Apr 18, 2018

Work Life: Make your GMail act like Outlook with Labels, Filters, and Archive

Is your GMail Inbox overloaded with messages?  Have you tried using labels for your mail, but you find yourself buries in a cluttered Inbox anyway?  Here is one way to keep that Inbox clean without missing mail!

By using labels, filters, and the Archive feature in GMail, you can keep your Inbox looking neat and keep your messages organized the way Outlook does!  It's like creating folders and rules!
   find a message that you wish to apply this.  For example, a message from your boss.
   click the checkbox to the LEFT of the message.
   click the drop-down menu named "More actions"
   choose "Filter messages like these".  The "From:" should have your boss' email address filled in
   Click "Test Search" to make sure it only pulls messages from your boss
   Click "Next step"
   Check the "Skip Inbox" box
   Check the "Apply the label..." box, then in the drop-down select an existing label or create a new one.  In GMail, "labels" can be used like folders in Outlook.
DO **NOT** create the filter yet!!
   Select the checkbox for "Also apply filter to XX messages"
   NOW, you can click the "Create Filter" button.
After a few moments (depending on how many messages this filter applies to), you will see a "Filter Created" message and then you will be returned to your Inbox.

Your boss' messages should be gone!!  Oh no! Where'd they go!?  Look on the left!  See the label you just created?  Click that, and you will see your boss' messages!

** Repeat the above steps for each type of messages you want to act like folders/rules. **

NOTE: You may have to play with some of the fields to get the results you want.  For example, you may have to use the actual name of a listserv instead of the email address the messages come from.  You can use any one or multiple fields in the filter creation section to narrow down the results.

Also note, I would only apply *ONE* label to any messages that I am putting through this procedure.  I have no idea what happens if you try to archive with multiple labels.  My gut tells me you would just have multiple ways to pull up the archived messages (like putting them into multiple folders), but I don't know that and I haven't tried it.  Worst-case scenario is that if it doesn't work the way you want, you can always MANAGE FILTERS to edit or delete a filter you created.

Remove WiFi from Dell Control Point on Dell Laptops

I prefer to use Windows Wireless Configuration, and cannot stand third-party apps trying to muscle in on my WiFi.

Dell laptops ship with a beastl;y application called "Control Point" that tries to take over all your connections.  Well, here is how you get control of your computer once again:

Start >> Dell Control Point >> connection manager >> profiles >> change settings >> program settings >> uncheck ALL of the available technologies boxes
That will allow you to use the Windows Wireless Configuration tool, as it should be!

SuccessMaker asks for CD to be inserted

I ran into a situation where SuccessMaker would allow the students to log in but when they wanted to use one of the installed apps, the program would prompt for the CD.  The school is running the Enterprise Edition of the software, so all apps are running from the server and do not require CDs.

The culprit turned out to be a drive mapping issue.  Make sure that the drive you use for SuccessMaker is MAPPED and not just pointing via UNC.  Also, make sure that the drive is mapped in the appropriate login script, so you will not have to map it on each machine manually.

Switch between built-in sound and Smart Board sound

I had a user that needed to switch between a headset for Skyping and the audio on the Smart Board.  While there is not a simple one-click solution that I know, changing the settings is not TOO bad:

In Control Panel, Audio/Sound:

On the "Audio" tab, there should be a drop-down under "Default Device."  The default is usually "USB Audio Device," which is the Smart Board.

Click the drop-down and choose the built-in audio instead (in this case, "Realtek HD Audio Output").

Click "APPLY" then "OK" and close out any Control Panel windows.

Sounds will now play through the "green" plug in the back of the computer.  To swicth back, return to Control Panel and change the "Audio" device back to the USB Audio.

Hope this helps!

Turn off "Conversation View" in Google Apps

Are you losing messages because GMail likes to keep things together by conversation (mail subject)?  Well, here is how you can fix that in Google Apps:
   Log in to your Google Apps GMail account
   Click the "gear" in the upper right corner
   Click "Mail Settings"
   In the 6th section down, you should see "Conversation View:"
   Change it to "Conversation View Off"
   Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "SAVE SETTINGS"