1-22-2008 22:22
lifeforces
Deep Changes for iGoogle Homepage
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An iGoogle page allows you to organize the content on a single web page through various gadgets. As a consequence, you are able to choose the type of content that will be displayed,
such as weather forecast, latest Google news, bookmarks and more.
iGoogle themes API provides you a deeper way to change the behavior and look of your iGoogle homepage at the design level. Even more, the theme skin can automatically change as a function of the time of the day. The iGoogle page design modifications must be specified in a XML file. A default template is provided for your new themes, available for download from here.
In the corresponding XML file you can define your own theme by adjusting the default parameters with your desired values. You can change the header background color, iGoogle logo, header and footer images, links colors and generally all possible aspects related to a webpage design.
After you select the necessary images and specify the XML code directives into your template XML file, you can upload your theme to the iGoogle directory, where it will be reviewed. In order to test your new iGoogle themes, all the theme files must be hosted on a webserver.
To preview the new theme, on the iGoogle page you must type [url]http://www.google.com/ig?skin=[/url]"theme XML file address", where "theme XML file address" represents the URL of your custom XML file. If you do not know how to manipulate the XML code, there is also a free solution that automates the process of iGoogle themes creation.
igThemer will generate the necessary XML code for a certain theme, according to your specifications for web page elements attributes. After you create the XML file you are able to preview, bookmark or save it on your computer for further usage. At the end of the theme modifications it is recommended to bookmark the last iGoogle webpage state in order to easily access it at a later time.