Gmail Slow or Down for Some, IMAP Still Working

Trouble grabbing your mail this morning? Google says Gmail's web interface is unavailable to an uncannily familiar "small subset of users." They officially recommend accessing Gmail through an IMAP mail client, among other ways to.

Google's Apps Status Dashboard states that an update will be issued by 8:29 Pacific time with more details, and reminds us that Gmail can still be accessed by IMAP clients, as it was the last time this happened. Best option is to enable IMAP to access Gmail during outage - Google's step-by-step instructions.

Technorati Tags: Gmail outage

GMail Down ?

I am not able to connect to GMail server for last 1 hour. I am not sure if there is a global down-time.

Create your own GMail themes.

First we had GMail themes. Now Google allows you to make Gmail as ugly or pretty as you want – by choosing your own colors.

Go to Gmail -> Settings -> Themes, and click “Choose your own colors”. This opens a window where you can configure a template with instant preview. Hit Save & Close, and Gmail will appear in your custom colors.

Technorati Tags: GMail, Themes

Gmail Offers Always-Secure Option

Gmail just made it easier for the coffee shop set and security-conscious types to always connect through https://. Gmail Mobile app users should note this glitch before doing so. [via]

Technorati Tags: GMail,Security

GMail gets experimental features.

Lifehacker reports that starting at 6PM Pacific Time tonight, Google will start rolling out Gmail Labs, an experimental area of new Gmail features. Once your Gmail account is Labs-enabled, you'll get a Labs tab in the Settings area of your account where you can enable 13 new experimental Gmail features, including signature tweaks, mouse gestures, keyboard shortcuts, and even a game.

Technorati Tags: GMail

GMail available in most Indian languages.

GMail is available in all major languages of India including اردو (Urdu) , मराठी (Marathi), हिन्दी (Hindi), বাংলা (Bangla), ગુજરાતી (Gujarati), (Oriya), தமிழ் (Tamil), తెలుగు (Telugu), ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada) and മലയാളം (Malayalam).

To switch to a different language in Gmail, go to the Settings tab and selection a different languages from the Gmail display language drop down. Don’t forget to save your changes.

Technorati Tags: GMail, Google, India

GMail to get Themes ?

Gmail will get themes – custom layouts to personalize Google’s web mail client. According to the source, the launch of this may happen within the next months. There will be 12 themes to pick from, according to this information, like a black-and-green “terminal” view, as well as a flowery view.

Already, using third-party tools like Greasemonkey or custom user stylesheets, you are able to add skins to Gmail... but officially, you can only toggle Gmail views like mobile, classic HTML, or normal.

Google at this time also uses themes in products like their personalized homepage iGoogle or Google Reader’s shared items page. A Google product manager in relation to iGoogle’s themes once wrote, “for whatever reason adding a beach or a dancing pig or something else makes me feel like it’s my own.” While Google wouldn’t tell me who designed their early iGoogle themes, many signs point in the direction of Meomi – though if that’s the case it’s of course possible that someone else does the theme designs for Gmail.

Technorati Tags: GMail, News

GMail loads faster. Really ?

GMail has introduced an initial loading sequence: everything that happens behind the scenes between the time you press the "Sign in" button on the login page and the moment you land in your inbox. GMail official blog describes the process they used to improve the speed.

Make a Local Backup of your Gmail Account

From Wired's How-to Wiki, a nice article detailing how to make a local backup of your Gmail Account. The article currently lists 3 different ways to do this, so you can pick the one that appeals to you. The Thunderbird option is especially nice for anyone already running Gmail and Thunderbird. Make a Local Backup Of Your Gmail Account - Wired How-To Wiki

GMail : Display all unread mails.

If you keep a large amount of email in your Gmail Inbox, it can sometimes be difficult to locate all of your unread mail. Instead of scrolling to hunt for them, you can simply perform a basic search and quickly get a collection of anything that you have yet to read.

1. Go to Gmail.
2. In the Search box at the top of the page, input the following:

label:(unread inbox)

3. Click the Search button.

Technorati Tags: GMail,Tips

Get the Most Out of Gmail with These Power Tips

Matt Cutts, an engineer at Google, asked his blog readers for tips on how to improve Gmail—and he then compiled his responses on how to maximize your Gmail experience.  If you want to only read unread email in your inbox, you can perform a search for label:unread label:inbox. If you're looking to compile an email but want to compose your message in a new window, hit the "C" button (whereas lowercase "c" allows you to compile the email without opening a new window).  Have your own Gmail tips? Let's hear them in the comments.

11 Power Tips for Gmail [Matt Cutts]

Beware of this GMail Security Vulnerability.

Gmail users might want to check your filters to ensure your account hasn't been hacked like this designer's. Google has fixed the vulnerability, but if you were exposed before the fix the filter could still exist in your Gmail account.

GMail IMAP is launched.

Some Gmail users are seeing IMAP support appear in the settings
area of their account. This morning Google
confirmed: IMAP just launched, and if you're not seeing it yet you

will soon, as they are "rolling it out to everyone in the next few days."

What does IMAP mean and what's the implication ? Unlike POP access,
IMAP is a two-way syncing mechanism between your email client and
Gmail. That is, if you mark a message as read in Thunderbird, for
example, it will appear as read in Gmail. (Here's more on why
IMAP is better than POP.) Gmail's IMAP support even
syncs message stars, labels (as folders), as well as
their Spam and Trash folders. Here's a list of IMAP client actions
and how they will be reflected inside Gmail. Check out some screenshots
of this in action from Rafe Needleman from CNET's News Blog.

Gmail's supported IMAP client list includes Thunderbird, Mail.app,
Eudora, Outlook Express/2003/2007 and Windows Mail,
as well as the iPhone.

See Gmail's Help Center's IMAP section for setup howto's and frequently
asked questions. If you point your browser to Gmail Help documentation
outlining the steps necessary to get your mail clients setup for IMAP,
you’ll soon realize the the directions are the bare minimum.
There is more detailed article by 5thirtyone.

Having been a loyal IMAP user for years before switching over to full time
web-only access to Gmail, this is a very exciting option.

Technorati Tags: GMail, IMAP

Everything you always wanted to know about GMail...(but were afraid to ask)

So here you go, over 80 Gmail tools and tips, including Firefox extensions, Greasemonkey scripts, Desktop programs, Web applications and all-purpose ‘HowTo’ guides.

Firefox EXTENSIONS

Gmail Manager - manage multiple Gmail accounts, receive new mail notifications, view unread messages right from your browser statusbar. “…The Gmail Manager Firefox add-on obviates the need to keep your Gmail open in a tab all the time by displaying your email info in a statusbar pop-up…” [via LifeHacker]

GmailThis - excellent browser bookmarklet that lets you quickly forward highlighted text on any webpage via Gmail.

Better Gmail - integrates features of 10 Greasemonkey scripts into one firefox addon. These include: Google Reader integration, Mac-like skin, GCal integration, Fixed font and more.

GmailSkinz - powerful firefox addon with lots of cool features: change Inbox color , Add Google IG modules, insert images from Picasa albums, insert smileys, make navigation menu horizontal, hide unnecessary page elements, and more. (Note: some users reported having problems with this addon).

CustomizeGoogle - removes ads, switches you from http to https, hides the spam counter, quick contacts box, invite box and forces fixed font

Gspace - multi-platform firefox addon that turns your Gmail account into powerful online storage tool.

Gmail Search - search your Gmail account directly from the firefox search bar.

GcalQuickTab - toggle between Gmail and Google Calendar with keyboard shortcuts.

GTDInbox - turns your account into flexible and feature-loaded ToDo-management service (GTD = Getting Things Done)

DragDropUpload - this handy extension lets you quickly attach one or more files to your emails by dragging them over the “Attach a file” link.

Google Toolbar - official Google toolbar featuring one-click Gmail messages search.

FireGPG - integrates contextual menu with some useful functions: encrypt, decrypt, sign, etc. Read more on how to use it here.

GreaseMonkey SCRIPTS

Gmail Super Clean - clean and distraction-free Gmail. Looks great, check it out here

Gmail Spam-count Hide - hides spam count link.

Google Reader Folders - adds a little box that lists the folders on Google Reader along with the number of unread items in each one.

Google Reader Integration - complete integration of GReader into Gmail. Excellent! (view). Jump to Google Reader Tools and Tips.

Google Calendar Integration - integrates GCal agenda into Gmail (view). Jump to Google Calendar Tools and Tips.

Conversation Preview - lets you quickly preview message contents right from the main inbox window (view).

Saved Searches - create ’saved searches’ (aka smart folders) and display them in the separate box in the navigation menu. Clicking on a search executes the saved query (view).

Folders4Gmail - allows you to create nested labels (i.e. labels and sub-labels) [via LifeHacker].

Gmail Date Search - adds a ‘Search by Date’ button to Gmail’s search form.

Label Colors - color menu labels to make them stand out better (view).

GMail Attachment Icons - adds attachment icons to emails, letting you see what kind of attachment an email has (HTML ,JPG, PDF….). Note: ‘Attachment icons’ isn’t a standard Greasemonkey script, it’s an addon for a similar Firefox extension known as Stylish. However it should work with Geasemonkey as well.

GmailTo - forces all ‘mailto’ links to open in GMail.

Fixed Font Toggle - adds a font toggle button so that messages can be viewed in a fixed-width font. Read more …

Gmail Macros - adds extra keyboard shortcuts to Gmail (i.e. “t” for move to trash, “r” for mark as read, “p” for mark as read and add to archive…etc). Read more…

Gmail Encrypt - encrypts your messages to prevent unwanted people from reading it. Just in case someone intercepts it while it’s on the way.

SSLGoogle - forces Gmail, Google Docs and GCale pages and their intra-links to open via secure connection (HTTPS).

Signature Float - moves your email signature to the top of the message rather than the bottom.

Attachment reminder - reminds you to attach a file to your Gmail, based on whether you have the word attach (ed, ment, etc) in the body.

Desktop Programs and Web Apps

GmailDrive (Win) - adds a new virtual drive (’Gmail Drive’) to ‘My Computer‘ folder. Drag’n drop files on top it to store them in your Gmail account.

gDisk (Mac) - Mac alternative for the above mentioned GmailDrive.

Gmail ToDo - handy desktop application that allows you to quickly add and save todo’s in a ‘ToDo’ label in your Gmail account.

FlipMail - free service for forwarding some/all of your emails to your mobile (US Only).

Gmail Loader - cross-platform (Win, Mac, Linux) tool to help you load all your old message archives from other email accounts into Gmail. [via LifeHacker].

Icon Generator - minimize spam exposure by getting an image for your email address and safely publish it wherever needed.

Blogsigs - lets you auto-include the title of your latest blog post in your email signature. Works with Gmail.

GMail Mobile - access Gmail from your mobile.

Google Talk - Google’s IM service which is fully integrable with GMail.

You’ve Got Gmail - Gmail plugin for Trillian (IM client)

Unbl0ck - web-based proxy for accessing Gmail from places where it’s blocked (work, school,…)

iPhoto2Gmail (Mac) - allows you to instantly email images from within iPhoto. Send either original or optimized (resized) image versions.

MailPlane - “…A full fledged mail client for Google Mail and Mac OS X “. Mail client combining best of Gmail with Mac’s simplicity anduser interface. It’s still in beta though, but you can request invite from here.

GmailFS - mountable Linux filesystem which uses Gmail as its storage medium

GMail Notifiers

- for Windows: GMail Notifier (official), GTray, Notifier2
- for Mac: GMail Notifier (official), GCount, Gmail+Growl 2.0
- for Linux: KCheckGmail
- for Firefox: E-Mail Notifier Toolbar, Gmail Notifier

GMail HowTo’s (over 20 all purpose HowTo guides)

HowTo: Build advanced Gmail filters and persistent searches.
HowTo: Import your archived emails into Gmail.
HowTo: Access Gmail account of someone who dies.
HowTo: Force Gmail notifier to use SSL (instead of HTTP).
HowTo: Import contacts from Hotmail to Gmail.
HowTo: Redownload Gmail messages into outlook.
HowTo: Backup your Gmail messages using Google Groups.
HowTo: Create Google Calendar events from Gmai.
HowTo: Set Gmail as default mail client in Ubuntu (without any additional software).
HowTo: Sync. Google Calendar and Gmail contacts to your desktop.
HowTo: Use rich HTML email signatures straight from Gmail (req. Better Gmail extension).
HowTo: Manage all your email account with Gmail. (Excellent guide for folks with several emails.)
HowTo: Back up Gmail with Fetchmail (Windows).
HowTo: Configure and access Gmail on Mozilla Thunderbird.
HowTo: Use Gmail over IMAP and tag your mail, too.
HowTo: Sync. Micr. Outlook, GCal, Gmail, iPod, and mobile phone.
HowTo: Encrypt and sign Gmail messages using FireGPG extension (see above).
HowTo: Work with Gmail Attachments like a PRO.
HowTo: Attach and send blocked file types, i.e. ‘*.exe’.
HowTo: Find that ’someone’ who gives away your email address to spammers.
HowTo: Gmail on Home Linux Box using Postfix and Fetchmail.

Gmail Shortcuts

- Secret keyboard shortcut for deleting messages [Amit's Amazing : labnol.blogspot.com]
- Shortcuts for Special Gmail Labels [googlesystem.blogspot.com] - for ultra quick navigation
- Gmail Shortcut List: handy, printable list of keyboard shortcuts for the Gmail [comp.nus.edu.sg]

Tips

- Three solid Gmail productivity tips [mattcutts.com]
- What to do if your Gmail is nearly full [bnura.blogspot.com]
- Jim’sTips: huge collection of basic gmail tips [g04.com]

Technorati Tags: GMail, Tips

Cool GMail Tricks.

Gmail has an interesting quirk where you can add a plus sign (+) after your Gmail address, and it'll still get to your inbox. It's called plus-addressing, and it essentially gives you an unlimited number of e-mail addresses to play with. 

Here's how it works: say your address is duh@gmail.com, and you want to automatically label all work e-mails. Add a plus sign and a phrase to make it duh+work@gmail.com and set up a filter to label it work (to access your filters go to Settings->Filters and create a filter for messages addressed to duh+work@gmail.com. Then add the label work).

You can use this small trick to create web site specific addresses and set up filters for them to catch companies who spam or sell email addresses of its customers.  

Let's say you need to sign up for a mailing list that interests you, but you're afraid spammers might get your address. We'll call the list "exoticflowers". Sign up with the list using the address "johndoe+exoticflowers@gmail.com". Email to that address will still come to your "johndoe@gmail.com" address even though the "To:" will include that "+exoticflowers" in it.

Then set up Gmail filters to shuttle that +exoticflowers email past the inbox to a specific label.

Find out who is spamming you: Be sure to use plus-addressing for every form you fill out online and give each site a different plus address.
Example: You could use
duh+nytimes@gmail.com for nytimes.com
duh+freestuff@gmail.com for freestuff.com
Then you can tell which site has given your e-mail address to spammers, and automatically send them to the trash.

Archive your mail: If you receive periodic updates about your bank account balance or are subscribed to a lot of mailing lists that you don't check often, then you can send that sort of mail to the archives and bypass your Inbox.
Example: For the mailing list, you could give pinkyrocks+mailinglist1@gmail.com as your address, and assign a filter that will archive mail to that address automatically. Then you can just check in once in a while on the archive if you want to catch up.

Also, You can reformat your existing Gmail address by inserting dots (periods) anywhere within your Gmail username. The Gmail Help pages explain:

Because Gmail doesn't recognize dots as characters within usernames, adding or removing dots from a Gmail address won't change the actual destination address. Messages sent to yourusername@gmail.com and y.o.u.r.u.s.e.r.n.a.m.e@gmail.com are all delivered to your Inbox, and only yours.

Technorati tags: GMail, Tips

Find out who gives away your email address with Gmail trick. - uberGeek

When you give your email address to a website, you hope that they don't sell or trade your address to a bunch of spammers. Well if they do, here is a simple way to see what sites are responsible for what particular piece of email. This requires you have a Gmail account.

If your Gmail login name was username@gmail.com and you went to samplesite.com to fill out a registration form, instead of just entering username@gmail.com as your email, enter it as username+samplesitecom@gmail.com instead. When Gmail sees a "+" in an email address, it uses all the characters to the left of the plus sign to know who to send it to. In this example it would still send it to username@gmail.com.

Now whats cool is if you search Gmail for username+samplesitecom, you will see all massages that were sent to that email address.

To see who is responsible for sending a specific message click the Show Details link and you will see the complete address.