Ever wish you could get even more nit-picky about your Gmail filters? Free Gmail-based webapp Syphir filters messages by arrival time, number of recipients, and whether they “need” replies. It really works, and it might just scratch your last, hard-to-reach inbox itch. More »
Earlier this year Gmail allowed new users to import contacts and messages from old email accounts to make switching easier. Today they’ve added that feature for everyone, meaning if you’ve got old email you’d love to import to Gmail, now you can.
Assuming you’re already logged into your Gmail account, just point your browser to the Accounts and Import tab of your Gmail settings and click the Import mail and contacts button to get started. Then just follow along with the simple import wizard; enter your other email address, provide the password, and tell Gmail what you want to import, how you’d like it labeled, and whether or not you want to keep bringing in new mail for the next 30 days.
You’ve always been able to import other email into Gmail via POP fetching, but this simple wizard simplifies and streamlines the process.
iPhone/iPod touch: The biggest problem with the iPhone’s email client is its lack of search. All My Mail can’t compose messages, but its free version lets you search Gmail, AOL, or Exchange messages pretty easily.
After creating an account with Attassa (which, for this tester this morning, was a bit buggy), you’ll be able to add one Gmail, AOL, or (with a plugin) Outlook email account to your All My Mail app for synchronization and searching; the paid version and a monthly fee gets you more than one account at a time.
All My Mail organizes and sorts your mail primarily by contacts and attachments, and is kind of smart about it. It groups together email addresses with similar or the same contact names under one heading, and can recreate Gmail’s threaded message view by analyzing the messages you’re trading back and forth. There’s an attachment-only view you can flip to when you need to find one particular Word document from a guy named Bob, and the email search and sorting felt fairly responsive in our own tests.
All My Mail has a somewhat lacking security notice, stating only that all transmissions are SSL-encrypted and that their database is encrypted as well. If you’re concerned about third-party access to your email, you might want to consider waiting to see if the 3.0 iPhone update brings in something worthwhile in email search. Otherwise, All My Mail is a neat little utility that can’t be your all-in-one mail client, but does make up for one of the iPhone’s glaring deficiencies.
Here’s the official video tour of All My Mail:
All My Mail’s free/lite edition is a free download for the iPhone or iPod touch, requires 2.0 or later firmware.
Windows only: Microsoft Outlook is a powerful tool used worldwide by corporate drones—and with a little macro goodness, it will remind you to attach a subject line to your TPS Reports.
Adding the new macro requires a number of steps, but when you are finished you'll have a reminder to add in a subject line—just like Gmail has by default. You'll need to open up the Visual Basic macro editor, find ThisOutlookSession over in the left-hand treeview, and then paste in the macro into the editor.
Private Sub Application_ItemSend(ByVal Item As Object, Cancel As Boolean)
Dim strSubject As String
strSubject = Item.Subject
If Len(Trim(strSubject)) = 0 Then
Prompt$ = "Subject is Empty. Are you sure you want to send the Mail?"
If MsgBox(Prompt$, vbYesNo + vbQuestion + _
vbMsgBoxSetForeground, "Check for Subject") = vbNo Then
Cancel = True
End If
End If
End Sub
Once you've saved and closed the macro editor, you should receive a warning anytime you forget the subject line—a very useful trick to avoid sending an unfinished email.
Hit the link for the detailed walk-through screenshot tour. Note: this macro was found on at least half a dozen web sites, so we’re not really sure who the original author is, but the CodeProject link explains the process in the most user-friendly way. For more, check out how to defer sending emails to avoid embarrassment, or take a look through our top 10 Outlook boosters.
