Shaun Gallagher of the Pressbin Coding Blog got in touch to let us know about a couple of Gmail hacks that he’s created: A “Mark All As Read” button and a hack that removes the new Mail/Contacts/Tasks menu from the upper-left menu. Both hacks are available as user scripts (to run using Greasemonkey) and standalone Firefox add-ons.
“Mark All As Read” Button
When the button is pressed, this script simulates opening the “More actions” menu and hitting the “Mark all as read” option. As Gallagher admits, the code is ugly, but if you’d like a way to quickly mark all the emails in your inbox as read with one click of your mouse, it’s worth a try. You can get the user script here, or install it as a standalone Firefox add-on here.
(Note: When I tried this script earlier today, I wasn’t able to get it to work properly; perhaps Google has changed something that broke the script, or another script or Lab feature that I have installed is interfering with it.)
Remove Mail/Contacts/Tasks
As he doesn’t use Contacts or Tasks much, Gallagher doesn’t like the new menu at the top of the sidebar as it takes up screen real estate. This script removes the menu. You can get the user script here, or install it as a standalone Firefox add-on here.
Gallagher also has written many other hacks; you can read about them on his blog.
Found a useful user script to tweak your favorite web app? Share it in the comments!
Related GigaOM Pro content (sub. req.): Email: The Reports of My Death are Greatly Exaggerated
Actually GMail Labs has a feature that puts a MARK AS READ button on the toolbar which I find useful. Clicking the ALL checkmark and then MARK AS READ is pretty simple without needing code.
Anthony Russo
Conferencing Specialist
Infinity Conference Call
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Twitter: @AnthonyRusso
My favorite feature of Gmail is the fact that – if you mention an attatchment in the body of your email and try to send it without an attatchment – it will bring up a warning message.
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