Yesterday we covered Google Reader; Today we’re going to continue with communication, this time on a more individual basis of Gmail (Google mail) and Google Alerts.
Gmail: This is Google’s web-based email service that is quickly growing to the top spot, passing competitors like Hotmail. What is pulling most people into this from other email providers (aside from being completely free) is that they give you a TON of email storage. When I say a ton, I mean a lot. As of writing this article the limit on my gmail account is currently 2906mb, that’s 2.9GB. That’s HUGE. This means that people no longer have to worry about their boxes getting full, they can simply archive it.
This brings us to our first feature: Archiving. Gmail allows it’s users to archive emails, without the need to sort what they are into folders upon folders they’re never going to check anyway. We all get those emails that somebody will say something and you think ‘I should keep this in case I need to use it later’ well now you can. Hit the handy dandy archive button and you’re set. To find it again, you can use the search feature for the words, date, from, etc that you’re looking for through all the messages in your mailbox. If throwing your messages into the dark isn’t your thing, you can also use classic folders if that floats your boat.
Another nice feature is the ‘Stared‘ system. This allows you to put a little star beside the email to show it’s importance. It can be used for whatever reason, be it an important email, a note to yourself to reply to it later or just because you think the subject looks good with a star beside it. Gmail also lets you view all your currently stared items at once, so you can combine the star system with the archive system to keep your inbox clean.
One of Gmail’s best (or some say most annoying) feature is the ability to turn email into ‘conversations‘. When an email is a reply to something already sent, instead of the reply showing up as a completely new email it will attach itself to the email sent. Gmail forms them all into a conversation thus allowing you to view previous emails as drop down (instead of the random format that most email clients choose). An easy way to think of it emails being stapled together into a booklet instead of just laid out on the desk. Another space saver from Google.
Google Alerts: These little notifications are amazing. Once you enter a term Google alerts will notify you whenever anything around the net mentions that thing. Let’s say you’re interest is toast. You can enter toast as your search term. Whenever toast is mentioned (news/blog/web/group) you’ll receive an email with a link to the article. Before you think ‘well I’m sure my topic gets mentioned a lot, I’m going to get spammed’ you can also select if you want emails as-it-happens, once a day or once a week. This can be a very useful tool if you want to stay on top of a subject and be one of the first people to know about it. A definite must for bloggers (especially if you blog about toast!).
Some Helpful Links:
Gmail Tools & Plugins @ Robs Blog
Gmail Tips and Tricks Monster Roundup @ LifeHacker