If you’re a Chrome user, there’s a good chance you’ve added a new tab page to your browser by using the “New Tab” button in the top left corner of your screen. If you haven’t done so, now is a good time to do so. Adding a new tab page is simple: just type the name of the page into the “Name” field and click on the “Add to Chrome” button. When you add a new tab page, Chrome will create an empty frame at the bottom of your screen and add it to your current browsing session. To use a new tab page, just open it and start browsing. You can also use it as an alternative to opening a new window ortab when you want to explore different parts of your web site or document.
Before
Here is the current default “New Tab Page” in Chrome… Sure, you have thumbnails of recently visited sites and a listing of recently closed tabs but it is not very exciting or customizable. What if you could replace it with a little bit of iGoogle-styled functionality?
Installation
Installation is quick and simple. During the installation process you will need to click on “Install” to finish adding “New Tab Extension | Dashboard” to Chrome.
After the installation has been completed there will be no “Toolbar Button” displayed…only a short extension management message.
At the moment there are no options for “New Tab Extension | Dashboard” but that could change soon…
New Tab Extension Dashboard in Action
As soon as you open a new tab in Chrome this is what you will see. At the moment there are five gadgets available:
To-Do List Random Images Viewer Chat Window Weather Gadget (does not work with International zip codes) Clock/Date/Calendar Gadget
You will be able to settle into it easily and start enjoying a New Tab Page that is not the same old thing that you have been looking at forever.
At the moment there are still one or two “rough spots” but this definitely has potential for later releases. Hopefully everyone will soon be able choose the particular gadgets that they would like to use, where they are placed within the window, and choose a custom background.
Here is a closer look at each of the individual gadgets currently available…
The To-Do List…
The Random Images Viewer…
The Chat Window.
The Weather Gadget (currently the only non-Google powered gadget in the New Tab Page)…
And the Clock/Date/Calendar gadget.
Conclusion
If you are looking for something new and different for your New Tab Page in Chrome, then you just might want to give this extension a try. While it still has one or two “rough spots” this one is definitely showing a lot of potential for the future.
Links
Download the “New Tab Extension | Dashboard” extension (Google Chrome Extensions)
