17 September 2013

Google+ Useful Shortcuts and Tips




It was the September 2011 that we wrote an article about 12+1 tips for Google+. Since that time, the Google has done lots of improvements and changes to the giant social networking site "Google+". So I decided to write a new post about some tips and guides that make your experience more pleasant when you use the Google Plus. The Google+ is the second largest social networking site in the world with currently 359 million active users. It has 500 million registered users in which 235 million are active in a given month. Currently the Facebook with one billion active users is the most popular and first largest social networking site over the Internet, but no doubt in the near future the Google+ would bits the Facebook popularity. Below are some shortcuts and tips that you can use when you are on the Google+:


Google+ Shortcuts

@ | Hold down the Shift key and press "@" to open the Google Feedback message box. 



/ | It will select the Search box at the top of the page.



| The Left Arrow key navigates to the icons on the left panel; you can scroll between icons with Up and Down keys, press Enter to open the selected page. 

| The Right Arrow key navigates from the icons on the left side to the main page, scroll the main page with Up and Down keys. 



J | While you are in the Main stream or Home, Press the J key on the keyboard to move down in the stream (jump down to the next post).

K | While you are in the Main Stream or Home, press the K key on the keyboard to move up in the stream (jump up to the previous post). 



Space | This key will move or scroll down the main stream as well.

L | The L shortcut loads new posts and updates the main stream. 



N | When you are viewing a post, the N key moves to next comment on the current post.

P | When you are viewing a post, the P key moves to the previous comment on the current post.

R | Press the R key on the keyboard to comment on the current post.

V | You can press the V shortcut to view attachment on the current post such as photo or video.

O | Pressing the O key will expand or collapse the current post.

? | Hold the Shift key and press the "?" key to open the full list of Google Plus keyboard shortcuts



Google+ Formatting Text

As you may already know, the Google+ allows users to format text while they are posting or sharing a content. To Bold the text, insert it between two Star (*) signs, to Italic the text, insert an Underscore (_) in the beginning and ending of your text. The Hyphen (-) sign is used when you want to draw a line on a specific portion of a text.




Sing in to multiple Google+ account at the same time

Now the Google Plus added a feature to its service that allows users to sign in to multiple accounts at the same time. To do this, click on the drop down arrow next to your profile picture at the top right corner and then select "Add account". In the next page just sign into your other account and you are done. To switch between accounts, click on the account name (your name or email address) in the Google+ bar. 



How to back up your data

As the Google+ saves you data such as the photos, posts, and contacts on its own server (cloud), it lets you to have a back up of all your data and information. You can use the Google Takeout feature to download the data of your Google+ account on your local machine or computer. The backup includes the Picasa Web albums, Google profile, Contacts, and Stream. Follow these steps:

Click on your profile image and then select "Account". In your Google account page, on the left side, choose "Download your data" option and hit the Download your data button. You can also download only a specific service by selecting it from the list. 



How to manage your Google+ Notifications

When someone +1 your post, mention or add you to his/her circles, the Google Plus will notify you through email or even SMS. To manage what type of notification or update you want to receive, go to the Google+ main menu (the sliding panel on the left) and select the Settings. In the Account Settings page, scroll down to see the "Receive notifications" option. Under this section you can manage all your account notifications and settings. Besides Notifications, you can as well manage all your account settings such as Circles, your Primary Email, Third Party Applications, Photos, and Hangout in this section. 




Restrict your Google+ account

To restrict who can view your profile and content, go to the main menu on the left and then select the Profile icon. In the Profile page, go to the About tab. Choose any section that you want to adjust its visibility and hit the Edit option. You have the options to restrict each section to the Public, Your Circles, Only you and Custom




To check your profile visibility view, in the About tab, click on the "View Profile as" option and from the drop down menu, select Yourself or Public. By choosing the Public option, you can see how exactly your profile looks like when someone else views your profile. 



How to delete your Google+ account

You can delete your Google+ account at any time that you want. You can either delete the content but keep your Google+ profile or delete the entire profile. To do this, again go the main menu and then Settings (you can also click on your profile image and select the Account option). Scroll down to the end of the page and select Disable Google+ option. On the next page, choose one of the options "Delete Google+ content" or "Delete your entire Google profile" and click on the Remove selected services button.