The Elvidge Family

Pauls Technical Diary

GMail Tweaks

Tuesday, 01 December 2009 14:44 | Author: Paul |

Here are some tips to turning GMail into a more user friendly interface.

1. Work Offline. By installing 'Gears' add-on for your browser, you can access your archived e-mail/calendar/docs even if you are offline. simply install the Gears add-on for your browser (or just click the 'Offline' link at the top of the page and follow the prompts.

2. Use different signatures for each e-mail accounts (and with multiple options per account). Download and install the'Blank Canvas GMail Signatures' add-on for Firefox. To set-up, simply compose an e-mail message and you'll notice a new menu that allows you to create your signatures using HTML code. Somtimes this feature doesn't work and requires you to re-start your browser.

3. Enable additional features in GMail (not included in the Labs settings). Install Greasemonkey which is needed to run Better GMail 2 which has a number of tweaks for Gmail such as hiding chat & spam folders, tree-style labels (which is GREAT!) and a few other tweaks.

4. To add spell-checking. When typing in the browser - right click and select 'check spelling' . The spell checker is now enabled. Right-click again and you can add English-British & other languages.

Last Updated (Friday, 18 December 2009 12:57)

Partition Resize (non-destructive)

Monday, 09 November 2009 17:04 | Author: Paul |

Ideal if you need a tool to resize your primary partition on a new computer so you can use a different partition for documents etc. or leave space for dual booting.

I have used this free tool to resize Windows XP / Vista and Windows 7 partitions with ease. This is a free home & business doenload (business edition requires free registration) and works perfectly and is very light.

http://www.partitionwizard.com/download.html

Select which calendars Google will sync

Monday, 02 November 2009 14:13 | Author: Paul |

1. Open Safari on your iPhone
2. Navigate to m.google.com
3. Select 'Sync'
4. Select your device
5. Check the boxes next to the Calendars you want to sync (It will only let you choose 5 total, including the "US Holidays" one)
6. Click 'Save.'

Transfer MySQL database (Easy)

Saturday, 24 October 2009 11:06 | Author: Administrator |

Here's a method of backup-restore MySQL databases without using PHPMyAdmin which i have found a lirttle tricky, especially for large databases.

1. Download and install the free version of SQLYog (Trial) Here or Publisher's Site.

2. Add the access details for both your old and new MySQL databases. (Back-up your existing database - you can use SQLYog by clicking 'Backup Database as SQL Dump').

3. Connect to the two databases at the same time and open the window sith the data you want to transfer.

4. If both databases are successfully open - the 'Copy Database to different Host/Database' icon will be available. Select the correct tables/all and it's as easy as that.

Last Updated (Saturday, 24 October 2009 15:22)

Gmail and Microsoft 'Send to' default Email

Wednesday, 30 September 2009 00:00 | Author: Paul |

When using webmail (GMail) I missed the ability to send e-mails/files directly from Office programs or windows explorer that I did have with Outlook. This can be fixed by using one of the following solutions that become your default windows e-mail program and send the mail & attachment to your draft folder in the webmail app.

gAttach - is a simple Gmail soulution - I downloaded and tried this but it didn't work (mails didn't appear in my drafts folder)
Affixa - is a little more flexible and works with both webmail accounts and desktop accounts - letting you choose which account to use. I am using Affixa as it worked straight off for me.
1. Download and install Affixa
2. Enter your Webmail & Standard Mail details
3. Then when you 'sand to' in Windows - you can choose how it's sent. Also with v. large files Affixa uploads the file to a server and sends a download link in the e-mail instead of the attachment.

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