Now that we have accumulated a list of Google provided tools and services, we need a place to quickly access them all. iGoogle, Google's free personal and customizable portal, is the answer. In this article, we will look at how iGoogle will provide a dashboard interface for almost all of your needs when Gaming with Google.
Accessing iGoogle
As was the case in all of the previous articles, the first thing you will need to do is log into iGoogle with your Google Account. Once you have logged in, you will be presented with some prepopulated content. This is a good starting point to understand how iGoogle works.
iGoogle Anatomy
There are several components to the iGoogle interface. On the far left, you have tabs with each tab having a drop list of the gadgets residing on that tab. If this is the first time you have logged into iGoogle, you will have a single tab labeled "Home."
The center of iGoogle's interface is where you will see and arrange various gadgets. Arranging gadgets is extremely easy. Simply drag the gadgets from their title bars and drop them wherever you would like to place them. If you have more than one tab and would like to move a gadget from one tab to another, you simply drag a gadget onto the tab name on the left.
Chat
You might also notice a little chat gadget floating beneath the column of tabs on the left. You should see a listing of your contacts that you have created previously. iGoogle provides an instant messaging tool via Google's Google Talk/Gmail chat/iGoogle Chat network. I did not write up an entire article about this as it is relatively self explanatory, but you should at least know that the chat list is a reflection of your Google Contacts, and if you are using a Gmail account as your Google Account, your chats are automatically archived in the Chats folder in Gmail. The Chat tool also allows you to conduct group chats with two or more of your contacts. You could also use this tool to have secret conversations with the GM or with other players in your gaming group during a game session.
Adding Gadgets
Now we get on to the fun stuff. Essentially, we are going to add a gadget for each of the services we have covered so far. Adding a gadget is extremely simple. In the lower right corner of the Google banner, just above the main content area, there is a link labeled "Add a gadget." Clicking that link will provide a new user interface that provides you with tons of gadgets to add. To create your very own Gaming with Google dashboard, search for and add the following gadgets.
Google Groups
The Google Groups gadget displays a list of Google Groups in which you are a member. This list can be sorted alphabetically or by new messages.
Google Calendar
The Google Calendar gadget displays a monthly calendar with an agenda below it. Editing the settings allows you to enable or disable the mini-calendar view or the agenda list. The gadget also allows you to select which calendars you would like displayed.
If you switch to canvas view by clicking the box icon to the far right of the channel's title bar, you'll see a full size embedded Google Calendar.
Google Reader
The Google Reader gadget is a rather impressive one that is fairly customizable. This gadget allows you to select which tags you would like to display. If you tagged all the feeds related to your gaming group's blogs, albums, or whatever else, you can display new items from those feeds all together.
Options for this gadget include displaying an item in a bubble or opening it in a new window, choosing the number of items to display at one time within the gadget, showing or hiding read items, and sorting.
In canvas view, you get the ability to select individual subscriptions or whole folders (tags) and can alternate between expanded view or list view. Starring items for reading later is also more accessible as is toggling between new items and all items.
Blogger
The Blogger gadget is a simple one. This gadget gives you a form in which you can quickly enter a post and submit it to one of the blogs associated with your account. It is a completely stripped down interface, so don't expect much from it.
Google Docs
Want quick and easy access to your most recent Google Docs? This gadget will give you a listing of those. The gadget's search bar will filter the list as you type. You can also choose to display items owned by you, opened by you, or starred items.
Google Tasks
If you use the Tasks feature in Google Calendar, you will also want to add this gadget. As an added bonus, Google just updated the gadget's canvas view to a fully functional interface for managing your tasks. You should definitely play around with this gadget some.
By the way, if you have an iPhone or an Android phone, Google provides a mobile interface for Tasks. This is great for referring to these tasks during a game session. If you enjoy a more analog approach, Tasks can be printed, too.
Google Bookmarks
I have not covered Google Bookmarks in this series, and I did not really plan to. Google Bookmarks has limited functionality, but it does synchronize with the Bookmarks button on the Google Toolbar which is available for Firefox and Internet Explorer.
The benefit of the Google Bookmarks gadget is that you can create a tagged list of bookmarks for resources you would like to have available such as the Hypertext d20 SRD or perhaps the D&DI Compendium. You could even create a list of links to all of the Google services and applications highlighted in this series.
(If you would like to see an article about Google Bookmarks and the Google Toolbar, drop a line in the comments below or send an email to contact.us (at) thediceoflife.com.)
Summary
Those are the core gadgets associated with the Google services we have covered in this series so far, although I did leave out the Picasa Web Albums gadget because it only acts as a slideshow based on an album's feed.
There are a huge number of great gadgets out there that are not developed by Google. If you have a few that you enjoy using, please feel free to share links to them here for everyone else to enjoy. You can also subscribe to our Google Group and send emails to the other members of the group straight from the gadget's page.
2 comment(s):
Excellent as usual. But won't wave make most of those other Google tools obsolete ?
I cover some of this in Gaming with Google Wave. Wave could very much replace some of those other tools easily which is the intent of Google Wave's design (i.e. - collaborative writing, synchronous and asynchronous communication, archiving, multimedia presentation, etc.), but there's something those other tools have that Google Wave doesn't have (yet): feeds and notifications.
Blogger, Picasa Web Albums, Google Docs, etc. all have an method of notifying you of updates via some external means of communication such as email or RSS/Atom feeds. Additionally, it's easy to syndicate a feed via other web sites and systems, but Wave does not currently have that capability.
And as of right now, it's easier to share resources in those other tools with individuals who are not part of your group, such as a campaign journal or a set of house rules that you want to make available to the public without granting permission to edit it.
I had a conversation with Andreas Rönnqvist of Dreamscarred Press (via Wave) about this topic, too. We both agreed that while Wave is excellent for drafting a document, Google Docs still has its place in terms of producing a final product for distribution and archiving.
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