DWine Insight

Who doesn't know Gmail? It is a global and popular email provider with superb ease of use. After all its from the master's hat, Google; which stands as a synonym for optimized technique or rather optimization.



For those who haven't yet switched over to Gmail, find below a whopping list of utilities, or better said, tips n tricks that can be associated with Gmail.

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.

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. Minor problems exist.

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.

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.

Google Calendar Integration: Integrates GCal agenda into Gmail.

Conversation Preview: Lets you quickly preview message contents right from the main inbox window.

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.

Folders4Gmail: Allows you to create nested labels (i.e. labels and sub-labels).

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.

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.

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.

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)

Unblock: 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.

GmailFS: Mountable Linux filesystem which uses Gmail as its storage medium



GMAIL NOTIFIERS
Windows: GMail Notifier, GTray, Notifier2
Mac: GMail Notifier, GCount, Gmail Growl 2.0
Linux: KCheckGmail
Firefox: E-Mail Notifier Toolbar, Gmail Notifier



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



GMAIL SHORTCUTS
Secret keyboard shortcut for deleting messages (Digital Inspiration).
Shortcuts for Special Gmail Labels (Google System Blog) - for ultra quick navigation.
Gmail Shortcut List: Handy, printable list of keyboard shortcuts for the Gmail (National University of Singapore).

More than enough reasons to switch over to Gmail...!!!

source:makeuseof

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Tags: gmail add ons, gmail enhancements, gmail hacks, gmail plug ins, gmail shortcuts, gmail tips, gmail tricks