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Google Plus Start-up Guide:
If you are new to Google+ you want to start off with this beginners guide by G+ user Saidur (Cy) Hossain. Watch the video version below or check out the original slideshow here.
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Complete Google+ Guide:
Mashable compiled an extensive G+ guide which you definitely want to read even if you have already been on the new social network for some days or even weeks. It explains everything form Circles to Hudles to Sparks and much more.
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Privacy Settings:
The Huffington Post ran an article on Google+ privacy settings, one of the most important topics when it comes to social networks. G+ works totally different than either FB or Twitter, so please make sure you understand who exactly you are sharing content with right from the start. We all know what happens if you don’t educate yourself about these very important details.
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Setting Up Circles the Smart Way:
G+ works with Circles and these consist of all the people you are following, i.e ‘friends’, ‘family’, ‘colleagues’, ‘artists’ etc. As these Circles will pretty much define your experience on Google Plus, you definitely want to read this great post by Sarah Bray in which she lays out a pretty neat system for setting up and categorizing Circles.
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Count Favicon:
This extension for the Chrome browser changes the Google+ icon in the tab to indicate the number of new notifications. Useful for a pinned Google+ tab while browsing in another tab, or for situation where you have a large number of tabs open while browsing other websites in another tab.
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Collapsed Streams:
Another Chrome extension. It collapses the Google+ stream while keeping live updates: hides comments, collapses posts, etc. Enhances the Google+ web app to make it much easier to process a large stream of incoming posts and comments and unlock the potential of its real-time updates.
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Reply to Author:
Replies and More For Google+ adds reply and reply-to-author buttons to Google+ comments and a number of other enhancements:
- Badges the favicon with a number when you have new messages
- Ctrl+Enter and Shift+Enter submit a comment or post
- “M” key mutes a post – Header bar floats down as you scroll
- Adds a dropdown next to share with additional sharing options (Twitter/Facebook/Email)
Find me on G+
As you have probably guessed by now, I’m a G+ fangirl and I certainly think the new social network is here to stay and shake things up (I’m looking at you Twitter and Facebook). So come on over and say ‘Hi’, you can find me at my G+ profile, where I have posted more tips, tools and resources.
Great informative article as usual SiSTAR :)
Another handy tool available is the short url for your Google+ URL available at http://gplus.to and also http://ongpl.us/
I have registered at both of the services, mainly cuz i wanted to grab “Webgrrl” before anyone else does.. but what i also did (for those who have their own domain name) is to create a sub-domain and forward it to my Google+ address eg: http://google.webgrrl.info
It just makes it easier to remember, cuz currently there is no way that i would remember the profile/account number that is assigned. Plus it looks nicer (and shorter!) if putting on a business card etc..
As mentioned by another person in my circle, by using the short URL services – there is no guarantee that the service will be here for a long time (or wont be directed to another site, beyond our control) But its an option if we don’t have our own domain name. One could also use Bit.ly to create a short URL – and with bit.ly you can customize the short link eg: http://bit.ly/webgrrl-googleplus
Thanks for the additional tips :-)
I had already thought about using my own domain name but not implemented yet. Will do it soon. Still wanna do that interview with you…
I still prefer Facebook. Google+ has still got tons of challenges to match with FB. But Google+ is making some progress, a promising one. But for now I and most of my friends stick to FB.
:)
In the end it’s comes down to personal preference. It’s not really important what social network you choose to work with, it’s more about the finding the right people :-)
Great very informative article, I’ve learned some techniques from this. Thanks for the tips.
After using G+ for a while, I quite love the platform it is designed on. Facebook is unbearable now, and G+ is a welcome addition to my social networking experience.
Great post btw. :)
I agree. Since I joined G+, I knew instantly it would be my new fav social network. And now that they are slowly integrating all Google’s other sevices like YouTube, Chat, +1 in Search etc. it’s becoming quite a big player.