New in Labs: Send & Archive

Source: http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-in-labs-send-archive.html 

In addition to having two cappuccinos, my morning routine includes processing new mail that's arrived in my inbox overnight. More often than not, as I reply to a message I also want to archive it so I can enjoy the satisfaction of a pristine inbox. Having clicked "Send" followed by "Archive" a few million times, I started to wish there was a way to just click once and accomplish both actions at the same time. So I decided to turn this idea to a Gmail Labs experiment. Turn on "Send & Archive" from the Labs tab under Settings, and you'll see a new button in the compose form labeled just that. The button does what it says: it sends your reply and then archives the thread with one click. For keyboard shortcut enthusiasts tabbing to this new button works too. In the coming weeks, I'm planning to add undo support, so if you accidentally archived a thread, you can easily get it back into your inbox. Any other requests? Let us know in the Gmail Labs user group.

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Fast PDF viewing right in your browser

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OfficialGmailBlog/~3/V5VieGae38Q/fast-pdf-viewing-right-in-your-browser.html

Posted by Marc Miller, Software Engineer

When I get sent a PDF, sometimes I just want to view it -- I don't always need to download and save it right then. So starting today, you'll see a new "View" link next to PDF attachments you get in Gmail:


Clicking "View" quickly opens the PDF inside your browser, complete with the graphics and formatting you expect to see in a PDF. You may have seen this feature before, in Google Docs. It's the way that we did uploading and viewing of PDFs online. Here's a screen shot:



If you want, you can still view in plain HTML from a link at the top of the new viewer. And if you want to download, save, and view your PDFs later while offline using client software, you can still do that by hitting the "Download" link.

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New in Labs: Turn an email into a Google doc

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OfficialGmailBlog/~3/Uc7siHT6vSo/new-in-labs-turn-email-into-google-doc.html

Posted by Jeremie Lenfant-Engelmann, Software Engineer

More than once, I've had a conversation over email and later realized that the information contained in the messages would make a great starting point for a document. So I built an experimental feature for Gmail Labs that does just that: with one simple click, "Create a document" converts an email into a Google Docs document.

No more copying and pasting the text from your email -- just open the message you wish to convert, click the "Create a document" link on the right side of the page, and voila, you have a brand new document which you can then modify and share!



Even if you're not interested in converting any of your current messages into documents, you can easily open up a blank doc by hitting g and then w (just make sure you have keyboard shortcuts on).


To turn on this feature, go to the Gmail Labs tab under Settings, select "Enable" next to "Create a document" and hit "Save Changes" at the bottom. Though we're temporarily missing the "Send feedback" link for this feature on the Labs page (oops!), we're still anxious to hear what you think.

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A holiday break to play with all the new stuff

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OfficialGmailBlog/~3/0ayvmRi6mWY/holiday-break-to-play-with-all-new.html

Posted by Zach Yeskel, Product Marketing Manager

It's been another busy year for the Gmail elves, trying to find places to store all these emails (don't you people ever sleep?)... If you're finding it hard to keep track of all the new things we've added to Gmail over the last few months, here are some of our favorites to check out while you're sipping your eggnog this week:

• Catch up with distant friends and family with Gmail voice and video chat, or send them a text message with SMS chat.
• When you're having trouble putting your feelings into words, try an emoticon. (There's nothing quite like a virtual emoticon hug...)
• Pick a Gmail theme and spice up your inbox.
• Turn on Tasks and keep track of your holiday shopping.
• See your calendar, documents, and email all at once with Calendar and Docs gadgets.
• Get a new, faster Gmail app on your mobile phone.
• Use Mail Goggles to avoid sending out that embarrassing email after the company holiday party.
• Send in your self-addressed stamped envelope and get yourself some Gmail stickers.
• And ther! e's more in Gmail Labs – forgotten attachment detector, superstars, and advanced IMAP controls – check out all the new stuff in the Labs tab under Settings.

On behalf of the entire Gmail team, happy holidays! We'll see you in 2009.

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Tip: Archive mail on your iPhone

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OfficialGmailBlog/~3/LKUnUQLF7Nw/tip-archive-mail-on-your-iphone.html

Posted by Arielle Reinstein, Gmail Product Marketing Manager

Pretty much everyone with an iPhone and a Gmail account has a preference for how to use the two together. Some people prefer the iPhone's built-in email client -- it's fast, syncs everything via IMAP, and works like the rest of the device. Others, myself included, can't live without search and threaded conversations and prefer to bring up Gmail in the browser. And a few people, for whom this tip is geared, read their mail via the client but switch to the browser-based version to clean out their inboxes so they can easily archive rather than delete.

See, the default Gmail set up for iPhone's built-in mail client configures things such that if you delete a message on your iPhone, it's sent to Gmail's Trash. That means in 30 days it's gone forever. Sure, you can archive by clicking the "Move to" button and then selecting "All Mail," but if you're an archive junkie and want mail you delete on your iPhone to get archived in Gmail instead, you just have to re-do the Gmail set up on your phone.

First, get rid of your default set up. Go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendar. Find your Gmail account under "Accounts," click on it, scroll to the bottom, and click "Delete Account." Don't worry -- it'll be back and better than ever in a sec.

Then manually configure IMAP using the "Other" menu option by following the instructions this video (also available in the Gmail Help Center):



From then on, the iPhone's little trashcan icon will archive your m! ail. You might notice that messages you archive on your phone are actually being added to a new "Deleted Messages" label in your Gmail account -- but they're right in "All Mail" and searchable, just the way you want them.

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