TechLifeWeb

Recently I posted an article about a great extension for Google Chrome to share to Google+ from Google Reader.  Of course the downside here is not everyone uses Chrome.  I’ve figured out a way to work around that and let people share from any browser using the Chrome send to feature and a hack of the Google+ Mobile interface. It is easy to implement with just a minute or two of your time. Here is how to do it:

Log into Google Reader.

Click the gear icon in upper right corner
Click the send to tab
Click Create Custom Link
Fill in the fields like this:
Name: Google+
URL: https://m.google.com/app/plus/x/?content=${title}%20-%20${url}&v=compose&hideloc=1
Icon URL: http://ssl.gstatic.com/s2/oz/images/favicon.ico
Click Save

Now when you are reading an article in Google Reader and wish to send it to Google+, click the Send To link at the bottom of your article. A drop down will open showing Google+. Clicking that will open up a new tab showing the title and url of your article. You can edit the text and change who you are sharing with. By default, the sharing is public. Then click post.

Is it perfect? Well, like my share from anywhere bookmarklet, the good part is that it should work just fine whether you use Chrome, Firefox or even IE. Probably others too but I haven’t tested it. The caveat is that it uses the mobile version of Google+ which if you want to post publicly is easy but takes an extra step if you want to just post to some of your Circles. The mobile interface doesn’t post links as pretty as the native method but at least this saves you some time.

Edit 11OCT11: A site called HowToNew figured out a method to do this an instead use the native Google+ +1 interface.

If you use the following in your URL field, clicking on the link will +1 the article and give you the chance to share it with your circles. This is similar to +1 on a page on the web. It does open another window or tab.

https://plusone.google.com/_/+1/confirm?hl=en&url=${url}

So, now you have 2 choices!

The other day i saw this article on The Next Web about adding a Google+ share icon to your WordPress blog.  It is based on the original article from Alex Moss.  The main limitation is that it uses the mobile version of Google+ to make it work. Not a big deal just not that pretty.

So I thought this is pretty handy and while WordPress is huge among bloggers, there are still tons of other sites and blogs that might want a sharing button.  Then I thought I could take it a step further and include a way to add attribution.

On Google+, you give someone attribution or address someone by putting a + in front of their name. For example +George Washington.  Google Plus then turns these into links and notifies the person they have been mentioned in a post. The problem is, if you “+” some one that isn’t in one of your Circles it doesn’t always work. Unless you know the little known secret: you can “+” a user number and it should work everytime. This also ensures your are attributing the right +John Smith! My code below will take advantage of this feature since people outside of your circles could be sharing from your site.

So, how do you get your user number? Just go to Google Plus and click on your profile. Your user number is that big bunch of numbers up in your url

right after plus.google.com.
Below is the code to place anywhere in your site where you want the share button to show up.

Note: If you want to use attribution, replace the numbers after via + with the numbers from YOUR user number. Be sure to leave the “+” there!

If you do NOT want to use attribution, delete everything between the quotes after attrib=. So it should read: attrib=’ ‘

<a href=”javascript:var d=document,w=window,attrib=’ via +123456789012345678901‘,e=w.getSelection,k=d.getSelection,x=d.selection,s=(e?e():(k)?k():(x?x.createRange().text:0)),f=’https://m.google.com/app/plus/x/’,l=d.location,e=encodeURIComponent,u=f+’?content=’+e(d.title)+e(‘ – ‘)+e(l.href)+e(attrib)+’&v=compose&hideloc=1′;a=function(){if(!w.open(u,’gplusshare’,'toolbar=0,resizable=1,scrollbars=1,status=1,width=450,height=295′))l.href=u;};if (/Firefox/.test(navigator.userAgent)) setTimeout(a, 0); else a();void(0)”><img class="scale-with-grid" src=”http://dl.dropbox.com/u/118970/plus-share.png” width=”55″ height=”22″ alt=”Share this post on Google+” title=”Share this post on Google+”></a>

Here is the same code in a text file that should make it easier to use since these kinds of things with quotation marks can get confused by browsers.  share.txt

You shoud be able to use this code on any site that lets you add html. Google may have something else in the works to make this easier. But for now, this should fill the gap.

I’ve been spending more of my on-line time on Google+.  I love it because people share great things and it is really easy to add new great people to follow.

One wish I have is to have it be even easier to share things that I find around the web. Google has made it easy for sites to add a +1 button but it isn’t exactly easy to share content. It isn’t to copy a URL and paste it into Google+ but come on, shouldn’t computers help us out here?

To that end, I have put together this bookmarklet to make sharing easier.

If you aren’t familiar with bookmarklets, they are links you add to your browser’s Bookmarks Toolbar. The idea is that you save the link below to your bookmark bar or favorites. Then when you are out on the web and want to share a page with your Google+ followers, you click the link in your bookmarks and it will grab the title and URL of your page, open a new window and let you compose a post to Google+.

Is it perfect? The good part is that it should work just fine whether you use Chrome, Firefox or even IE. Probably others too but I haven’t tested it. The caveat is that it uses the mobile version of Google+ which if you want to post publicly is easy but takes an extra step if you want to just post to some of your Circles.

How to get the bookmarklet

First be sure that your Bookmarks bar is turned on (see below if not)

Drag this link: Share to G+ up to your Bookmarks Toolbar.

UPDATE 29OCT11: New version! See the update at the end of this post.

A note about Bookmarklets in Chrome: Seems there is a bug in Google Chrome that doesn’t automatically set the title of a bookmarklet so you just get the default icon. The icon will work just fine but if you want a title next to it so you remember what the link does, simply right-click on the icon in your bookmark bar and click edit. Add a name like “Share to G+” (without the quotes) and then click OK. Update 29oct11: Since the original post, Google has fixed this issue.

How to turn on the bookmark bar in various browsers
To turn on the Bookmark Bar in Chrome:

• Click the wrench icon on the browser toolbar.
• Select Bookmarks.
• Select Always show bookmarks bar.
• (or ctrl+shift+B)

To turn on the Bookmarks Toolbar in Firefox:

• On the menu bar, click View, select Toolbars, and then select Bookmarks Toolbar.

To turn on the Links bar in IE:

• On the menu bar, click View, select Toolbars, and then select Links.
• Note: in IE, it might be easier for you to right-click on the link above and then select ‘Add to Favorites’. Then in the dialog that pops up, choose the links folder.

Usage
When you are on a page and you click the bookmarklet you will see this screen. See the notes on it for more information:

UPDATE 29OCT11: New version does a +1 and Share using the interface well are all used to in Google+! Now your shares don’t look like they are coming from the mobile interface. Drag this one to your toolbar:
+Share on G+

When you are brand new to a service it is nice to have someone guide you along. Here are a few great resources to get you started with Google+.

First, if you haven’t seen it, Google’s own video that gives an intro to Circles is worth a watch.

Next, have a look at their video about Hangouts

Now if you are ready to jump in, you need these excellent cheat sheets developed by Simon Laustsen

• I’m gathering tips in Evernote here: http://bit.ly/googleplustips
• Here is a good post on configuring your Circles for privacy: Five Steps to Configuring Privacy on Google+
• If you use the Google Chrome browser I highly recommend the Replies and More extension. It adds some subtle changes to the page that make it more functional like being able to reply right to someone without having to type their name.
• Another Chrome must have is the Surplus extension.  It gives you notifications but the main thing is that it lets you share very easily from any site. Note 10MAR2012: I no longer use the Surplus Extension. I recommend Share on Google Plus Page that lets you share to your profile or any of the pages you manage.
• New 10Mar2012: I’ve also been using Golden View for Google+ for a long time. I has some nice features like User Mute and Default Circle.
• If you want an easy way to search Google+, you can try this search engine for Google+:  http://bit.ly/searchgplus
• Andrew Shotland has a HUGE list of tips here: http://www.localseoguide.com/google-plus-shortcuts-tips/

Twitter users:

If you want to make your Google+ profile show up if someone searches for your Twitter name:

• On the Google+ home page, click on your name (left side next to your picture)
• Click Edit Profile
• Scroll way down until you see Other Names
• Click Other Names to bring up the edit box and enter your Twitter handle there.
• Optionally set who can see this. I’d set it to Anyone on the Web because anyone could find out anyway but you may have different ideas.
• If you are done editing your profile, click Done Editing at the top of the screen
• Tip: While you are on the profile screen you can go to ‘View Profile As’ which is really handy to be sure you are sharing what you think you are sharing.

It is no secret that I love Evernote.  I use it to keep track or and remember all kinds of things. On of my favorite things to do is come up with new ways to use it.  Having that secret email address is a wonderful thing and makes it dead simple to save off link shares from Google+. You may not  yet be using Google+ but you will be soon so here is how to get this done:

• Open Evernote and click Tools –> Account Info
• Here you will see your special evernote email address, copy it down (hint: right click on it and click copy)
• Now go to Google+ and, under ‘In your Circles’ on the right, click ‘view and edit’
• Click on the first circle on the left to create a new one
• Name your Circle Evernote or some other short name
• Click ‘Create Circle with 1 member’

Now, when ever you want to save something to Evernote you simply share it with that one Circle.  This has the side benefit of also having all these articles in your Evernote Circle on Google+ kind of like a bookmark but also letting you share them with your larger audience after you read the article and find it worth sharing.

A few years ago I used Picasa as my photo managing software. Then with Windows 7 I started using Windows Live Photo Gallery (WLPG).
A lot of my decision was based around the ability to use nested tags. That is, I tag things like Events/Family Vacation/Seattle and Places/WA/Seattle. These tags are used in Windows Media Center and make it worth the effort. Additionally and more importantly, WLPG saves the values you enter into the actual EXIF data that moves with the photo. Picasa uses a separate method and it can be a giant pain.

Anyway, now that I’m using Google+ more and more, it would be nice to be able to share photos right from within WLPG. On install, the default plugins let you share on Facebook, Flickr, SkyDrive and Windows Live Groups. Fortunately there are other plugins available, including one for Picasa Web.  Here is how to get that set up:

• Go to this page http://www.mlsteeves.com/picasapublisher/index.html and download the Picasa Publisher.
• Close WLPG if you have it open and run the install.

Now when you have some photos you want to share, you’ll see the Picasa logo a the sharing box at the top of the screen. Select your photos and click that logo.  You’ll get a dialog to enter the username and password for your Picasa Web account.  Enter your details and click Login.

You’ll then see a dialog showing you your current albums to add to as well as the opportunity to create a whole new album. Click Create new Album and name it something relevant.

You will then see the dialog box showing your photos uploading. After the upload you’ll get a box showing success and a button to view. Clicking View takes you online and to the album you just created. Here, if you are using Google+ you can share your album with your Circles by clicking the Share button on the right.

That’s it. A little effort up front will make it easier down the road to share your photos right from Windows Live Photo Gallery to Picasa Web and your friends on Google+.

There are so many articles around about how to find people to follow on Twitter. It is never clear to me why people are searching for some kind of instant friends list. You didn’t show up at school and get a Xeroxed list of people titled “Your New Friends.” It is the same on Twitter. There really is only one good way and it is mind numbingly easy. Go into your Twitter notifications settings and check it from the default (Show me @ from the people I am following) to Show me all @ replies. Save. Done.

I hear you scratching your head. How could this help? Because you will start to see people you follow talking to other people. Granted, until you follow that other person you will only see one side of the conversation but things start to look interesting and you’ll click through to find out more about that new person and then start following and being part of the conversation. Then those new people follow a slightly different circle of friends and you see them talking and add another. And so on and so on. Get it? It is all about finding people naturally.

One simple change. No need to learn anything new. Start following people you are actually interested in following. Make it your own micro community.

Twitter Replies Summary

• A reply in Twitter is any Tweet that you start with @username.
  You can reply to anyone even if they don’t follow you.
• Anytime you create a Reply in the proper way (see #1), the reply will always show up in the Replies tab of the person you are replying to.
• This is true if the person follows you or not and regardless of their reply settings.
• Putting @usernamein other places in your Tweet is common courtesy when you are referring to someone else on Twitter but is NOT considered a reply in any way.

Tips on reply settings

• To keep your recent time line clutter free, set your reply settings to “no @ replies”. Replies to you will always show up in your Replies tab.
• To keep up with conversations with mutual friends, set your reply settings to “@ replies only to those I am following” (default setting)
• To follow all conversations and have more potential to find more Twitter friends, set your reply settings to “all @ replies.” (This is the setting I recommend in this post)

Earth seems to have its first fuzzy photos of four alien planets outside our solar system. Three of them orbit the same distant star, Fomalhaut. The fourth circles a different star.

AP Video: