Gmail as a scrapbook of the internet.

Gmail as a scrapbook of the internet.

Ever found a great article on a subject that you want to save complete with
pictures. And you want to save it for the long term. You can build your own
personal library with Gmail and the Google toolbar.

Yes a toolbar. The Google toolbar has many uses, but to keep it simple we'll
focus on one feature. A feature powerful thing that sometimes gets lost in
the jungle of options. So here it goes.

Optional

If you don't like the Google Toolbar and want to end up with a clean
interface follow the following steps:
The following example of course deals with Firefox, like most of my
articles.

1. Install the Google Toolbar. Click on View Menu | Toolbars | Customize
2. Instead of using the Customize Toolbar dialog, direct your attention to the Google Toolbar and locate the "send to" icon
3. Drag this icon to be a part of your links Toolbar.
4. Then close the dialog. Click on View Menu | Toolbars and uncheck the
5. Google Toolbar.

Now you have a clean system again with the exception of the new send to icon.

Usage

Now when you see anything on any webpage you want to save.

1. Highlight and click the icon.
2. Select Gmail.
3. Put your email address.
4. Click send

That is it. You can also skip the highlight and simply click on the "send
to" icon and send the whole page. Now you have a permanent copy in your
massive Gmail account quickly searchable for your convenience.

You can also skip the highlight and simply click on the "send to" icon and
send the whole page.

Advanced (optional)

What I do is create a filter which activates any time an email contains
aStar or astar. It then archives, labels it as an "a Article" and adds a
star to it. Reason for "a" is a strategy I use to sort labels not only
alphabetically, but also by attention priority. My top labels have an "a" in
front with a space. When I'm done reading the article I take off the star.
Using letter prefixes is more convenient on an iPhone than having to switch
keyboards for special characters.

Convenience

You can archive more than just the Internet this way. You can email yourself
pictures you take on the road business cards and the like. Just tag them as
you email them. Not only with the "astar" operator but with key words such
as "John Smith Business card." If you forget to tag, reply to that picture
with the key words as body or subject. That will create a conversation which
is searchable.