Google Opens Up iGoogle Theme Directory

Have the less-than-impressive options for personalizing your iGoogle homepage gotten you down? Well frown no more – now you’ve got a chance to do something about it, and give your iGoogle page the personalization that it deserves. Launched Wednesday, Google has made available the new iGoogle Theme Directory which allows users to submit and rate new themes for their iGoogle pages.

Even if you’re not graphically or technically inclined, with potentially millions of users submitting their new designs, there will be far more choices for you to choose from ever before, and installing a new theme is easy. To change your theme, all you have to do is click the “Select Theme” link, and then pick a theme from the new directory. The standard themes that you’ve already become acquainted with are there, along with a few new themes that users have already submitted.

This marks the first time that anyone can create and submit a theme for iGoogle. Submitted themes, however, should be a “compelling, polished tested design that conforms to the guidelines given in the program policy.”

Amongst some of the things you can’t do with the iGoogle themes you submit is including your logo wherever you please. Logos, brand names, and anything similar may be including, but are limited to a 50 x 100 pixel area located at the top right corner of the footer. Themes should not be adult-oriented in nature, and need to be kept G-rated. Signatures are permitted to be included anywhere in the theme, as long as it is no closer to the Google logo than 50 pixels, and the signature image may not exceed a 200 pixel square. Oh, and you shouldn’t mess with the Google logo unless you’d like feel the wrath of their blood-hungry lawyers.

If you’re a potential designer of iGoogle themes, Google has also made available a very simple means of testing your theme before you submit it to the theme directory, which means that there is no excuse for any mistakes.