Thursday, May 2, 2013

Gmail New Compose

As you may be aware, Google is pushing out a new Compose experience in Gmail.  To assist with the transition, they have provided the following resources:

Gmail’s new compose experience        




Gmail is rolling out out a new compose experience where you can write messages in a cleaner, simpler format that puts the focus on your message itself, not all the features around it.


Here’s how to try the new compose experience, as well as a quick look at key changes.



What’s different at a glance...



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  • A streamlined compose pane
  • Check your mail while typing




  • Drag and drop addresses
  • Compose two messages at once




How to try the new experience...


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After clicking the Compose button, click the “new compose experience” link at the top of the message.


If you change your mind, you can temporarily switch back to Gmail’s previous experience. Open the Compose window, click the More options icon, and select “Temporarily switch back to old compose.”  





A closer look at some changes...



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Entering addresses


Enter addresses as usual in the To field (labeled Recipients when you’re not adding addresses).


While adding addresses, click the Cc or Bcc link to display fields for entering those recipients, too.

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You can even drag recipients between fields.




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Finding the right contacts


If the contact you want doesn’t show up in the autocomplete list, you can click To, Cc, or Bcc to open a dialog for selecting contacts. Choose My contacts or All contacts from the drop menu or enter a query in the Search bar to narrow your results.


Check the box of each contact you want to add to your message (addresses you select appear at the bottom of the dialog). When you're done, click Select to add the addresses to your message.











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Modify addresses


  • Double-click an address to edit it.
  • Click its x to remove it.
  • Hover over an address to see details about the recipient.
  • Double-click an address and press Ctrl + c to copy it.
  • Press Ctrl + a to select all addresses in the To field.





Your window grows as you type!


To accommodate longer messages, your writing pane grows as your message gets longer.
To make the window even bigger, click the  icon to open it in a separate window. Use the other two icons to minimize or close the window, which also saves your draft.
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Formatting text


Click the  icon to see text formatting options, such as font size, bold, underline, and bullets.


Look for quote text and indentation options under the alignment icon
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Remove Formatting


Click the  icon to remove formatting from the text in your message. To view all emails in plain text, go to More Options and select Plain text.
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Attachments, photos, and links


Add attachments by dragging from your desktop or Drive to the body of the message.
Or click the  icon to browse for a file to attach.


Hover over the + icon to see more options for inserting files from Drive, photos and links.
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Tooltips and keyboard shortcuts


If you're not sure what an icon does, point at it to see a pop-up description.


For many actions, the description also includes a keyboard shortcut for performing the action without having to display the icon.

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Spell check, printing, and labels


Click the More options menu to see other tools, such as check spelling, plain text mode, print, and adding labels or canned responses.






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Reply, Reply all, & Forward


When replying to a message, open the Reply menu next to the recipient's name to display options to reply, reply all, or forward the message.






Edit your recipient list


Click in the recipient field...

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to open an edit field for adding or removing addresses.
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Change a message subject


When replying to a message, open the Reply menu next to the recipient’s name and choose Edit subject. This copies the message to a new thread where you can enter a new subject.





Compose multiple messages at once!


While composing one message, click Compose again to open another window. Minimize drafts you’re not working on now to keep them handy for when you want to finish them later.


Here is a video overview if you prefer:


For a more in depth look, click here