Gmail Gadgets : Here’s a Quick way to Spice Gmail

Gmail gadgets can really spice up your emailing experience. Just imagine what things you can do inside a single Gmail window by adding custom gadgets. You can use all the services at the same place without leaving the inbox.

This also proves to be a simple method to save time and be more productive like searching Wikipedia, using Twitter or Calculator. Within Google mail, there is wide variety of gadgets that can be added to perform range of functions from single window.

Gmail Blog has previously announced the addition of Google Calendar and Docs as gadgets. However, custom widgets can also be used in Gmail by providing XML URL for it. Follow this step-by-step tutorial to add custom gadgets:

Step 1: Enable Gadgets – Go to Gmail Settings > Labs > “Add any gadget by URL” option and enable it.

Step 2: Find Gadgets –You will need XML URLs to add custom gadget inside Gmail. They can be easily found from the iGoogle Gadget Directory or its home page. For this, go to directory and add any useful gadget. Now come back to iGoogle home page and click on little arrow beside gadget. Click on “About gadget” from the drop down.

Now, from the address bar copy the XML URL of the gadget as shown in bellow picture.

Step 3: Finally, go to the gadgets tab of Gmail settings and paste the recently copied XML URL. Remember to add http:// before URL or else you will get “Invalid gadget specification” error.

Step 4: It’s done. Now you can enjoy these gadgets directly from the Gmail window sidebar. I am listing some of the useful gadgets URLs :

Wikipedia – http://www.google.com/ig/modules/wikipedia.xml

Twitter – http://www.twittergadget.com/gadget_gmail.xml

Calculator – http://calebegg.com/calc.xml

World Clock – http://gad.getpla.net/poly/clock.xml

Weather Channel – http://gadgets.weather.com/services/gadgets/googlegadget/gadget.xml

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