Sams Teach Yourself Google+ in 10 Minutes

Patrice-Anne Rutledge is a business technology author and journalist specializing in social media, online applications, and small business technology. Her other books include Sams Teach Yourself LinkedIn in 10 Minutes, Using LinkedIn, Using Facebook, and The Truth About Profiting from Social Networking, all from Pearson. Through Rutledge Communications, she also offers writing and editing services to businesses and nonprofits worldwide. You can reach Patrice through her website at www.patricerutledge.com.

Introduction     1

1 Introducing Google+     3

Exploring Google+     3

Signing Up for Google+     5

Signing In to Google+     12

Navigating Google+     13

Accessing Popular Google+ Features     14

Getting Help     15

Sending Feedback     16

Summary     17

2 Working with Google+ Profiles     19

Understanding Google+ Profiles     19

Adding a Profile Cover Photo     21

Adding a Single Cover Photo     21

Adding a Photo Scrapbook to Your Profile     23

Deleting a Photo     25

Changing Your Profile Photo     26

Editing Your Name     26

Editing Your Profile’s About Tab     27

Specifying Profile Privacy by Section     30

Adding Links on Your Google+ Profile     32

Specifying Your Contact Settings     36

Specifying the People to Display on Your Profile     37

Viewing Your Profile as Others See It     39

Adding a Google+ Profile Button to Your Website     40

Summary     40

3 Creating a Google+ Page for Your Business     41

Understanding Google+ Pages Versus Google+ Profiles     41

Creating a Google+ Page     42

Using Google+ as a Page     48

Managing Your Google+ Page Settings     49

Specifying Who Can Interact with You and Your Posts     50

Specifying Your Notification Delivery Preferences     50

Managing Your Email Subscriptions     50

Specifying Notification Preferences     50

Customizing Your Circles     51

Managing Photo Settings     51

Deleting a Google+ Page     51

Adding Google+ Page Managers     52

Removing a Google+ Manager     53

Transferring Ownership of a Google+ Page     54

Summary     55

4 Managing Your Network with Circles     57

Understanding Google+ Circles     57

Creating New Circles     59

Adding People to Circles     60

Adding People to Circles from the Find People Tab     61

Adding Your Email Contacts     63

Adding People and Pages that Google+ Suggests     66

Adding People from the Notifications Menu     66

Adding People from Their Google+ Profile     68

Managing Circles     69

Viewing People in Your Circles     69

Viewing People Who Added You to Their Circles     69

Moving People from One Circle to Another     70

Removing People from Circles     71

Editing a Circle’s Name and Description     71

Deleting a Circle     72

Sharing a Circle     72

Summary      74

5 Managing Google+ Settings and Privacy     75

Understanding Google+ Privacy     75

Managing Your Google Account Settings     75

Deleting Your Google+ Profile     77

Deleting Your Google Account     78

Managing Your Security     79

Managing Your Privacy Settings     80

Managing Privacy Settings for Your Google+ Profile     81

Managing Google+ Sharing     81

Managing Other Google+ Privacy Options     82

Managing Google+ Settings     83

Specifying Who Can Interact with You and Your Posts     83

Setting Notification Delivery Preferences     84

Managing Email Subscriptions     84

Specifying Notification Preferences     85

Enabling +1 Personalization     86

Adding Google+ Pages to Your Circles     86

Displaying Content About Google+ Games     87

Customizing Your Circles     87

Managing Google+ Photo Settings     87

Managing Your Products     87

Specifying Your Preferred Languages     88

Backing Up Your Data     89

Summary     91

6 Sharing Content on Google+     93

Using the Share Box     . 93

Formatting Your Posts     98

Mentioning Other People in Your Posts     99

Sharing Photos     100

Sharing Videos     103

Sharing Links     105

Summary     107

7 Viewing Your Google+ Stream     109

Exploring Your Stream     109

Accessing Your Stream     110

Viewing a Sample Post     110

Filtering Your Stream     113

Participating in the Stream     114

Liking a Post Using the +1 Button     114

Commenting on Posts     116

Sharing Posts     117

Managing Your Posts in the Stream     120

Editing a Post     121

Deleting a Post     122

Disabling Comments     122

Locking a Post     123

Reporting or Deleting Comments     123

Managing Your Circles’ Posts in the Stream     125

Linking to a Post     125

Reporting Abuse     126

Muting a Post     127

Viewing the Explore Page     128

Summary     129

8 Searching on Google+     131

Searching Google+ Content     131

Filtering Google+ Search Results     133

Saving a Google+ Search     133

Summary     134

9 Viewing and Managing Notifications    135

Understanding Google+ Notifications     135

Viewing Your Notifications on Google+     136

Viewing the Notifications Page     139

Receiving Notifications via Email and Text Message     140

Specifying Who Can Send You Notifications     141

Summary     141

10 Working with Photos     143

Exploring Google+ Photo Options     143

Uploading Photos to Google+     143

Exploring the Photos Page     144

Creating and Managing Photo Albums     145

Creating a Photo Album     146

Viewing Your Photo Albums     147

Sharing an Album     148

Updating Album Sharing Settings     150

Organizing an Album     151

Deleting an Album     152

Adding Photos to an Existing Album     153

Working in the Photo Lightbox     154

Exploring the Lightbox     155

Tagging Photos     156

Editing Photos Using Creative Kit     161

Summary     162

11 Chatting on Google+     163

Understanding Google+ Chat     163

Exploring the Chat List     163

Specifying Your Chat Availability     164

Specifying Your Chat Privacy Settings     165

Chatting on Google+     166

Participating in a Chat     166

Sending a File     169

Using Voice and Video Chat     170

Chatting Off the Record     174

Signing Out of Chat     176

Summary     176

12 Using Hangouts for Video Chat     177

Understanding Hangouts     177

Preparing to Use Hangouts     177

Viewing the Hangouts Page     178

Starting a Hangout     178

Inviting People to a Hangout     184

Joining a Hangout      184

Adding Group Text Chat to a Hangout     186

Adding Apps to Your Hangouts     188

Using Screenshare During a Hangout     188

Adding YouTube Video to Your Hangout     189

Applying Google Effects to Your Hangout     191

Using Google Docs During a Hangout     191

Adding Other Apps     191

Muting During a Hangout     191

Ending a Hangout     192

Summary     192

13 Playing Games     193

Exploring Google+ Games     193

Playing a Game     193

Summary     198

14 Using Google+ Mobile     199

Exploring Google+ Mobile     199

Using the Google+ Android App     200

Using the Google+ iPhone App     201

Using the Google+ Mobile Web App     203

Using the Google+ Mobile Basic Web App     203

Summary     204

Index     205