search

I switched to Google Apps last year for my FirstBite domain. For US$50 per year I have 26Gb of space available for email, some templated web pages, a calendar, Google Docs, and the power of Google.

Gmail is particularly useful and I surprised myself by switching to using the web interface. I find the threaded ‘conversations’ compelling, along with tags instead of mailboxes, and Gmail’s excellent spam filtering, virus and anti-phishing protection. Then there’s the added protection of free Postini black and whitelisting and spam filtering.

Oh, plus I love storing attachments online instead of downloading them to my computer, and being able to view them as HTML or sending them to Google Docs.

Now I also have access to Google Labs features for email. My screenshot shows the Labs icon (I’ve outlined it in red) at the top of the screen. This lets me know I’m using Labs features. I’ve also outlined the Quick Links list at left and the dates in the mail column.

The dates plugin lets you customise date formats independent of the language you’ve chosen for your account. I like my dates in New Zealand format: day month year.

Ever since I discovered the 24 hour clock when I lived in Germany in 1976 I’ve hated the stupid 12 hour AM / PM format for times too. Now I have my preferred 24 hour format for message times.

Until Quick Links, I used TextExpander to create some macros for standard search text. By typing the letters ztnew and pressing Return, for example, I could quickly execute this search: label:unread -label:tidbits -label:today that would find all unread messages whose labels did not include tidbits or today.

I did that one last time a couple of days ago, and saved it as a standard search now available from Quick Links.

It’s just as easy to add the results of other searches as Quick Links too.

There were other Labs plugins available that didn’t interest me very much, but these two are really useful for me. Thanks, Gmail!

Popularity: 68% [?]

Since I switched my email to Google Apps I actually use the web interface almost exclusively. And I often find myself searching for emails. Fortunately Gmail has powerful search criteria, so finding the message I’m looking for is generally quite quick.

The Official Gmail Blog provides a few tips in a recent post:

But the real power of Gmail search lies in search operators — words that help modify your queries. Search operators work pretty much the same way within Gmail as they do for Google. So, if I want the email Lisa sent me with her flight information so I know when to pick her up at the airport, I type from:lisa SFO. Likewise:

• A link from my co-worker Michael: from:michael http
• A photo from my mom: from:mom has:attachment
• That last chat I had with one of the Gmail product managers: keith is:chat
• All messages from ebay that aren’t outbid notices: ebay -outbid (the hyphen tells Gmail to return all of the messages that don’t contain the word that follows it)
• The messages in my inbox sent directly to me that I haven’t read yet: to:me is:unread in:inbox

You can limit the scope of your search to a particular subject (subject:) or label (label:) as well.

[Via Official Gmail Blog: How to find any email with Gmail search.]

I have some searches, for unread mailing list messages that I’ve tied to a TextExpander shortcut, for example, typing ztnew gets me label:unread -label:pending tidbits and zwnew gets me label:unread -label:pending wisewomen.

Gmail’s a stunning success for me — storage space, IMAP, spam filters, threaded conversations are all winners.

Popularity: 25% [?]

Many websites don’t have a search function and on many others the search function doesn’t work well. And anyway, with a search box in the toolbar of most browsers, it’s often quicker to search a particular site directly from Google. Here’s how. [First published March 2003.]

I like some variety when I walk our dogs, so sometimes I want to search the Wellington City Council site for a list of dog exercise areas. You’d think I’d bookmark the pages I need …

Here’s how I use Google to speed up that search.

Go to Google and enter the search terms. Here’s mine (I didn’t use the speech marks): “dog exercise“.

Now, how to make Google look just on the Council site and not all over the net: add a “site” qualifier: “site:wellington.govt.nz“.

My search now looks like this: “dog exercise site:wellington.govt.nz“.

And you know what? It works — the first two results link to exactly the information I need.

Written for and reproduced from CommunityNet Aotearoa Panui, March 2003. It has been rewritten for use here.

Popularity: 10% [?]