Improvements to iGoogle Gadgets for Webmaster Tools
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Wednesday, April 02, 2008
We launched Webmaster Tools iGoogle Gadgets
last month with excitement—and curiosity. Would you find them useful? We thought you might
appreciate the ability to create better "dashboards" for your sites, but there's no better way to
tell for sure other than to get it out so you can use it.
After our initial release, we saw clear interest in the gadgets, and plenty of suggestions for
improvement. So we've spent the past several weeks working on various areas. The biggest
improvements are probably for those of you with more than one site: when you add a new tab of
gadgets, your gadgets will now default to the site you were viewing when you added them to your
iGoogle page. Additionally, gadgets now retain settings as a group, so if you change the site for
any gadget in a group, the next time you refresh that page, all the gadgets will show data for
that site. And gadgets now resize dynamically, so they take up less room.
Other cosmetic and usability improvements will benefit everyone. We shortened the tab's title to
"Webmaster Tools" to save space on your iGoogle page, and added a Google logo/watermark to each
gadget to help distinguish them as a group. We think the gadgets look a lot better, with
alternating background colors for table rows to make them easier to differentiate, and improved
layout in general. The Top Search Queries gadget now shows each query's position, too.
Some of you did tell us you want a 4-column layout, but we feel that the information we
display—including some fairly wide URLS—is better suited to 3 columns.
If you do want 4 columns, remember that you can choose "edit this tab" yourself to select
an alternate layout.
Update: The 4-column layout is no longer available in iGoogle.
We really appreciate your feedback on these early gadgets, and hope these improvements make them
even more useful.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle launched Webmaster Tools iGoogle Gadgets and has since made several improvements based on user feedback.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eImprovements include better site management for users with multiple sites, dynamic resizing, and enhanced visual appeal.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGadgets now default to the last viewed site, retain settings as a group, and have a more user-friendly layout with alternating background colors.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAlthough a 4-column layout was requested by some users, Google retained the 3-column layout for better information display, especially for wide URLs.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGoogle appreciates user feedback and encourages further input on the improved gadgets.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["The Webmaster Tools team released iGoogle Gadgets and subsequently made several improvements based on user feedback. Key updates include: gadgets now default to the site being viewed when a new tab is added, settings are retained across a group of gadgets, and gadgets resize dynamically. Cosmetic enhancements include a shortened tab title, a Google logo, and improved table layouts. The team decided against a 4-column layout and the option is now unavailable. The team encourages continued user feedback.\n"],null,["# Improvements to iGoogle Gadgets for Webmaster Tools\n\n| It's been a while since we published this blog post. Some of the information may be outdated (for example, some images may be missing, and some links may not work anymore).\n\nWednesday, April 02, 2008\n\n\nWe [launched Webmaster Tools iGoogle Gadgets](/search/blog/2008/02/igoogle-gadgets-for-webmaster-tools)\nlast month with excitement---and curiosity. Would you find them useful? We thought you might\nappreciate the ability to create better \"dashboards\" for your sites, but there's no better way to\ntell for sure other than to get it out so you can use it.\n\n\nAfter our initial release, we saw clear interest in the gadgets, and plenty of suggestions for\nimprovement. So we've spent the past several weeks working on various areas. The biggest\nimprovements are probably for those of you with more than one site: when you add a new tab of\ngadgets, your gadgets will now default to the site you were viewing when you added them to your\niGoogle page. Additionally, gadgets now retain settings as a group, so if you change the site for\nany gadget in a group, the next time you refresh that page, all the gadgets will show data for\nthat site. And gadgets now resize dynamically, so they take up less room.\n\n\nOther cosmetic and usability improvements will benefit everyone. We shortened the tab's title to\n\"Webmaster Tools\" to save space on your iGoogle page, and added a Google logo/watermark to each\ngadget to help distinguish them as a group. We think the gadgets look a lot better, with\nalternating background colors for table rows to make them easier to differentiate, and improved\nlayout in general. The Top Search Queries gadget now shows each query's position, too.\n\n\nSome of you did tell us you want a 4-column layout, but we feel that the information we\ndisplay---including some fairly wide URLS---is better suited to 3 columns.\n~~If you do want 4 columns, remember that you can choose \"edit this tab\" yourself to select\nan alternate layout.~~\n\n**Update: The 4-column layout is no longer available in iGoogle.**\n\n\nWe really appreciate your feedback on these early gadgets, and hope these improvements make them\neven more useful.\n\n\nAs always, please\n[let us know](https://support.google.com/webmasters/community)\nwhat you think.\n\nJohn Blackburn and Trevor Foucher, Webmaster Tools team"]]
