Chapter 6 — Gmail and Greasemonkey 115
Jim Lawton’s userscript creates a button that, when mails are selected, allows them
to be marked as read, en masse. Very useful in itself, it also provides the core code for
acting on a large number of mails in one go: handy for your own scripts, perhaps.
Multiple Signatures
Documentation:http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/1592
Userscript:http://userscripts.org/scripts/source/1592.user.js
This is a very smart script indeed. Using the ability to change the reply-to:
address within Gmail, it allows the user to change both their e-mail signature,
their reply-to:address, and — brilliantly — Gmail’s color scheme at the same
time. This allows you to use Gmail for multiple mail accounts without getting
them mixed up in the heat and fury of a working day. Very clever.
Hide Invites
Documentation:http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/673
Userscript:http://userscripts.org/scripts/source/673.user.js
A very simple use of Greasemonkey. This userscript simply hides the box that
holds the facility to send Gmail invitations to your friends. As you have already
looked at the way Gmail is constructed, you can modify this userscript yourself to
stop the display of any section of the interface.
Random Signatures
Documentation:http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/1704
Userscript:http://userscripts.org/scripts/source/1704.user.js
Robson Braga Araujo’s userscript adds a random tagline to the bottom of your
Gmail signature and also creates an option in the Settings menu to edit the
taglines and control how the userscript operates.
And Now
In this chapter, you saw that Gmail’s interface and workings are even more cus-
tomizable than you might have first thought. By using Greasemonkey, you can
seriously improve the Gmail experience. And by looking at the way the scripts
work, you can learn how to write your own.