In case you haven’t yet noticed today (or don’t use GMail), there’s a new look for the popular e-mail service. Just like the other Google design refreshes of late, you don’t have a choice about using the new layout since you’re really not paying for the service and you’re subject to Google’s whim. Lucky for you, the changes make the layout a bit less cluttered and help you find some of the most-used features like Contacts, Tasks, and Labels. Here’s the easy-to-read version of the updates courtesy of Google.Want to see what else the GMail team has been working on? There’s an ever-expanding list available here.
Updates to GMail’s overall layout
- Mail, Contacts, and Tasks links have moved to the top left of Gmail.
- Compose mail is now a button rather than a link.
- A smaller header area puts the first message in your inbox about 16 pixels higher on the screen.
- The Select All, None, Read, Unread, and Starred links that used to be above your messages are now options in a drop-down menu, next to the Archive button.
Updates to Contacts
- Contacts work a lot more like Mail. Keyboard shortcuts now work in Contacts too, and we’ve made selecting and grouping contacts more like selecting and labeling email.
- Sort contacts by last name. Look under More actions for this option.
- Use custom labels for phone numbers and other fields. For example, you can label a phone number as “Vacation home.” Please be aware, ActiveSync for iPhone and Blackberry Sync don’t yet support custom labels so custom labeled numbers/emails/etc. may not appear on your phone.
- Undo. Now, when you make changes to your contacts, you can undo your recent changes.
- Automatic saving. You no longer need to worry about “edit” mode or “view” mode — just edit away and Gmail will save your changes.
- Structured name fields. You can now set name components (i.e. Title, First, Middle, Last and Suffix) explicitly or continue to use the name field as a free form area if you prefer a less structured approach.
- Manual and bulk contact merge. You can now merge contacts from the More actions menu. Just select the contacts you’d like to merge and select Merge contacts from under the More actions menu. Or, to get a list of suggestions for contacts to merge, select Find and merge duplicates.
What do you think? Are the changes good, bad, or somewhere in between? I can honestly state that I may not have noticed the changes the first time I logged on today except there was a big bubble saying there were new changes. After using the new layout for a couple hours, I can safely say it’s not a major update and is just some helpful tweaks to what was quickly becoming a bloated system with way too many features clamoring for your attention.
Have a different opinion? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter (@edudemic) or try out Socially Learning to have your voice heard!
