Comments on: 5 little Gmail annoyances Google needs to fix

Gmail may be great, but it's annoying sometimes too. Find out some of those attributes that Don Reisinger thinks Google should address.

[Cosmo8U]

You need to get a job, what a whinny baby...

[twentyniner]

As for complaint #1, its done to provide you with the best FREE email solution available. If you don't like the scanning and ads then use Google Apps, pay $50 for a year and you can turn it off.

As for complaint #2, its a user issue and not a functionality issue. Labels are an improvement over folders you just have to wrap your mind around it and get over the fact they aren't called folders. A message can only exist in one folder at a time but can have multiple labels.

As for complaint #3, its not necessary because you don't have FOLDERS in Gmail. If you want something out of your inbox then delete or archive it with the shortcut keys :)

As for complaint #4, just use Gmail Labs "Custom keyboard shortcuts" add on and you can set delete to something simple, like d. Unfortunately you can't set it to the delete button but d is even easier to reach than delete :)

As for complain #5, well...personally I don't actually see the point in most email signatures, especially the long drawn out ones that are an entire business card. The email itself shows who its from and a return address. If its important then attach a vCard with it all so its easy to add directly into an address book.

The main problem as I see it with most new apps like Gmail is people are stuck thinking the way older apps work and can't think outside of the box when it comes to improving the way things are done. To see if something is a better way you actually have to use it the way its intended and not try and force it to work like something else.

I'd recommend that you just keep using Yahoo and go back to writing about the Flowbee.

[svk1069]

Re complaint #1- I would pay, but I don't necessarily want my own domain. Can't they offer that option to upgrade to users of the @gmail.com addresses?

Re complaint #2- Can't someone prefer the folder type interface? It's a matter of opinion. You like labels. Some people don't.

Re complaint #5- Some of us would like to use Gmail to consolidate accounts (one of Gmail's better features is automatic POP checking of other accounts). Being that I can also compose e-mails from those other addresses, why can't I have a different signature for each account?

[cnetcensorssuck]

@svk1069
#1 They do, it's called Google Apps Premier Edition at $50/year
#2 Yes, someone can prefer the folder interface, but neither you nor anyone else here has been able to tell us how they're any different than folders.

People that don't like labels and tags just simply don't understand them.

[svk1069]

@cnetcensorssuck

RE #1- That's what I said, but I *don't* want my own domain. I would want to use my "@gmail.com" address. For that the do NOT offer Google Apps Premier Edition (i.e. no ads interface for a fee).

[svk1069]

@cnetcensorssuck

RE #1- That's what I said, but I *don't* want my own domain. I would want to use my "@gmail.com" address. For that the do NOT offer Google Apps Premier Edition (i.e. no ads interface for a fee).

RE #2- Try using labels with IMAP. It sucks. It keeps showing you "new" mail in your label folders even though it's not new.

[skillingssucks]

@svk1069

You don't have to use your own domain for Google Apps Premier.

[svk1069]

@skillingssucks

Unfortunately that doesn't appear to be the case. You cannot sign-up for Google Apps Premier Edition using an "@gmail.com" e-mail address. I just tried.

[bdaniel]

you can forward your @gmail address to your @googleappsdomain and set your default email in google apps to your @gmail address. Problem solved.

[svk1069]

@bdaniel

That's unnecessarily complicated. Google should just offer the option to Gmail users to pay to remove the ads.

[smonoco]

i think i would have to agree with everything here, with the exception of the first complaint.

[Pete Bardo]

Hey Don,

You get what you pay for! In this case, you paid nothing and you can expect nothing. Gmail is a little more than nothing, so it's quite a bargain. Personally, I only use gmail to receive messages from Google. Seeing as they were the ones who sent the message, I don't mind them scanning it for content. I don't use their interface at all, I let Thunderbird get the mail for me (no advertising!).

But I'm curious now. You don't really use the free email services on a regular basis, or do you? I would think that such a knowledgeable person as yourself would have their own domain name and email servers!

[cfbandit]

Most of what you've mentioned is on my top annoyances too. The only one I don't have is the ad scanning. Some of them I find rather amusing when they try to relate an ad to a multitude of subjects in my email.

The labels thing annoyed me a lot at first, now I just don't bother with it at all. I archive/delete things when I'm done with them, and if I need to find something, I type it in the search box. Why go through thousands of emails when you have a search tool? Its not worth the effort to label things. Its much faster to search.

I do wish they had multiple signatures, though. I belong to multiple volunteer organizations that make it a requirement to have full identifying information on the email and its a pain to type them all out. I'll have to look into the tool you mentioned.

Always enjoy reading your columns, Don.

[portorikan]

If you've ever tried checking your gmail email especially via IMAP in an application, you'll quickly realize how ridiculously stupid labels are when you try to organize your email in any sort of way.

For instance, in Apple Mail, you've got to make a few changes or smart folders are ruined, you have duplicate emails... and the trash thing is ridiculous. I deleted my email for a reason. I didn't want it anymore. Delete should be delete, not store for deletion at some later date.

[svk1069]

Amen! I tried Gmail's IMAP access in Thunderbird, Apple Mail, and even Outlook, and because of the Labels metaphor versus folders, it was horrendous.

[mrcheck1]

I don't get the label problem either. You DO know that you can set up a filter to automatically apply a label and skip the inbox altogether, right? Mail comes in, label gets applied, never hits the inbox, you see new messages in that label like "Label Name (5)" for 5 new messages. Same as a folder.

I understand what a label can do that a folder cannot - 1 email can have multiple labels. Could someone explain what a folder can do that a label cannot? I must be missing something cause I can't think of anything a folder can do that a label can't.

[portorikan]

Well, in an offline client, such as Apple's Mail. you have Smart Folders, which work like labels. Email messages can appear in multiple smart folders. The problem is if you download emails from gmail, the labels set up gets translated to multiple folders on your client.

Very annoying.

[mrcheck1]

For integration into an offline client, I can see how they could cause problems. Of course, if I planned on using an offline client to organize my email, I don't think I'd be using Gmail anyway. Then again, I don't live in the world of get online, grab email, get offline, read and compose responses, get back online to send. Not a dig or anything, I can see the usefulness of that. Reading and replying while on a train or something heading to work. It's just not something I need to do. There's so many ways and places to get online these days and get directly to Gmail through the web interface/cell phone interface (never tried it) that in my daily life, I don't need an offline client being saddled with my 1.1 gigs of email. I can, however, see how this could cause some problems for those that do.

[bdaniel]

I realize now why so many people are anti-labels. They are still in the dark ages of using a software client to access their email.

[toumei64]

I'm kinda on the fence about whether I prefer labels or folders. If only they could implement a healthy combination of the two. Yes, yes, labels are like folders, but they're not quite the same. I usually end up over-categorizing things in folder setups and losing them anyway. Archiving is nice, though, and keeps me from having to put effort into sorting out unimportant emails that I'll only read once and never reference again. Just hit "Archive" and I don't have to deal with it anymore.

As for Google scanning my E-Mails for relevant ads, I think I'm more comfortable with Google scanning my private data than I am with the government doing it.

Deleting with the delete key? Drag and drop? Multiple signatures?
Think you need to just stick with your old-school E-Mail clients!

[kevsmail]

I agree with you on all your points except #5. The only time I ever see a real legitimate use of them is for business/work related emails, so you can see the contact info (phone/fax/address, etc). Especially useful if you have to print an email hardcopy for a file or to give to someone for instructions/documentation.

I always find them to be noise in personal emails, with people picking some clever or inspirational quote as their tagline. Once, ok. But if I get 5 or 6 emails a week from you, I get the point. You like Emerson or Thoreau or Martin Luther King...

I dislike the Labels too, but I guess they work OK. Heck Google even got wise and uses folders in Google Docs and Calc for Pete's sake, why not have the option in Mail? And why in God's name do they have to be unique and not allow you to use the DELete key like every other application on the planet? Sometimes universal standards are actually a GOOD thing...

[lookitsron]

Labels are awesome. I don't see your point about your inbox and organizing it - If you don't want it in your inbox then archive it. I use Outlook at work where I receive a lot more mail that I need to keep. I usually organize mail in folders by certain categories, sender, distribution list, a specific topic. If a message falls under two or more of these categories, what am I to do? In Outlook, I'd just have to pick a signle folder or copy the message for each folder. In GMail, I can assign multiple labels, and the message would show up when I look under each label.

[drormata]

Try our service:6zap at http://www.6zap.com.
We cover the first 3 features you ask for, no bots, folders and Drag and Drop. As an added bonus, we offer the ability of generating unique email aliases using Zcounts http://www.6zap.com/zcounts/

To you people whining about labels and conversation view: are you DAFT? These are not "quirks" to be "fixed", they are the essence of what makes Gmail different and has engendered such loyalty among users.

Pining for folders (exclusive labeling) over labels (multiple labeling) is mere semantic crankcase stubbornness, like refusing to wear pants and insisting on "dungarees." (Don, you don't even look old enough to be chasing kids off your lawn.)

But, there is a way to get exactly what you want: MAIL.YAHOO.COM. Go. Enjoy your arbitrarily restrictive "folders" and cluttered, unthreaded inbox view. Leave Gmail to those of us who appreciate the unique features that make it different.

[Webbull]

I have been using Gmail from the beginning and I hate labels. I will take folders any day. To me labels create more work than they are worth. This is a perfect example of Google trying to be too smart. If it wasn't broken, don't fix it. Reading through all of these comments, clearly labels is the number 1 annoyance. Not not every want's to learn labels or "get their mind around them". Give us a folder option.

[JohnLudlow]

I agree with most of these, but "little" is definitely the operative word.

I don't mind the conversation view, or labels. And I really like the cool integration with other services such as Picasa/PicasaWeb

However, the filtering needs beefing up a little (wasn't there something on CNET about easy vs simple a while back?) And some of the keyboard shortcuts are odd. You can hit 'y' to archive, but this also doubles as the option to remove an email from a label. I also don't like the way that I can't configure my own spam options.

I've managed to get a pretty good system going for labels, but the flat label structure means I have to use fully qualified names and the limited width of the label panel means I have to use abbreviated names (News:WStns for emails from Waterstones, for example, or Junk:MicDrct for emails from MicroDirect.com). Not fatal, but annoying.

Google IG is in need of more work, I think - especially given how far the UK version lags behind the US version.

[BIGELLOW]

That's because the 'y' key is the shortcut to remove the current label. When viewing the inbox, the "current label" is the "inbox" label. Hitting 'y' removes the "inbox" label. Removing the "inbox" label essentially removes it from the inbox... which is the same thing as archiving.

If, however, you are viewing the email through a label view, hitting 'y' removes it from that label.

Another way to think about it. If labels were actually folders, then everything first ends up in the inbox folder. When viewing it in the inbox folder, if you hit 'y'... it is removed from the inbox folder and is now "folderless"... which is the same as being archived. You can search for the email, or you can view it in "all mail". If, however, you added it to another folder (such as BUSINESS) and removed it from the inbox folder (archived it)... then, when viewing the email in the BUSINESS folder, hitting 'y' removes it from that folder.

[benjimen]

The labels were confusing at first, until I accessed my Gmail via IMAP and discovered that they are in fact folders. They're kinda like deluxe folders though, as you can have items exist in more than one folder.

What I don't like about Gmail is the Contact app -- it's an afterthought with no provision for anniversaries or birthdays that integrate with the Calendar.

The email though was great, and once I realized labels were actually folders, it became my favorite email app ever. The Contact app though is what keeps me from using it as my primary email service :(

[kevsmail]

Ok, one other annoyance. I don't understand their spam heuristics. 90% of the time it's great at picking out junk mail, usually with the funky subject lines or weird characters in it. But it will still occasionally classify as spam an email from someone who sends me email weekly, usually a newsletter. It's even nabbed a few that I get from Cnet and PC World, and then it'll let the other from them pass through. WTH?

[BIGELLOW]

Add the sender to your contact list and it'll never flag their message as spam again. Your contact list is considered a white-list for non-spam.

[jackdaniels08]

ALL email is scanned for viruses and SPAM whether they are served with or without ads especially the more prominent services. Google just happens to serve relevant ads to the content which is matched NOT by people but by a computer, so nobody is reading your emails. How many times does Google have to address this issue? Pick up a copy of "Planet Google," by Randall Stross and Google this issue. What will it take to get through that thick skull of yours?

[svk1069]

Here's the problem with Gmail scanning my e-mail for relevant ads.

Let's say I write my parents an e-mail to ask them how they are doing, and they reply that along with their usual aches and pains they are also suffering from hemorrhoids. While I'm reading their reply, Google shows me ads regarding hemorrhoids. Fine, no big deal.

The problem is that Google uses that information outside Gmail apparently to continue serving "relevant" ads (perhaps via a cookie left on my machine). On other sites where Google is the ad provider, I start seeing hemorrhoid-related ads. Still relevant? Maybe, but because I am no longer on Gmail, it feels a bit of an invasion of privacy. Google might not share my information with those other sites, but just having it display those "relevant" ads is kind of creepy. No one looks over my shoulder when I'm reading my e-mail, but occasionally I'm showing things to other people on my computer screen like movie times I've looked up, or a blog article I found interesting, or whatever. Do I really want anybody else seeing ads based on a private conversation I had with my parents?

[BIGELLOW]

@svk1069,

The only disturbing thing here is the fact that you have conversations with your parents about their hemorrhoids.

[svk1069]

@BIGELLOW

Lol! Although that was hypothetical, you never know what *my* parents will bring up.

[october271986]

To Svk1069:
The situation you describe never happens. Google does not use cookies to store search information or email info.

[Webbull]

I hate not having folders. I am sure that many of you have convinced yourself that "labels" are as good as folders (or better) but not for me. Give me folders. I would make a guesstimate that most gmail users would prefer folders.

No, Webbullheaded, we have not "convinced ourselves" that they are better - we have observed the fact that they are the same concept, extended. They do the same thing and more. Whether you call them folders, labels, tags, or gleepfloobs, they simply classify a message. Until you get your head around this basic concept, much of the appeal of modern tag-based applications like Delicious or Flickr will be entirely lost on you.

If "most Gmail users prefer folders," then they would not be Gmail users. That's just ridiculous. There are plenty of other applications clinging to the outdated folder model to choose from.

[whiskerbisket]

For me the single biggest annoyance is the bug - for there is no other word for it - that the signature appears at the end of a reply, under the quotes text. I have to manually cut and paste it each time. Can't they just fix this??

[designink]

Under the lab features, there is one called "Signature Tweaks" that does just this.

[designink]

Seriously, how hard are labels to understand? Like other have said, if you apply a label and archive the email, it is the same as putting it in a folder! Pair labels with filters, and the fact that you can apply multiple labels to one email (plus Google's awesome search ability) and email has never been so organized. I also LOVE the conversation feature - limits the clutter in my inbox and keeps all relevant info together.

[toosday]

1. More filter options!
"To"
"From"
"Subject"
"Has the words"
"Doesn't Have"

That's all the filter options Gmail has. If you need to filter messages from more than one person, for example, then you have to use a formula to do so, according to Gmail Support.

There's no option to filter message by date received or sent.

2. Get rid of the annoying "Invite to Gmail" box. It's taking up space that I'd like to use for other things

Yeah... that's about it for me. Now, in terms of Google Calendar (which I know we aren't talking about here), there should be a To-Do List feature added.

[designink]

There is a "to-do list" feature. Look under lab features; it is called "Tasks"

[BIGELLOW]

Also, if you want to filter based on date/time, this is a search option. If you want it to be a link, there's a Gmail Labs add-on called Quick Links. It lets you perform a search, and then turn this search into a link. Click the link, and it performs the search again.

You can close the "Invite to Gmail" box and move it to the bottom, so it only takes a line of space at the bottom, which means it is about as intrusive as the copyright message.