40
Unit 1 Google Mail
The importance marker is similar to the stars feature in that it visually
tags messages. Unlike the stars feature, it is intended to always point out
e-mails the user deems important. Google analyzes what messages the user
has tagged to try to predict what messages should have the importance
marker assigned in the future. As a result, you may notice that messages
will have an importance marker without having assigned it yourself. If
a message has been inappropriately tagged with the importance marker,
you can remove the marker. Doing so helps Google learn what to mark
in the future. All e-mails with the importance marker are displayed in the
Important
label.
In addition to the
Important
and
Starred
labels, Gmail has several system
labels, such as: Inbox,
Sent
Mail, Drafts, and
All
Mail. Gmail users can add to
these system labels and create customized labels to further organize their
inboxes. For example, if you are planning a party, you could create a label
called
Party
Planning. Any messages received about that event could be
moved to the
Party Planning
label.
Gmail users can take labels a step further by using sublabels. With
sublabels, also referred to as nested labels, users create a new label within a
custom label to further organize messages. For example, within the
Party
Planning
label, you could create the sublabel
Catering
under which all food-
related messages for the party would be stored.
Using Filters
Gmail users can create fi lters to support their efforts at organizing their
inboxes. Filters automatically screen all e-mails based on criteria the user has
defi ned. Users can create fi lters that analyze e-mails based on:
• the e-mail address the message is from;
• the e-mail address the message was sent to;
• text within the subject line of the e-mail;
• text included in the body of the message;
• text excluded from the body of the message; and
• whether or not the message has an attachment.
Based on those criteria, the fi lter can be set up to complete several actions.
Some of the actions include starring the message, applying a label to the
message, forwarding the message, deleting the message, archiving the message,
or marking the message as important. One or more of these actions can be
assigned to a fi lter. Creating fi lters that support the way you use the Gmail
organizational tools can be helpful in fi nding messages quickly and easily.
Gmail has a default spam fi lter. Spam is unwanted and unsolicited
e-mail. E-mails that meet the criteria outlined in the spam fi lter are
automatically sent to the
Spam
label. Sometimes an e-mail the user actually
wants is sent to the
Spam
label, so it is a good idea to check that label from
time to time.