How to set up Gmail to power through hundreds of messages each day

How to set up Gmail to power through hundreds of messages each day: "Posted by Paul McDonald, Product Manager



Gmail offers a ton of customization, and when you get hundreds of emails every day it’s crucial that you have it set up to process mail quickly and efficiently. Working on Gmail, I get asked all the time what settings and features I use to help me power through my mail. Rather than answer my friends and co-workers one by one, I thought I’d put it all into a blog post. So here goes.

• Turn on Priority Inbox. I couldn’t live without Priority Inbox. I keep the default set-up with important and unread mail at the top of my inbox and the section for everything else at the bottom.


• Show more than 25 conversations in your inbox. I like to see as many emails as possible per page so I can quickly scan through my mail, so I have this set to 100 (the max possible). Go to Gmail Settings and look for “Maximum page size” which you can change to 25, 50, or 100.


• Enable keyboard shortcuts. Press the “?” key when looking at your inbox to see the list of keyword shortcuts. Make sure they are turned on, then pick one or two to start with and try to learn more as you become comfortable. I probably use ‘e’ to archive my messages and ‘j’ and ‘k’ to move through messages the most.

Many of the features I love can be found in Gmail Labs (click on the “Labs” tab from Gmail Settings). I have a ton of them on, but the combo of these four work really well for me:

• Inbox preview: Shows a simple, static preview of your inbox while Gmail is loading. While you can’t take action on the messages until your inbox fully loads, it’s great to get a sneak peek and form a plan of attack.


• Send and archive: Adds a button that lets you send a reply to a message and archive the conversation in a single click (keyboard shortcuts work well with this one, too).


• Background send: Lets Gmail send your mail in the background while you move on to more important things.


• Auto advance: Automatically shows the next conversation instead of going back to your inbox after you delete, archive, or mute a conversation. When combined with the “Send and archive” button and background send, this feature makes reading and replying to messages lightning fast.

Try out this set up and let us know what your favorite features are.

" THE PRIORITY INBOX IS MY FAVORITE FACILITY - BUT BE CAREFUL AS IT BECOMES SO FULL UP LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE IT IS NO LONGER USEFUL AS A PRIORITY BOX "

Color code your Google Calendar events

Color code your Google Calendar events: "Posted by Michelle Chen, Software Engineer



If your calendar ends up full of many different types of events (film nights, lunch dates, and doctor appointments, for example), there’s now an easy way to categorize them using colors.





Just click on an event, then click the colored square in the top left of the pop-up bubble and pick a new color. If you don’t see this option quite yet, hang tight — it'll be there for everyone within the next day or so.





Only you and anyone else you’ve given edit access to your calendar will be able to see the colors you choose. This has been a feature request from many of you for some time, and we hope you enjoy using it as much as we do.

Changes and improvements to AIM interoperability

Changes and improvements to AIM interoperability: "Posted by Matthew Leske, Product Manager



From the beginning, we designed Google Talk using open standards so that you could connect to your friends and family using any chat product, making communication as easy as possible. A few years ago, we announced our partnership with AOL which made it possible for people to chat with AIM users right from inside Gmail. Today, we’re happy to report that AOL has now made it possible to chat with AOL contacts across a variety of Google services: not just Gmail, but also iGoogle, Orkut, and Google Talk on Android phones.





If you chat with AIM buddies in Gmail, you’ll notice a few changes. First, you’ll no longer need an AIM account to connect to your friends using AIM. Instead you’ll be able to add your AIM buddies just like you add Gmail contacts to your chat list: using their AOL screennames (for example, username@aol.com). AIM users will now also be able to add Google contacts to their AIM chat clients.





Second, you’ll no longer be able to sign into your AIM account from within Gmail chat since you can now add AIM contacts directly. And lastly, if you previously had a lot of AIM contacts and don’t want to re-add them to your chat list one by one, AOL has created a tool to import your AIM buddies into your Gmail account. See their blog post for more info.

" The Roving Giraffe News Report " provided through Ace News Service

Connecting a Google Account to your older YouTube account

Connecting a Google Account to your older YouTube account: "Following YouTube’s acquisition by Google in 2006, new YouTube signups were given the choice between two different account systems to power their YouTube experience: the original YouTube account system (built in 2005) or the Google Account system.

In May 2009, we started requiring all new YouTube usernames to be powered by Google Accounts.

Now, we’re gradually asking all remaining pre-May 2009 users still using the older YouTube account system to connect a Google Account to their YouTube username. For now, it’s an optional step, but eventually it’ll be required in order to continue using your YouTube username.

Before we go any further, we should clarify three important facts:

• YouTube usernames themselves aren’t going anywhere. No matter when you signed up for YouTube, or if you’re currently associated with a Google Account, you’ll still be “LifeOfTheParty29” (aka “your username”) on YouTube.
• A Google Account is not necessarily a Gmail account. You can create a Google Account with any email address through many different Google products, just like you can create a Twitter or Facebook account with any email address. Of course, you can choose to use Gmail as the email address for your Google Account.
• Connecting your existing YouTube username to an existing Google Account doesn’t start sharing your YouTube activity to your Buzz followers; it’s only an account connection behind the scenes, and it’s still up to you to decide whether or not to bring YouTube into the rest of your Google life.

So what’s the point of asking people to connect a Google Account to their older YouTube account? Here are the main reasons:

• Improved account security. The Google Account system is robust and will help reduce spam across the site; users will get a slew of security and safety features that Google has spent the past decade developing.
• A single account system. This may not mean much to anyone outside of the YouTube engineering team, but behind the scenes it’s extremely complicated to support two different account systems. Having all users on the same account system not only simplifies matters, but more important, it makes it much easier to use Google technologies to keep the site running smoothly (over two billion views a day and counting), as well as introduce new functionality.

If you have an older YouTube account and you’d like to link to a new or existing Google Account today, just visit this page and choose to link to an existing Google Account or a brand new one. You can also visit our 'Linked YouTube/Google Accounts' topic in the Help Center for more information on common questions and problems.

And, as a reminder, if you’d like to review all of the services and data associated with your Google Account at a glance, visit the Google Privacy Dashboard.

Brett Hobbs, Software Engineer, recently watched 'The World's Reaction to Landon Donovan's Game Winning Goal.'

"

You Report: What’s happening now in the Bay Area?

You Report: What’s happening now in the Bay Area?: "

Though YouTube is a global site, it’s often local videos that are most relevant to your life. When people use camcorders and mobile phones to capture newsworthy events in their neighborhoods and upload them to YouTube, they’re broadening the window into our own communities. For example, in the San Francisco Bay Area (where YouTube is based), we’ve seen several YouTube videos inform local news coverage, from the snapping of support cables on the Bay Bridge, to the shooting of Oscar Grant by an Oakland police officer, to fights breaking out on Muni, the local bus system.

Earlier this summer, we announced our CitizenTube News Feed, the first of two projects we're doing with the Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Now, we’re participating in an experiment in citizen reporting right here in our own backyard. We’re joining forces with our local ABC station, ABC7 (KGO-TV), to launch the ABC7 uReport powered by YouTube. ABC7 will use YouTube Direct to collect news footage from people in the San Francisco Bay Area. Residents of the Bay Area are invited to document the news and events happening where they live, work and play, and to submit those videos via YouTube Direct to the producers at ABC7. The team at ABC7 will feature newsworthy videos on television (Channel 7 in the Bay Area), on their website (ureport.abc7news.com), and on their YouTube channel (youtube.com/abc7news).

Do you have a video camera and live in the Bay Area? You can participate in the project by submitting your news videos to ureport.abc7news.com, and be sure to follow along on Twitter (@abc7newsbayarea) and on Facebook (facebook.com/abc7news) for the latest news and updates.



Olivia Ma, News Manager, recently watched “Dancing at Sunday Streets Mission.”

"

Surf video all day long on TV and the Web, then tell your friends about it

Surf video all day long on TV and the Web, then tell your friends about it: "As you could probably guess, we're really excited about the imminent launch of Google TV. You can learn more about this initiative here, but it’s basically a new way to watch TV by seamlessly integrating the Web and TV into one incredible viewing experience. Soon, you’ll be able to watch a lot more of those beautiful hi-def YouTube videos on your beautiful, hi-def TV.

Google TV will initially be available on devices manufactured by Sony and Logitech in the fall, with more partners to be announced later. Logitech has just come up with a nifty idea to publicize their device, the Logitech Revue with Google TV™ -- a contest to find the 'Host with the Most' in one of three fabulous cities within the U.S.



Check out this site for more details of ‘Host with the Most,’ but the gist is simple: if you can prove that you are a true social influencer with a passion for the new universe of TV and video that Google TV will offer, Logitech may select you to become a Logitech host and pay you to spend time in one of their lofts in New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco. Your mission will be to host a bunch of parties, show off the technology, and spread the word through your social circles. (See Logitech's OFFICIAL RULES for eligibility requirements and complete details.) Since nothing goes together better than YouTube and Google TV – and no group is more socially connected than the YouTube community – we thought we’d encourage you all to nominate yourselves for the role. We look forward to seeing what cool things the winning hosts will do with the Logitech loft experience – and maybe one of them will be you!

Peter Sherman, Product Marketing Manager, recently watched “What is Google TV?”


*NEITHER GOOGLE NOR YOUTUBE IS A SPONSOR OF OR AFFILIATED WITH THE LOGITECH 'HOST WITH THE MOST' CONTEST IN ANY WAY. EMPLOYEES OF GOOGLE AND YOUTUBE NOT ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE.

"

Release Notes: Playlist Bar, music listings, annotations upgrades...

Release Notes: Playlist Bar, music listings, annotations upgrades...: "What's new on YouTube since we last met? Let us count the things...



'Playlist Bar' launch: Last week, we introduced the 'Playlist Bar': when you view a playlist, recommended videos (from the homepage), your subscriptions or your favorites, you'll see a control bar at the bottom of the page, displaying the videos from those categories. The goal is to keep you from having to jumping back and forth to different pages to select which videos you'd like to watch next. Autoplay (which is no longer on by default) and the ability to select specific videos from your playlists without ever leaving the page are intended to make your viewing experience more seamless. We're continuing to monitor your feedback here as we plan improvements to this feature.



Local music listings: A new addition to our revamped music page is the 'Events Near You' section, provided by Songkick. Discover an artist you like on the page? 'Events Near You' will let you know if he or she is headed your way.

Annotations upgrades: We now offer fully transparent annotations with black or white text, a new default color (half-transparent black, replacing red), a new default position for new annotations (off-center), and a cleaner look for tooltips.



Redesigned video manager: The My_Videos page has been reworked to offer streamlined ways of managing and reviewing videos you've uploaded, including options to sort your videos alphabetically, by length, by recency and by views. You can also browse the content you've viewed, purchased and liked, and there's access right here to Insight and Promoted Videos information (to the right of 'Edit' button). For feedback on these changes, please chime in here.



Promotional badges: Take a look at the badges created to help you better promote your YouTube channel on site and off. Find the asset you like and click on it to generate handy embed code for your blog or website (you'll have to sign in at the prompt).

New way to embed videos: A new embed code style enables you to view embedded videos in one of our Flash or HTML5 players, depending on your viewing environment and preferences. For more information, see this blog post from our API blog.



Buzz videos on your homepage: As with the Facebook feed import, the YouTube videos your friends are sharing on Google Buzz are now be pulled into your YouTube homepage if you're connected to Buzz (e.g. to AutoShare your activity).



HQ Webcam uploads: That's right: You can now upload high quality video from your Webcam! All webcam recordings will be done at 360p.



Free previews on rentals: All rental videos in the U.S. will show a free preview or movie trailer automatically so you can decide if you want to watch it before buying it. If you're over 18 and live in the U.S., you can check this out right here on the movie Kick-Ass.



The YouTube Team

"