Since I’ve consolidated all my contacts in my Gmail account, it has become more efficient for me to use GTalk as IM client. Too bad I have to have the client installed and running. Since I also do a lot of my work through my browser, why not load GTalk in my browser? Sure, Gmail already offers a solution by placing the client integrated with the Gmail GUI. That also means always having a tab open for Gmail.

But how about putting GTalk in the Firefox sidebar. Here’s a couple of ways.

Google Talk Gadget

To do this you have to create a new bookmark of the TalkGadget client. Well, good news about Firefox is that it has an option to load a bookmarked page in the sidebar. So all you have to do is bookmark this URL http://talkgadget.google.com/talkgadget/client and check the box that says Load this bookmark in the sidebar.

Props to Digital Inspiration for initially featuring this.

gTalk Sidebar Add-on

Next, our favorite thing about Firefox – the tons of add-ons. Apparently, this add-on seems to doing the same thing as above only it makes the process easier by automating everything. Plus it allows you to access it immediately via a keyboard shortcut Alt + G.

Download the gTalk Sidebar add-on here.