Andy Gambles

8 Feb 2010

Google mail checker Chrome Extension

Installed this useful chrome extension which provides instant access to Google mail (Gmail and Apps domains). also displays number of unread messages without having to open Google mail.

2 Sep 2009

How to Access Your Email When Gmail is Down

Yesterday the world of Gmail came to an end (well for a couple of hours at least) when Gmail went offline

Within minutes there were thousands of messages on twitter about the outage. Users complaining they could not access email and get on with their daily lives. I use Google Apps for my email and all company emails. For those of you that do not know Goole Apps is basically Gmail but using our own domain.

But I remained largely unaffected by the Gmail outage. I was still able to access my email via the web interface without interruption. I am not a magician or an amazing routing expert. I simple used the Google Labs Offline option. This is basically an option in Gmail which downloads your emails so you can access them offline. To enable this simply log into Gmail then click (Top right of screen) Settings > Labs.

Enable the feature and Google will start installing Google Gears and then synchronising your mail. Gmail will then maintain an offline copy of your email. You get a small green circle next to the Settings link which shows when mail is synchronising and contains a tick when complete.

When Gmail went offline I simple switched to "Unstable connection mode". This effectively puts Gmail offline checking for new mail every few minutes.

I did this by clicking on the Sync status icon and then clicking "Go into Unstable Connection Mode". I was then able to continue using Gmail just as though I was online without any problems.

If you have any questions or comments you are welcome to post them below!

25 Jun 2009

Google Apps As Default Email Client

I have for some time been using Google Apps for our domains email service. It was cheaper to run than the Exchange set-up and means I do not have to worry about keeping the mail server up to date, spam filtering, restarting the server when it all goes to ahem!

I also ditched Outlook 2007 as it just kept complaining about the size of my pst files. Now I am used to the Google Apps (Gmail) interface it is actually better and easier to use.

However the common problem I suffered was when you come across a mailto: link on a web page or document. I could not use this to send via Google Apps. Instead I would need to cut and paste the email address.

Well I have now found how to do this. If log into your primary Google Apps domain administrator account click "Manage This Domain > Advanced Tools" and then scroll right down o the bottom there is a section called Google Apps desktop features. From here you can download the desktop features pack which is specific to your Google Apps domain.

Once this is installed you can set your default email client to "Gmail: A Google approach to email".

Now when I click a mailto: link a Gmail compose window is launched. It does use a Google Chrome hybrid but you do not need to install this separately.

Google mail checker Chrome Extension

How to Access Your Email When Gmail is Down

Google Apps As Default Email Client

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