Customizing the Google Toolbar

So far, we've discussed just those buttons that are displayed by default when you install the Google Toolbar in your web browser. But there are a lot more buttons availableonce you know how to add them.

Tip

If you have more buttons activated that can fit horizontally on the Toolbar, a "more buttons" button appears at the far right of the Toolbar, just to the left of the static Settings button. Click this button to display a list of the remaining buttons you have installed.

Adding and Removing Buttons

You add and remove buttons to and from the Google Toolbar from the Toolbar Options dialog box, shown in Figure 31.9. You display this dialog box by clicking the Settings button on the Toolbar, and then selecting Options.

Figure 31.9. Adding new buttons from the Toolbar Options dialog box.

New buttons are available on all three tabs (Features, Buttons, and More); the More tab is also used to configure selected buttons.

To add a button to the Toolbar, just check the box next to the button; to remove a button, uncheck that button's box.

Using the Optional Toolbar Buttons

What other buttons can you add to the Google Toolbar? Table 31.1 provides a list:

Table 31.1. Optional Google Toolbar Buttons

Button	Description
Translate	Use to translate the current page into another language (or, if you enable WordTranslator, hover your cursor over a word on the page to see it translated into Spanish)
Search Site	Click to search within the current website
Google Images	Displays the Google Images search page
Google Local	Displays the Google Maps page
I'm Feeling Lucky	Automatically takes you to the first page listed in the search results for the current query
Google Groups	Displays the Google Groups page
Froogle	Displays the Froogle page
Google Earth	Opens the Google Earth application
Button Gallery	Displays a list of additional buttons
Up	Navigates up one level in the current website
Next	Displays the next page listed in the current search results
Previous	Displays the previous page listed in the current search results
Voting	Use to "vote" on the page to determine its overall PageRank

Note

You can even create your own custom Google Toolbar buttonsproviding you know how to program with the Google API, that is. Learn more in Chapter 40, "Creating Custom Search Applications."

Adding Custom Buttons to the Toolbar

Google and third-party developers have created a slew of custom buttons you can add to the Google Toolbar. You can see a list of available buttons when you click the Button Gallery button, or go directly to www.google.com/tools/toolbar/buttons/gallery. As you can see in Figure 31.10, there are a lot of buttons available!

Figure 31.10. The Google Toolbar buttons gallery.