TTZ04 2015
468 incredible tips, tricks and hacks – learn hoW to do it all!
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468 tips, tricks and guides – get the most from Google today!
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Welcome & Manifesto
Welcome!
…to your ultimate companion to everything Google, with 468 awesome tips, tricks, tweaks and hacks Getting the most out of the best known Google services and apps: that’s a bit of a no-brainer, whether it’s optimising Gmail, learning secret tips and tweaks for Maps or locking down your online profiles with improved security, to guard against unwanted intrusions. But that’s just the beginning of this great new guide to everything Google. Search is always a hot topic, of course. You’re probably already a dab hand at using Google’s signature Search tool, but you might still be surprised by some of our tops tips for better online searching. Then there’s the wonderful world of Google Drive and Google docs. Whether it’s simply storing and sharing files or creating documents,
Technology Tips Guides are designed to give you ideas and inspiration for exploring the devices or software you own in more detail. Whatever your skill level, each book aims to help you get the best from the products you love by giving you… A reference guide you can keep on your desk or next to your computer
spreadsheets and presentations from scratch, we’ve got in-depth guides to all the best features, options and tools. If you’re feeling even more creative, why not brush up on your video and picture skills with the latest Google Photos and YouTube tools? Then we’ll show you the best way to share the lot via social media. If you want to take things to the next level, we’ll also teach you how to become a skilled webmaster. Building websites, optimising for search terms, even promoting your site via social media – we’ve got it all. And when all the serious work is done, there’s fun stuff, too, like exploring both the planet and the night sky with Google Earth and Google Sky. Enjoy the ride, and as always let us know what you think! Jeremy Laird, Editor
and consult time and time again when you want something new to do or need to solve a problem
things to try, we’ll show you the best ways to do everything
New skills you can take with you through life and apply at home or even in the workplace
Hours of fun thanks to the hundreds of ideas, hints and insider secrets you can use to truly master your device or software
Maximum enjoyment from your hardware and software – from solving new problems to discovering new
Advice you can take everywhere thanks to the free digital edition of this book – see page 146 for more details
How are we doing? Email techbookseditor@futurenet.com and let us know if we’ve lived up to our promises!
Google | 5
Contents Productivity
Connect with friends and colleagues, create great photos and movies 56 58 60 62 68 72 74 76 78
Store and share files, optimise Gmail and create great documents 10 12 16 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34
Take control of Gmail 20 power tips for Gmail Store files securely with Drive Get to grips with templates Create documents in Drive Build superb spreadsheets Create perfect presentations Gather information with Forms Share files and documents Sync your Google Drive 25 top Google Drive tips
Search
Explore the exciting potential of Google+ Find your way around Google+ Circles Get video-chatting with Google Hangouts Do even more with Google Hangouts Store and share with Google Photos Watch top-class video on YouTube Top tips to exploit YouTube’s full potential Improve your videos with YouTube Editor Create and grow your YouTube channel
Places
Roam the Google Earth, get around with Maps, and soar with Google Sky 84 86 88 90 92 94 96
Welcome to Maps Get directions with Maps Explore the country with Street View Become a modern-day Phileas Fogg Travel to the stars with Google Sky Go globetrotting with Google Earth Make your mark on Google Earth
Professional
Bone up on your Google Search skills with our top tips and tweaks
Get the best power apps, improve account security and build websites
40 44 46 48
102 110 118 120 126 130 134 140 142
Top power tips for Google Search Google Search’s quirky features Get more from searches with Oneboxes 25 tips and tricks for better searches
Build websites with Google Sites Optimise your website for search terms Boost your Google rank Manage your website with Analytics Google’s Webmaster tools Harness the power of Google Apps Maximise your account security Use two-step account verification Do more with Google Accounts
Google | 7
Google | Contents
Social
8 | Windows 8.1
Customise | Free programs
Store and share files, optimise Gmail and create great documents 10
Take control of Gmail Getting started with the incredible Gmail service
12 20 power tips for Gmail The hottest tips and tricks for Gmail 16 Store files securely with Drive Put your files in the cloud and access them anywhere 20 Get to grips with Templates Create perfect documents with Templates 22 Create documents in Drive Leave desktop apps behind with documents in Drive 24 Build superb spreadsheets Dabble with your data in Sheets 26 Create perfect presentations Use Google Slides to create presentations 28 Gather information with Forrms Collect data and create surveys with Forms 30 Share files and documents Collaborate with Google Drive 32 Sync your Google Drive Sync your files directly from the desktop 34 25 top Google Drive tips All the hottest tips for making the most of Drive
Google | 9
Productivity | Contents
Productivity
Productivity | Control Gmail
Productivity | Control Gmail
Take control of your email with the incredible Gmail Completely intuitive to use, Gmail enables you to keep related messages together as conversations and to track down any email in a flash
W
hen designing Gmail, Google examined the way people use email and considered ways that it could improve on the current systems. They found that most people don’t carefully divide up their incoming mail into the many folders that desktop software affords; instead they simply let everything amass in their bulging inbox, keeping it for reference and intending to file it away properly later on. But when you have
Handy Tip
Stay secure When signing into Gmail using a shared computer, such as one in an internet café, don’t tick the ‘Remember me’ box, and decline if the web browser offers to remember your password. This prevents other people from accessing your mail after you’ve finished and left.
everything stored in one place, it becomes hard to find the specific items you’re looking for. Instead of preaching about the merits of an exemplary filing system, Google designed Gmail to work around this human failing. It makes your email fully searchable, through the same technology on which Google’s search engine is based.
Search your messages Instead of folders, you have a search box at the top of the page. Enter a couple of keywords and click ‘Search’. Gmail shows any messages matching the terms you used, in order of relevance. If you still have too many results, you can narrow your search – to the right of the search bar, click on the arrow and fill in further criteria in the drop-down menu. You can specify addresses, the message subject, or the
contents of the body as search terms, as well as criteria such as whether there was an attachment to the message, the date it was received (within set periods, ranging from one day to one year, if you’re not really sure), and which mailbox.
Label your mail In addition to the comprehensive search function, you can still employ a filing system if you want to categorise your messages. Gmail’s labels enable you to mark email conversations and group them together under a common label. It is even possible to give a conversation multiple labels for cross-referencing. You can still view all your mail in your Inbox, Sent Items or Trash but, like labels, these categories are methods of sorting your existing mail, rather than traditional email folders. n
STEP BY STEP Use Conversations in Gmail
1Sign in
Browse to http://mail.google.com. Enter your email address and the password you set when you created your Gmail account. Click ‘Sign in’ to go directly to your Inbox and start reading your mail.
10 | Google
2Choose a Conversation
Unlike conventional inboxes that display incoming messages individually, Gmail groups your messages into conversations. This makes it easy to refer back to what was said before. Select any conversation with a new message.
GET TO KNOW Gmail
1
Conversation
Instead of displaying each message separately, this conversation of three mails is grouped under one heading.
2
Search
Provide as much or as little search information as you like to quickly turn up items of mail.
3
Mailboxes
These standard links enable you to view your mail under the usual areas such as Inbox, Sent Mail and Spam.
4
Reply and Forward
These links enable you to reply to a message, or forward it on to another contact if you choose.
5
6
Expand All
Click here to see all the messages in this conversation opened up, so that you can read through them in order.
Labels
These are used to group together mail messages so you can find them easily. Messages can have multiple labels.
EXPERT ADVICE
Using stars
3Reply in a Conversation
Click ‘Reply’ at the bottom of the last message in a conversation to continue the discussion. Previous messages are neatly stacked above your reply for easy reference. Click ‘Send’ to dispatch your mail.
One way of making a message more prominent in your inbox is by marking them with stars. These are the Gmail equivalent of the flags in many desktop email packages and they easily let you highlight a message for later actions. Look at the messages in your Gmail inbox. To the left of each message is a checkbox, a star and a rectangle arrow. Click on the star to light it up and set it to yellow and ‘Starred’. If there are several messages you want to highlight, tick the checkbox for each message, click ‘More’ and select ‘Add star’. When you then want to see all the messages you have flagged in this way, click ‘Starred’ in the left-hand list just below the Inbox. To perform an action on all the starred messages in your current mailbox, click ‘Select: Starred’, followed by the action.
Google | 11
Productivity | Control Gmail
Control Gmail | Productivity
Productivity | Gmail tips
Productivity | Gmail tips
Discover the best power tips for Gmail Get more from your email with our collection of the finest tips, tricks and tweaks for Gmail
L
ife without Gmail is hard to envisage. It’s arguably the best free email service there is. Over the years, Google has added more and more features to it but, thankfully, it has managed to avoid filling it with too much rubbish. While other web email services can seem cluttered, Gmail continues to look fresh and clean. One of the biggest differences between Gmail and other email services is the way you can organise your mail. Others use the folders approach, where you can drop your photos into a specific folder called, say, Photos (we’re nothing if not original). Gmail, on the other hand, uses labels. Instead of moving emails to separate pots, all Gmail emails sit in the Inbox or the Archive (unless you’ve deleted them). Attach a label called Photos, click the label and it instantly brings up
MIGHTy MAIL Gmail is one of the most powerful email systems available – and it’s free. all emails with the label Photos. So far, it’s exactly the same as folders in the way it works. The beauty of labels, however, is that you can add another one – Vera’s Birthday, for instance. Now you effectively have two folders doing different things, but the single email manages to sit in both of them, without taking up more space. Even
better, you can choose whether the email sits in your Inbox view or whether it’s sent to the Archive, and it still shows up whenever you click on either of the labels. The innovative label system is just one of many amazing things you’ll discover as you read this article. So don’t delay, let’s get cracking! n
STEP BY STEP Do more with Gmail
1Get started!
If you haven’t already signed up for Gmail, may we suggest you get cracking. As you’ll see, Gmail is packed with incredible and powerful features, many of which are linked with the best of Google’s online services and apps. It’s damn fine just for reading emails, too.
12 | Google
2Don’t forget to search
We’ll come to some handy filtering options in a moment. In the meantime, don’t forget how well a simple and lightning-quick a simple keyword search is in Gmail. Just like a Google search, the more terms you need, the better the search results.
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