with the older version, then was updated to work with the newer one. The original script, which can be found here, puts the cursor at the ended of quoted text when replying to an e-mail. And so if you would like to have the cursor after quoted text instead of having it before the text in the e-mail you were sent, then this script is for you.
5. Gmail Fixed Navigation for Newer Gmail. If you want the panel on the left side to always be visible and accessible regardless of how far down the page you have scrolled, then this script is one you would want. However, unlike some other scripts that are listed here, there is no version of this script that works with the older version of Gmail.
6. Gmail Unlabelled 2.0. Those who have used the original version of this script, which gives the option to display all unlabelled conversations, may be interested in this one. This is the new and updated version of the script for bringing up what is not labelled. The original script for selecting unlabelled conversations that works with the old version of Gmail can be found here. And more information on these scripts can be found here on the author’s page for them.
7. Gmail + Reader Integrator. As the name of this script suggests, it integrates Google Reader into Gmail. According to the author, this script is still a work in progress. After installing it, you may want to periodically check for updates made to it.
8. Folders4Gmail. It is good to be able to add labels to the conversations that you have. But what if you want to organize the labels that you have so that they are arranged in a folder-like hierarchy? This script, which also works with the older version of Gmail, allows you to have folders and subfolders for storing messages. Instructions on how it can be used can be found here.
9. Gmail Label Colors NG. Here is another script that, like the previous one listed here, allows you to enhance labels by adding special syntax to the names of these labels. And this script, which also works with the older version of Gmail, highlights the labels in colours that you assign to them in the label names. More information on this script can be found here on the homepage for it.
10. Gmail in Blue 2. Some might have noticed that among the scripts listed here up to this point, there are no skins. At this time, not many skins have been designed to work with this new version of Gmail. However, this skin, which was one that was made for the older version of Gmail, has been updated to work with the new version. And for those interested, the original version of this script, which works with the older version of Gmail, can be found here.

Of course, not all scripts that work with the newer version of Gmail are listed here, and scripts for the newer version are being worked on as I write this. So over time, users will have more ability to improve this new version of Gmail. Of course, these scripts do not do anything to solve the problems of lack of speed and stability that are associated with this new version. And some may consider speed and stability most important, and so some may say that the new features that these scripts provide would not matter. However, there may be at least a few who may like to have these scripts available to make it so that the new version would be considered adequate. And the many people who are using the Firefox extension known as Better Gmail 2 must find it good to know that the kind of scripts that it utilizes are being made available. That can lead to Better Gmail 2 being made even better still in the future.

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