Category Archive: Gmail Tips

Welcome to Gmail Tips, your resource for Tips and Tricks for Google’s Web-based email client.

Sep
02

New in Calendar: Sports schedules and contacts’ birthdays

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September 2, 2009

The following is is a posting from the Official Gmail News Blog:

Posted by Ian Whitfield, Software Engineering Intern

People keep track of lots of things in their Google Calendars — meetings, business trips, due dates and conference calls. But when I started my summer internship at Google, I wondered why it wasn’t easier to add calendar events for the fun stuff in life, like birthdays and sports schedules.

Now, when you look under “Other Calendars,” click “Add,” then “Browse Interesting Calendars,” you’ll find calendars for hundreds of teams in dozens of sports leagues — everything from the National Football League to the Korean FA Cup.


When you subscribe to your favorite team’s calendar, you’ll see every game listed, updated in real time with the score as the game progresses.


You can also subscribe to a “Contacts’ Birthdays and Events” calendar, which will add all of your contacts’ birthdays to Google Calendar. Data is pulled from your Gmail contacts and your friends’ Google profiles.

Finally, we also have two new Calendar Labs features for you to check out: “Dim future repeating events” makes recurring meetings more transparent over time, helping more important meetings pop out, and “Add any gadget by URL” gives you the flexibility put any gadget you’d like in your calendar.

Read the original: 
New in Calendar: Sports schedules and contacts’ birthdays

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/gmail-tips/new-in-calendar-sports-schedules-and-contacts-birthdays

Aug
25

Composing a message? Try the contact chooser

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August 25, 2009

The following is is a posting from the Official Gmail News Blog:

Posted by Benjamin Grol, Product Manager

When composing messages, you probably rely pretty heavily on auto-complete to add recipients. Auto-complete is convenient and fast, and usually does the trick. But sometimes seeing your list of contacts can help you remember all the people you want to include on your email. So, we’ve added a contact chooser to Gmail. Click the “To:” link (or Cc:/Bcc:) when composing a message and you’ll see something like this:


You can click on the contacts you want to add or search for others.

If you use contact groups, your groups will appear in a drop-down menu in the contact chooser, so you can select contacts from the groups you’ve already created. And if you happen to use Gmail in Chinese, Japanese or Korean, being able to pick from your list of contacts should be particularly useful since auto-complete doesn’t offer the same search as you type experience that it does in other languages.

Here is the original:
Composing a message? Try the contact chooser

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/gmail-tips/composing-a-message-try-the-contact-chooser

Dec
04

Gmail Tip #65: Colored Labels!

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December 4, 2007

Gmail now lets you define colrs for specific labels.

In the message list, any label that has a color assigned will display in that color. Labels with no color assigned will display as they always did. Here is an example:

To assign colors to a Label, click the Label selector on the left of any Gmail page to display the Labels. Hover your mouse to the right of the Label, and a small triangle will appear. Click it, and a color selector will appear. Select a color, and all messages with that Label will display the Label in that color.

  

As an added bonus, you can quickly and easily rename the Label using the new "Edit name" menu selection. Just be careful to double-check

 

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/gmail-tips/gmail-tip-65-colored-labels

Oct
24

Gmail Tip #64: Gmail Rolls Out IMAP!

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October 24, 2007

Gmail has finally rolled out its long-awaited IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) compatibility enabling users of such email clients as Outlook, Lotus Notes, Thunderbird, a host of others, and even Apple’s iPhone to now take advantage of IMAP instead of the more limited POP connection.


Google is rolling it out, and it needs to migrate to many accounts, so it may not be available on your account yet. To enable IMAP, click on the Settings link on any Gmail page, and look for the “Forwarding and POP/IMAP” tab. Click that, and follow the instructions in the IMAP Access section. For some general Gmail help information on IMAP, click here. This help section contains configuration information, FAQ’s, and troubleshooting links–very useful. You can also find a list of supported IMAP client applications here. Also, here is a link to Google’s official blog announcing and explaining IMAP.


This really raises the bar for Gmail by opening up more and more of its functionality to client apps. POP has served many well for Gmail, but this opens the door to many more uses, especially for some mobile devices.

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/gmail-tips/gmail-tip-64-gmail-rolls-out-imap

Jun
22

Gmail Tip #63: Gmail And Your Blackberry

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June 22, 2007

Stephen Swire, a GmailTips.com visitor, sent me some information on how he uses Gmail with his Blackberry. Though I do not use a Blackberry, I thought I’d pass this along as Blackberries are becoming more and more popular. If you have similar experiences, or other suggestions, let me know, and I’ll post ‘em!

(Note: Stephen uses his blackberry with a personal email account, not an enterprise server. -Jim)

"Here are two ways I’ve just started using Gmail to enhance my Blackberry:

(1) in order to have a running record of all sent messages, (a good business practice for me) I set up a BCC of all sent messages to a Gmail address.

(2) I find that there are some attachments which can’t be opened on the blackberry (for example, some .PDF files download but fail to open.) Also, if I want to forward an attachment, it usually arrives "corrupted" in the recipient’s mailbox.

My solution to both issues is to direct my domain and personal email addresses to a second Gmail address, place the Gmail quick access icon on my blackberry desktop, and use this on an as-needed basis either to forward an attachment directly from my Gmail account, or as a reader for some attachments."

Thank you Stephen for your input!

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/gmail-tips/gmail-tip-63-gmail-and-your-blackberry

May
24

Gmail Tip #62: Enhancement: “Univeral Navigation Bar”

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May 24, 2007

Google has recently enhanced some navigational features across most of
its offerings by providing a recognizable and (somewhat) consistent
"Universal Navigation Bar" at the top left of every page:
 
 
 
This feature
lets you quickly move to other Google applications with ease (and
without having to remember the URL!) Read on for a brief description of
the new interface…
A source at Google explains that the Universal Navigation Bar will show its "nearest neighbors". This means that, depending on what Google page you are on, the choice of links will differ, presenting you with "related" Google offerings. For example, on a Google search results page, you’d see links to "Images" and "News", because those are related search offerings. On the other hand, if you are in Gmail, you’ll see links to Google’s "Calendar" and "Documents" applications instead.
 
Here is an example of the Universal Navigator Bar as seen in Gmail:
 
 
 
Here it is as seen on the main Google search page:
 
 
 
It’s great to see that Google is continuing to enhance, tie together, and better integrate its products. 

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/gmail-tips/gmail-tip-62-enhancement-univeral-navigation-bar

May
24

Gmail Tip #61: Enhancement: Attachment Size Doubled to 20MB!

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May 24, 2007

 
Gmail announced today that it has doubled the allowable size for attachments from 10MB to 20MB. Now you can start sharing more of your home videos, large presentations, and files! Note that  because of the way email attachments are encoded, the maximum size of the file you send (which can vary from file to file) may be actually less than 20MB.

 

Congrats to Gmail for continuing to improve its offerings!

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/gmail-tips/gmail-tip-61-enhancement-attachment-size-doubled-to-20mb

Apr
18

Gmail Tip #60: Deleting A Message And Moving To The Next

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April 18, 2007

This tip comes from a question asked by a site visitor, Daree: "I was wondering how you can delete an email and advance to the next email in your folder. Currently when I delete an email I am reading, it takes me back to the inbox. Yahoo has this option but it seems that Gmail doesn’t offer it from the Settings link at the top." The function that Daree asks for is not specifically available, but there is a partial solution–more of a workaround, actually. Read on to learn how to at least get close to this functionality….

First, you need to have "Keyboard shortcuts" turned on. To do this, click the "Settings" link in the upper right of your Gmail screen, and look for the "Keyboard shortcuts:" section. Select "Keyboard shortcuts on", and than click the "Save Changes" button.

Now, while viewing a message, simply press the "#" key (that’s shift-2 on US keyboards) and the message will be deleted. But wait, it takes you back to the list, right? Not exactly what we want. But notice that the message prior to the one you just deleted is now "indicated" by the black arrow next to it. Now, simply press either the "o" key or the "Enter" key, and that indicated message will open up.

While this isn’t exactly the functionality we are looking for, and it does require an extra keypress, the end result is that you are where you want to be, and it is all be done from the keyboard without having to grab the mouse. It also opens up some other (hopefully) powerful functions making things more flexible. For example, to further expand on the above, once you are back at the message list after deleting a message, pressing the "k" and "j" keys will move you up and down respectively through the list of messages. You should notice the black arrow on the left of the list moving up and down when you press those keys. Pressing "o" or "Enter" will opens the indicated message.

Further, if you see a message in the list that you want to delete without opening, you can just delete it using the "#" key…well, almost. In this case, as with using the mouse, the message is "indicated" by the black arrow, but it is not "selected" (ie: the checkbox is not checked) so just first press the "x" key to select the message and the checkbox toggles. You can open it, delete it, archive it, or a host of other things.

Gmail packs a LOT of power, but unfortunately, not all of its functions are intuitive. That said, check out Gmail’s "Keyboard Shortcuts" help screen found here…

http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=6594

…where you’ll find lots of useful (but not always intuitive) keyboard shortcuts.

Finally, if you feel that this functionality would benefit the Gmail community, consider suggesting it to the Gmail developers by following this link:

http://mail.google.com/support/bin/request.py?contact_type=suggest

Gmail is very powerful, and comparisons with competing solutions are inevitable. While not all features will ever match up exactly, there are often solutions that can provide similar function.

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/gmail-tips/gmail-tip-60-deleting-a-message-and-moving-to-the-next

Feb
28

Gmail Tip #59: New Feature! Gmail adds POP “Mail Fetcher”

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February 28, 2007

Gmail now lets you to fetch mail from up to 5 of your other, POP-enabled non-Gmail accounts! And once the messages are pulled into Gmail, you can leverage all of Gmail’s great features. (Note that nor all email services support POP access.) As of this writing, Gmail states that this feature is currently only enabled for a limited number of users. They’re working on making it more available soon. Read on to see if you have access to Mail Fetcher, and how to set it up….

First off, let’s see if you have access to Mail Fetcher. Click on the Settings link and click the Accounts tab. If you see a section titled "Get mail from other accounts:" then you should have access. Click the "Add another mail account" link, and a window will open. Enter your email address, and click "Next". Fill in the required information about your POP account, and click the "Add Account" button. You can add up to 5 accounts.

You can specify if Gmail will leave a copy of the messages on the server or not. If you opt not to leave messages on the server, then they will be effectively "moved" to Gmail, clearing off of the server. This means you don’t have to manage email in two places. This is pretty standard.

You can also specify if Gmail connects using a secure connection (SSL).

Now comes the real power! You can define how Gmail will handle the messages once they are received. There are two additional settings that you can optionally configure:

Label incoming messages
If you’d like to automatically label all messages that are retrieved from your non-Gmail account, select this option. You can choose to use the predefined label (set to your email address by default), you can select an existing label, or you can create a new one from the drop-down list. If you are pulling from multiple accounts, this lets you nicely "flag" from accounts they are coming from. And if you decide not to use this option, then all messages seamlessly arrive into your Inbox unlabeled. It is unclear at this time if messages pulled in using Mail Fetcher are processed by Filters.

Archive incoming messages
Mail from this account can be archived directly, without showing up in your Inbox. You may want email from a specific account to be pulled into your Gmail account, but you may want it to bypass your inbox. An example might be a mailing list account. Just have it auto-Labeled and auto-archived, and the messages will nicely show up in that Label view, but they won’t clutter the Inbox.

Finally, once your account has been successfully added, you’ll have the option of setting up a custom "From" address. This allows you to compose messages in Gmail, but have them appear to be sent from your other email account. This is existing functionality, but can now be tied to specific Mail Fetch accounts.

Once set up, Gmail will check your other accounts on a regular basis (the frequency is unknown at this time.) New mail will appear automatically in your Gmail account (the location depending on the settings you defined.) At any time, you can always disable Mail Fetch for specific accounts from the Accounts tab of your Settings page.

Once again, Gmail provides new capabilities that really enhance and improve upon its already great feature set. This new feature is not revolutionary, but it helps make Gmail a more complete solution.

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/gmail-tips/gmail-tip-59-new-feature-gmail-adds-pop-mail-fetcher

Feb
08

Gmail Tip #58: Gmail Now Opened to Everyone!

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February 8, 2007

Gmail, Google’s free Web-based email service, has swept the world, and has become very, very popular. Unfortunately, access to Gmail (and Google Mail in the UK) has always been by by invitation only. But no more! Anyone can now get a Gmail account. Just go to Gmail.com and click the "Sign up for Gmail" link. It’s that simple!

But having a Gmail account means more than just Web-based email. A Gmail account opens the door to many other excellent  Google-related applications and services. By creating a Gmail account, you will gain access to personalize other Google-based applications including Google Maps, Google News, Picasa 2, Google Pages, Google Reader, Google Docs & Spreadsheets, and lots of other goodies.

Admittedly, getting a Gmail invitation has not been a problem for most, but this should open up Gmail to a much larger audience. Oh, and as always, come here for your Gmail tips!

Permanent link to this article: http://jimstips.com/gmail-tips/gmail-tip-58-gmail-now-opened-to-everyone

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