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Tips of the week: Gmail tips

Attention all Gmail users: use the following tips and you’ll be on your way to Gmail greatness:

Enable your keyboard shortcuts by clicking on the Settings link (top of your screen, on the right), then clicking on the General tab. See the Keyboard Shortcuts area?

Make sure the “Keyboard Shortcuts on” option is selected.

Once your keyboard shortcuts are turned on, use those shortcuts! If you’re reading an e-mail and determine that you’d like to reply to it, just hit the “r” key on your keyboard.

Alternatively, if you want to forward an e-mail you’re reading, simply tap the “f” key on your keyboard.

Hit your forward-slash key (/) and your cursor will instantly jump into the Gmail search box.

If you’re in the middle of composing an e-mail, but decide that you’d like to save it and work on it later, click on the “Save Draft” button in Gmail (usually located between the Send and Discard buttons). Later, when you’re ready to work on it again, go to Drafts, located under Sent Mail and above All Mail, click your message, and keep typing.

Remember that you can easily set up a signature that will go at the bottom of all your e-mails by going to Settings, selecting the button next to the edit box in the Signature section, and typing in the text you’d like to have in your signature.

If you’d like to be whisked immediately to your Contacts list, hit the “g” key, then the “c” key.

If you ever access Gmail from a computer other than your own, make sure to login to https://gmail.google.com — note the extra “s” after the http. Logging in at this address means your Gmail password is kept safe and secure, and (other than that creepy guy sitting next to you who keeps glancing furtively at your monitor) your e-mails are kept private.

Fun web page of the week: Shhh Cards

As the recent deluge of tourists in the county has now passed, I was a bit sad to come across these cards only yesterday. Just a bit too late. Oh well. I can still print these out to ensure I’ll be ready come Labor Day. And I suppose I can bring them with me whenever I have to stand in line at the post office, just in case I end up waiting behind a local who’s forgotten his or her manners.

So what exactly *are* these shhh cards, you ask? See for yourself: http://www.coudal.com/shhhcards.pdf

Which one will you use? The one that reads “Inside voices, Please” or perhaps “The rest of us DON’T CARE what he said to you” or maybe one of my personal favorites: “The world is a NOISY PLACE. You aren’t helping things.”

Helpful explanation of the week: What makes up a website?

I’m responsible for educating my clients on various web terms and technologies, explaining how things work, and ensuring that my clients never feel worried or intimidated when making functionality requests for their sites.

One website development question I answer regularly is “What are all the different pieces/parts required to have my own website?” My answer is always the same: you need three things. First, you need a domain name. For example, my website’s domain name is timeforcake.com. Second, you need website hosting, which gives your domain name a figurative plot of land on the web where it can live. Third, you need all the files and words and pictures and code, etc. that make up the actual site itself.

Of these three things, I notice that people tend to find the hosting aspect the most nebulous. For this reason, I’d like to point all those interested in having a basic grasp on the concept of web hosting to the following webpage: http://tinyurl.com/yrwgsz, where a well written, plain-English explanation awaits you.

See you next Friday, everyone. Have a great weekend.

Based in Frisco, eRin pheiL is the primary creative force behind timeforcake (www.timeforcake.com). She can be reached via phone at (970) 668-0709 or e-mail at info@timeforcake.com.