FTI: Google Mail (Gmail) has themes!

Google Mail a.k.a. Gmail has been improved under the hood far too many times to count. However, one feature often neglected is the color scheme of gmail which cannot be changed. Long time users of Gmail has created plugins in browsers like firefox to enable the theme-ing of gmail.

Up till now, I’ve been using Stylish plugin for Firefox and Cascading Style Sheets to theme my gmail. One problem with this is that it is only available on my personal computer, and the styles aren’t resistant to Gmail Code changes.

Following in the direction taken by Google;s Personalized Homepage, Google has implemented themes on Gmail also.

According to the Gmail Blog, the developers

“wanted to go beyond simple color customization, so out of the 30 odd themes we’re launching today, there’s a shiny theme with chrome styling, another one that turns your inbox into a retro notepad, nature themes that change scenery over time…”

“…We’ve also done a minor facelift to Gmail’s default look to make it crisper and cleaner — you might notice a few colors and pixels shifted around here and there.”

It is definitely a step in the right direction for the gmail theme to provide customization options for users. At least now, the theme changes aren’t limited to your own personal computer.

Maybe Gmail can now go a step further and allow users to upload a theme? However, I guess that will be a security issue.

Gmail Theme Settings

To apply the new themes, go to the Themes tab in the Settings page..

To read more about the themes, head over to Gmail’s Help Center.

Anyway, my current favourites for now are “Graffiti” and “Desk”. What are yours?