I have recently tried out several Gmail Labs features that are pretty good.
- Mark as Read Button
- Default 'Reply to all'
- Authentication icon for verified senders
Mark as Read Button by "Mark K"
If you're tired of digging into the "More actions" menu every time you want to mark unread messages as read, just turn on this Labs feature to add a "Mark as read" button to the top of your inbox.
Very useful, I was missing this for some time. The button blends in well with the other default buttons at the top of your inbox. I found it saves a lot of time as I compulsively read every other email otherwise, I don't really like the "More actions" menu, so this was a time saver, and more direct way to get this function. I did notice it is not 100% production ready.
If you check a already read email, the Mark as Read button remains enabled and you may click it, which gives the erroneos message "The conversation has been marked as read.
Undo". Clicking the misleading provided "Undo" link in the message also does nothing. I submitted this feedback to Gmail Labs support.
Default 'Reply to all' by Mark K
When we're working on features for Gmail, the email etiquette on the team is to reply all so everyone involved is kept in the loop. Mark was an intern here this past summer who got frustrated when he'd reply to an email only to realize that he forgot to reply all and had to resend the message. Thus, this Labs feature, which makes reply all your default selection.
Thank you Mark, I had the exact same experience multiple times with Gmail. Often when multiple recipients are copied on an email, among my social group the convention is to include all in your reply to include everyone in the conversation, almost like an ad-hoc forum. This works very well with Gmail's threading of email chains. This is a useful Lab feature, didn't find any issues since I enabled it.
Authentication icon for verified senders by "E R"
Turn on "Authentication icon for verified senders" from the Labs tab under Settings, and you'll see a key icon next to verified emails that are super-trustworthy.
...
It's a bit of work for senders to make their email super-trustworthy, which is why this feature is limited to just eBay and PayPal right now. We hope to add more senders in the future, and when we do, you'll know because you'll see the super-trustworthy key icon magically appear by those senders too. Give it a whirl and let us know what you think.
Seems like a good feature to just have that extra bit of security that you aren't being phished. I verified that it w for a advertisement-type newsletter email from PayPal. It would require more participation from other 3rd parties to be useful as now most companies I receive email from aren't on that list. Top on my priority would be Amazon.com and other "Large Financials"
If you aren't aware you may enable these Gmail Lab features in Gmail.
Click on Gmail menu bar > Settings > Labs (or the little green chemistry beaker icon next to Settings).
In the list of "Available Labs" click Enable radio button for the labs you want.
Click Save Changes button at the top when done.
The Send Feedback link under each individual lab lets you
send specific feedback to the Gmail team either to report problems, give praise or make suggestions. This is a great feature in of itself. Wish there was something equivalent for all Google products.
