Thanks, Patti, you've been very helpful. Now that you've confirmed the categories are operating and visible somewhere in the world, and in the absence of any help from Google, I've played around with my account settings to see if I could get to see these categories myself.
Now I've found them - no thanks to Google. Even though I live in Australia, speak UK English, and sign in to iGoogle through the Australian portal at google.com.au, I have to tell iGoogle that I live in the US and speak US English before I'm allowed to see the categories. How stupid is that? I'm sure everybody thought I was mad, going on about not being able to see the categories, when a simple comment from Google could have saved my reputation! There is always the possibility, of course, that Google don't know about this bug. No one in the US would complain, because they CAN see the categories, and no one anywhere else would complain, because they wouldn't know there were any categories to see, unless they were avid readers of this forum. So at last, problem solved - well, worked-around. Now, as far as iGoogle is concerned, I live in the US and speak US English. I hope my Aussie friends don't find out! Dave On Jul 11, 5:58 am, Art4theWeb <[email protected]> wrote: > Maybe someone from Google can tell you why you can't see the > "categories". I thought everone could...? > I have several themes in "Destinations", just look for Art 4 the Web. > And here is an example of how I used the meta > tag:http://hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/105607524011196210830/Sun... > If at first you don't succeed...... > > On Jul 10, 1:47 am, BlueQuoll <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Hi Patti > > > So your themes with the new categories in the meta tag made it into > > the themes directory? Then at least we know that the meta tag doesn't > > upset the submission. > > > Which categories did you use, and how do I look them up? > > > I can't see the categories, Animals/Sports/Destinations/Abstract/ > > Trendy/Fun anywhere on the themes directory page. Maybe it has > > something to do with being in Australia, but even when I sign in > > towww.google.com/igIcan't see them. Only the Artists/Causes/Games and > > the new Nature campaign. Can anyone else see Animals/Sports/ > > Destinations/Abstract/Trendy/Fun? > > > I've just submitted a dozen new themes without categories, mainly to > > check that turnaround times were improving - at least that seems to be > > back to normal. I thought about putting the categories meta tag in, > > but I couldn't really see the point of including categories in the XML > > if they can't be seen in the directory. > > > I'd love Google to clarify whether general, developer-defined > > categories are actually operational, and if so, how do we look them > > up? > > > Dave > > > On Jul 9, 10:43 pm, Art4theWeb <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Hi Dave - I have had several themes included in "categories" using the > > > following line: > > > <Meta name="categories">environment,destinations,abstract,fun</Meta> > > > > Just insert the categories that best suit your themes and leave the > > > rest out. > > > Ultimately, of the categories you choose, Google places your themes > > > where they think they belong. > > > Keep trying! > > > Patti > > > > On Jul 9, 12:56 am, BlueQuoll <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > All is quiet on the themes categories front - > > > > > 8 weeks ago Kathleen announced that theme categories were being > > > > introduced, and gave some directions for coding this into our > > > > XML:http://groups.google.com/group/google-themes-api/ > > > > browse_thread/thread/ > > > > 2f6a55779d01476/c7d178fd56e468cf > > > > Those directions didn't seem to work. > > > > > Shortly after that, Google added some extra categories on the sidebar > > > > of the Themes Directory, which soon disappeared again. Some > > > > established themes were sorted into these categories, presumably done > > > > manually by Google, and can still be viewed by adding the "cat=" > > > > parameter to the Themes Directory URL. > > > > > In the last 8 weeks there has been no further word from Google on > > > > what's happening with themes categories for developer use, although > > > > the concept was used for the special summer nature theme campaign. > > > > > Has any developer successfully submitted a theme XML with categories > > > > coded into it and had it accepted by Google and placed into those > > > > categories? Or has Google abandoned the idea of categories for > > > > developers to use? > > > > > I posted in the iGoogle section of the Web Search Help Forum on this > > > > subject:http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Web+Search/ > > > > thread?tid=2147f88e04e558d2&hl=en > > > > That post has also had no response. > > > > > I hope Google still considers this forum of value to users of the > > > > Themes API. How about a quick update for us themes developers, Google? > > > > Or are we really wasting our time here, now that ThemeMaker is on > > > > line? > > > > > Dave- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Google Themes API" group. 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