Enable Gmail Labs Features

June 17, 2008 by
Filed under: Gmail 

Do you constantly check your inbox for new emails? Or compose messages every five minutes? Or chat with your co-workers, and with friends endlessly? In short, do you admit that you are an email addict? Well then, there’s no doubt you need to take a break in using your Gmail. Grab some soda, or chips while you wait for Gmail to be unblocked.

Do you think, I’m kidding? No! I am talking about one of the Gmail Lab features you can enable in the Gmail settings—the Email Addict feature. If you believe you need to take a break from using your Gmail account, just click the Take a Break link on top, near the Settings link, and your Gmail account will be blocked for 15 minutes. It makes you invisible in chat as well. Haha.

But there’s one simple trick you can do if you can’t wait any longer, which I won’t tell. It’s pretty easy. Once you’ve done the trick you can start browsing your account, yet you will still be invisible for awhile. I guess the Gmail team has to fix that, or else Email Addict would be useless.

Another experimental feature you can try in Gmail is the Superstars. If you are bored looking at that yellow icon for your starred items, then try out new designs. Use an exclamation point to remind yourself of an email that needs your attention next time you open your account, or use a check icon once you have replied to an important mail. If you are in doubt with an email you’ve received, assign a question mark icon to that mail.

There are twelve icons to choose from, including the yellow star. Choose your icons by going to Settings > General Tab. Then, to see all your mails with icons just go to your Starred folder under Inbox.

And oh, have you played that snake game? You can play that inside Gmail! Once you have enabled Old Snakey just hit ‘&’ from the main page, and start playing while you wait for an important email, or a person to respond to your message in chat. Make sure you have enabled keyboard shortcuts if you want to use this feature.

Anyways, Email Addict, Superstars, and Old Snakey are just three of the features you can try in Gmail Labs. There are still more like adding pictures in Gmail chat, and using random signatures. However, all these features are still in experimental stage, “so they may change, break or disappear at any time.”

To enable any of the Gmail Labs features, go to Settings and then to Labs tab (just after Web Clips). In the Labs tab, choose among the Lab Features you want to try. Click enable, and then click the save changes button located at the bottom of the page. And don’t forget to send your feedback so that your favorite lab feature will be in Gmail for good.

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  1. Internet Marketing Joy on Tue, 17th Jun 2008 1:27 pm

    2. Wow! These are awesome tips Reah! I have to admit it’s my first time to hear such features…anyways thanks a bunch for sharing it..can’t wait to try them myself..^^