Office of Technology
Google Apps Tips and Tricks
Check Your "To:" Address-4/3/2012
Many faculty and staff members at UCM also are students. Remember to check your "To:" line in Google to be sure that you are sending to the fac/staff address, rather than the student address. Fac/Staff email addresses have last names (sometimes with first initials as tie breakers) and student email addresses are three initials plus five numbers.
If you have any questions about Goolge email addresses, please contact the Technology Support Center.
Google Talk for Notifications and Chat-4/2/2012
Do you miss the pop-ups provided by GW Notify when you received a new message? If so, check out Google Talk! It not only teases a bubble from your task bar (lower right hand part of your screen), but you can also use it for an instant message client. You can learn more about this application and download it from http://www.google.com/talk/ .
Special permissions on your system are not required to install this tool. Give it a try!
Email Direct from a Web Link-3/30/2012
Do you miss the ability to click on an email link on a web page and send mail directly from it? If so, check out our instructions on how to set your web browser(s) to accomplish this at http://www.ucmo.edu/ot/documents/defaultmailclient.pdf. Google recently released a great modification to address this issue.
Do You Use All Day Appointments?-3/20/2012
If you are using All Day Appointments in Google Calendar, you should note that your time will show as "available" by default. If you're using this to show time you're out of the office (i.e., vacation) be sure to change the event settings to "busy".
Please keep in mind that even if you change the All Day appointment to busy, those who have access to "see event details" on your calendar will NOT see the day blocked out but will need to view the entry in the All Day event area. For those who use the Find a Time option they will see your day blocked.
For more information on using All Day appointments go to http://support.google.com/calendar/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=37117 or for more information on using Find a Time go to http://support.google.com/calendar/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=178219&topic=1672471&ctx=topic.
SPAM Filtering in Google-3/5/2012
Postini is a Google Quarantine Service provided to faculty and staff accounts. This service catches potential spam messages before they enter your mailbox. You receive a quarantine summary once per day when there are new messages that have been caught. You can deliver the messages you want right from that summary and leave those that you don't (they will be deleted in 14 days automatically). For more information please refer to http://www.ucmo.edu/ot/documents/postini.pdf. In addition there is also a Spam label within your Google account so be sure to check that label for any messages that may have been routed there (you may need to click More in your label list to access the Spam label).Delegating Calendar Access-2/29/2012
You can delegate access to your calendar account so another person can schedule and edit events. By default all university accounts, including students, have the ability to view free/busy time for university faculty, staff and students. This does not give a person the ability to see the calendar details, only the free/busy time. For more information go to http://support.google.com/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=117596.
Delegating Email Access-2/29/2012
You can delegate access to your email account so another person can read, send, and delete messages on your behalf. The owner of the account (this includes departmental accounts) will have to set up this access. For more information go to http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=138350.
Google Apps Search Feature-2/19/2012
Lost an email? Try using the search feature at the top, center, of the Google mail page. By clicking on the drop down arrow, you'll see many ways to refine your search to find your lost message. This is the best way to look for messages that "disappeared" from your inbox. Most likely, if a message disappeared, it was actually archived. Remember, if you archive a message without labeling it first, the only way to find it is by using the search feature in Google mail. For more tips, tricks, and answers to frequently asked questions, check out the Office of Technology web site.
Check Your SPAM Label-1/22/2012
Be sure to check your Spam label in Google Mail for any messages that may have been caught there. Release the mail you need and leave the rest to be automatically deleted in 30 days. If you don't see your SPAM label, click "more" on the left side bar under your other custom labels.
Internet Browsers-1/5/2012
If you are having trouble viewing items within an application on a web site, please consider using a different browser. Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Google Chrome all have strengths and weaknesses, and they each work with different web applications a little differently. For example, if you are using Google Chrome and cannot view something in MyCentral or Banner INB, try opening Internet Explorer or Firefox and viewing the page there. If none of the browsers will render the page correctly, contact the Technology Support Center for guidance on changing your browser settings.
