Gmail Compose Box Gets New Features

The Gmail compose box, which was released late last year, now allows users to add labels and stars to messages.

“How many times have you been writing an email and had to reference something in another message? Saving a draft, opening the old email, and then reopening your draft wastes valuable minutes. The new compose pops up in a window, just like chats (only larger),” said product manager Phil Sharp on the Google Enterprise blog.

“This makes it easy to reference any other emails without ever having to close your draft. You can even do a search or keep an eye on new mail as it comes in. And because the compose window works the same way as chats, you can write multiple messages at once and minimize a message to finish it later.”

Gmail users can now add stars to important messages in the compose box and labels in order to categorise them, making sorting and finding sent emails easier and quicker.

The update was announced by the Gmail Google+ account, informing users that both new features can be found in the More Options menu of the compose box.

How useful have you found these updates to Gmail?

Google Further Integrates Google+ Profiles Into Gmail

Your Google email account is changing — it’s getting even more social.

A new Google update will make “people front and center in Gmail” — or rather the people you know who signed up for Google+.

These updates will further integrate Google+ — the search engine’s social network — into Gmail. Now when users search for an email address, contact information from Google+ profiles will show automatically. This means Google+ profiles are pushed to the forefront including profile pictures, emails, chat prompts and phone numbers. This could be a solution for Google+’s lackluster user engagement.

A company product manager Itamar Gilad described the new personalized changes in an official blog post.

“These updates are helping us to provide a more consistent, beautiful experience across all of our products,” he wrote. “Quick access to contact details will be rolling out to everyone today. To take advantage of circles and more in Gmail, you’ll need to join Google+.”

Google+ circles are also finding their way into your email. You’ll be able to filter messages by circles of friends. To see how, watch the video above.

Updates like these are a part of Google’s master plan to incorporate Google+ into all facets of the company’s products. Google unveiled Google Search Plus Your World in January.

Do you think Google+ is an effective directory? Tell us which social network you turn to for contact information — for friends or strangers.