Gmail rules!

I've been using Gmail a bit for years. I've used it for two accounts. One I use for registering with sites like *cough*MySpace*cough*, which I don't need immediate emails from, and for a few mailing lists. The other account is a dump space for all email going to me at my primary personal email address. I have every message sent to me also directed there so I have a "permenant" archive in case I ever delete a message by mistake. I also BCC every message I send with that account. But overall I haven't used that Gmail account very much over the years. Weeks can go by without me going in there. That all changed recently when Gaia moved our email over to Google Apps.

Google, bless them, provides some terrific tools for sites like Gaia.com that need email and want to do neat stuff with it. We're getting ready to offer email accounts to our Plus members and I've been tasked with integrating that so a Gaia+ member can create an email address @gaia.com from within our site. That's not really the point of this post though. Since we want to let you use Gmail for @gaia.com addresses, we're obliged to use it too. Some people access it in different ways, but most of us are now using the Gmail web interface for email.

Let me tell you, it's a whole different world when you're using Gmail all day every day than if you're using it once a week. I've learned the keyboard shortcuts so I can navigate my messages without using the mouse. I've setup filters and labels to help me access my most frequently needed messages. And I've learned to not worry about the rest and just search for what I need when I need it. Wonderful! I'm strongly tempted to switch my personal email over to Google Apps at this point. The only reason I haven't is that it's kind of annoying to me to have that many Gmail windows open at once :-)

I think our members will really like the Gaia email accounts we'll be offering via Google Apps.  Another very good reason to become a Gaia+ member!