Send+archive combo button economizes Gmail
(Credit: Google)Google has added a Gmail Labs option that lets people send and archive their e-mail at the same time.
The send function is obvious, but for those unfamiliar with Gmail, the archive is a potentially giant repository of all messages that aren't in your inbox or deleted. Stuffing a message there is a good way to file it; it's still available through search or by clicking on any label you attached to it, and if somebody replies to it, the conversation thread pops back into your inbox.
I switched this on the moment I heard about it. First, it saves a click of the mouse, or in my case, a keyboard shortcut. And second, unlike some Gmail commands (labeling a photo with a keyboard command, for example), this one doesn't leave me in some keyboard-inaccessible mode in which the browser's attention focused on some inappropriate window. Last, I want conversations archived more often than not, and the new button takes care of it during a convenient moment.
"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," said engineering manager Pal Takacsi in a blog post about the feature.
The send-and-archive button illustrates the power of Gmail Labs, which lets people try out the features they like without burdening others with their interface changes. So far there are 33 options available.
Gmail Labs also lets Google better test the new features, of course, and add the good ones to the regular version, though no features have "graduated" yet to the production version. Superstars and pictures in chat are the two top features so far, though they're older and have had more time to catch on.
Stephen Shankland writes about a wide range of technology and products, but has a particular focus on browsers and digital photography. He joined CNET News in 1998 and since then also has covered Google, Yahoo, servers, supercomputing, Linux and open-source software, and science. E-mail Stephen, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/stshank.
Quite a few very useful features in labs.
I wouldn't mind some more icons for Stars, though.
It is such a handy feature, and could be so much more if there was a larger library of icons, or even custom icons.
Do a lot of people find archiving emails in the "Sent Mail" section helpful?
When I send someone an email, it just put a copy in the Sent Mail section and nothing comes up in my inbox, and I never see it again unless someone replies to it.
Replies welcome (well, encouraged actually).
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by AndrewRich
January 14, 2009 10:27 PM PST
- Also added as soon as I first read about it. Brilliant addition.
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