I really wanted to love Google Tasks. I really did. Having a task manager built in to Google Apps-which I use near religiously would have been beyond convenient. But Google Tasks…well, let’s call a spade a space-Google Tasks sucks.

Enter Gqueues-a feature-packed task manager that is EXACTLY what Google Tasks should have been.

I’m Incredibly Disappointed By Google Tasks Too, Tell Me More About GQueues

The Gqueues Tag Line is: “Lists. Prioritized. Simple. A Full-Featured Task Manager for Your Google Account and Google Apps Account!”

The main principles of Gqueues are right in the name:

• G=Google Integration
• Queues: Ordered task lists.

Digging Deeper: The Components of Gqueues

There are 3 basic components of Gqueues are:

• Categories: Groups of queues
• Queues: Prioritized Lists of Tasks
• Tasks: Well, I think you know what tasks are.

Categories

Categories are groups of queues. Gqueues starts you off with default categories such as “Work” and “Home.” However, you can re-name this Categories to whatever you please. You can also add, delete, and reorder categories. It’s highly customizable-which is excellent-so no matter how your brain groups things you are set.

Queues

Queues are prioritized lists of tasks. Just like with Categories, Gqueues gives you a few defaults that you can easily rename. Also, like categories add, delete, and re-ordering is a snap.

One of my favorite features is the ability to change the color of a queue. I’m in love with color-coding, but few apps seem to share my love. Color-coding enables you to take a quick glance and see what you have to do before you even skim.

A few other nifty queues bonus features include the ability to duplicate queues and adding descriptions.

Smart Queues

Smart Queues filter items based on things like due date or tag. Once again, Gqueues gives you some defaults to get you going, but you can always change them. The default Smart Queues are

• Inbox
• Assignments
• Overdue
• Due Today
• Due in a Week
• All Items

To Add a Smart Queues

1. Click “Add Smart Queue”
2. Name the Smart Queue
3. Select the Criteria You Want to Make Up the Queue

And voila!

There are 2 different kinds of Smart Queues that you can create.

Generic Smart Queues

Generic Smart Queues let you create a Smart Queue based on pretty much whatever criteria you want. Due dates, assigned to yourself or others, from a certain project…you get the idea.

Next Action Smart Queues

For those of you who are more GTD oriented, you can also create a “Next Action Smart Queue” that will include all the top items from every queues, giving you a concrete set of actions to choose from.

You can even sort and group tasks within a smart queues by date, name, or queue order.

The Inbox Queue

The Inbox Queue is essentially a catch-all queue that you can either leave tasks in or  process what’s in it and move it to a more appropriate queue.

By default, any task created through your inbox, Google Calendar, or the Google Reader send-to link shows up here.

Tasks

The most important thing to remember about Gqueues is that your tasks appear in order. The principle behind Gqueues is “The whole concept of a queue is that it is an ordered list, which forces a person to decide the importance of a task compared to the others.” Luckily, Gqueues makes it easy to add and re-order.

Add Tasks

Gqueues allows you to add tasks in a wide variery of ways:

• Right in Gqueues
• By forwarding to a designated email address
• Via Instant Message
• Via Bookmarklet
• Via Google Reader Link
• Via a Google Apps Gmail Contexual Gadget

Re-Ordering Tasks

You can easily move things around in Gqueues through an easy drag-and-drop interface.

You can also re-order tasks quickly by using a designated button and selecting “By Name” or “By Date”

Recurring Tasks

Gqueues allows you to create recurring tasks, however only one instance of a repeating task is in your queue at a time. When you mark a task complete, or delete that instance of the task, the next instance is generated based on the repeating pattern you setup.

Subtasks

Substasks are perfect for when a task has a small number of items that go along with it, but creating a whole seperate queue would be a bit much. Just like with everything else, add, deleting, renaming, and reordering is a cinch. You can even hide sub-tasks so you’re not immediately overwhelmed while doing a quick glance over of your list.

Tagging

You can tag items across multiple queues. Think contexts from GTD, or maybe dividing up by type of task.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Here at SUBERAPPS, we’re really, really, ridiculously big fans of keyboard shortcuts.

And as luck would have it, Gqueues has them!

There’s a complete listing of all shortcuts on the Gqueues site here.

Bookmarket

We’re also big fans of bookmarklets, which Gqueues also offers. Install the bookmarklet, click on it while looking at a web page, and a small Gqueues box pops up that allows you to add a description, any notes, and select a queue.

iGoogle Gadget

Gqueues offers a streamlined iGoogle Gadget that allows you to see overdue and upcoming tasks, along with giving you the ability to quickly check tasks off.

As a bonus, using Gmail and GCal labs, you can add the gadget directly into your Gmail inbox or Google Calendar. We wrote a bit about this yesterday.

Gmail Gadget for Google Apps

If you’re someone who likes to put emails that they have to respond to on a task list, first off-that’s very smart of you. Second off, this gadget can significantly help you streamline that process.

How The Gadget Works

Once you install the gadget, when you open an unread email, there is a button underneath that says Gqueues Create Task.

Once you click the button, a box pops up that lets you choose what Queues the email goes into, the ability to edit the Description (the subject line is the default description),  and you’re even able to add tags, notes, assign it to someone, and/or set a due date. Pretty nifty.

Google Reader Send-To Link

We recently had a post here on SUBERAPPS about “Google Reader’s Send-To Feature: The Underdog of Google gReader Tips”  and then updated it with Gqueues new Send-To-Google Reader Feature.

You can install that Gqueues Gadget for Google Apps here.

Mobile Version

Gqueues offers an iPhone/iPod Touch optimized version instead of a specific app. Just open up Safari, plug Gqueues into the address bar, and you’re good to go. You can also add Gqueues to your homescreen for quick and easy access.

Sign Up

Signing up for Gqueues is as easy as logging into your Google Account. Seriously. That’s it.

If you’re using a Google Apps account you can add Gqueues through the Google Apps Marketplace here. And you can add the Gqueues Google Apps Contextual Email Gadget (well, that’s a mouthful) here.

Pricing

Well, good news and bad news here. Good news is Gqueues IS available for free! YAY! Bad news is most of the features that you would want (think the Google Apps Gmail/Gcal integration and email/text reminders) are paid features. But, good news again! There’s a 30- day free trial to see if you need them. And more good news-it’s a one-time yearly $25 fee. Low enough that you don’t feel horrible shelling out. And for those of us who tend to forget about those pesky $2 charges per month, the ability to just pay a small yearly fee is a nice option.

You can check out a side-by-side comparison of the free vs paid option here.

Overall, if you’re looking for something to replace that sad, sad thing that is Google Tasks that’s incredibly flexible with strong Google Integration-Gqueues is your app.

Other Reviews on Gqueues

• Web.AppStorm: Google Integrated Task Management with Gqueues
• WebWorkerDaily: Gqueues: A To-Do List App that Checks All the Boxes
• Lifehacker: Gqueues Is a Google Oriented Task Manager

GIVEAWAY!

Gqueues was nice enough to offer 2 free paid Gqueues accounts to our readers. We’ll be giving them away. To enter the giveaway, simply RT this post. From there, we’ll be randomly picking a winner next Wednesday, 10/27/2010. Good luck!

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Not that they’re those weird shows that you find on public access or day time TV. Most of them are actually pretty nifty and reliable.

Gmail Lab’s

Here’s a list of Labs that are offered in Gmail in alphabetical order. After the list, I cover some of the labs a bit more in-depth. Ed. Note: This is a COMPLETE list of all the Google Lab options. Meaning it’s long. Feel free to skip ahead to the bottom if you’d rather just see the more in-depth coverage.

Add Any Gadget By URL:

Ever wish you could take advantage of iGoogle Gadgets in your Email Inbox? Maybe put your to-do manager or the Dropbox gadget in there for easy access? This gadget lets you do that!

Advanced IMAP Controls:

Using IMAP? This is an awesome lab feature for you. It allows you to:

• Choose what labels show up in IMAP
• Disable auto-message expunging
• Track messages when their deleted from IMAP

Apps Search:

This is simply amazing if you’re a Google Apps user. Turning on this lab allows you to search not just your Gmail inbox, but also your Google Docs and Google Sites on your domain.

Authentication Icon for Verified Senders:

Ever wish there was a way to tell which eBay and PayPal emails were really from eBay and PayPal. Enter this lab: it displays a key icon from verified senders allowing you to quickly identify valid emails.

Back to BETA:

Alright, I have NO idea why anyone would need this, but if for some reason you are holding a grudge about Gmail leaving Beta and would like to pretend it’s still there, then I guess it’s the lab feature for you.

Canned Responses:

Save common responses and easily send them. You can even automate canned responses for certain filters. We’ll talk about this lab a little more in depth later.

Create a Document

Ever want to create a document once you receive an email? Maybe you were sent meeting notes in an email that you want to turn into a document so you can upload it elsewhere and not have it get lost in Inbox Purgatory. Or you received an assignment and like to immediately create a text document for it. Either way, the Create a Document Lab makes it easy by hitting “g then w.”

Custom Date Formats

This is a simple lab that will appeal to quite a few people. Want to make your time read in military time? Want to set your dates European style? Custom Date Formats has you covered.

Custom Keyboard Shortcuts

This lab adds a setting feature that lets you create custom-mapped keyboard shortcuts! Sooo nifty!

Default “Reply to All”

This lab is pretty self-explanatory-it makes “Reply to All” your default. That can be handy, but make sure that you remember it’s your default!

Default Text Styling

Another pretty self-explanatory lab. This one allows you to easy change and style your default text.

Don’t Forget Bob

Enabling this labs enables Gmail to do a cool thing-you type in some recipents you’re sending the email too and Gmail will generate a list of people who you might want to include based on your emailing habits. Never leave someone out of a group email again!

Extra Emoji

This lab is pretty simple and a bit silly-it creates a larger selection of emoticon options.

Filter Import/Export

This allows for 2 different options:

• Export: Export your filters as a file, save them for backup or share them to help a friend out.
• Import: Import the file of filters, and activate them in Gmail.

We’ll talk more about this lab later on.

Flickr Previews in Gmail

Pretty self-explantory-See a preview of any Flickr pictures sent to you, right in Gmail. This is quite a time saver-especially if you have friends who like to frequently send you photos.

Google Calendar Gadget

Remember how I mentioned being able to add iGoogle Gadgets by URL earlier in the post? Same deal, but it’s automatic and specifically for Google Calendar! This is a super nifty feature for quick reference when you need to quickly get back to someone on a meeting time or project deadline/estimate.

Google Docs Gadget

Just like how you can easily add a Goog,le Calendar Gadget in Gmail, you can also add a Google Docs Gadget that can let you view recent and starred documents, and also includes a quick search bar.

Google Docs Preview

This is quite possibly my favorite Gmail Lab. No, I take that back. It is my favorite Gmail Lab. It allows you to quickly preview documents, spreadsheets, and presentations right in your inbox. It also gives you the option to quickly open the attachment in Google Docs. So handy!

Google Maps Preview in Mail

Another nifty lab-this one scans the email for any addresses listed in the email and shows a Google Map of the location.

Google Search

Ever been writing an email and need to quickly reference something? Yea, me too. Thankfully, the Google Search Lab makes it easy! It displays the Google Search bar right in your email enabling you to find things easily-fast.

Google Voice Player in Mail

If you’re a heavy Google Voice user, this lab is going to be your new best friend. It allows you to play Google Voice voicemails right from the notification email.

Got the Wrong Bob?

Let’s face it, having multiple contacts with the same name is super-common. Ever auto-fill your contact by first name and realize it’s the wrong one? That can be a minor inconvience…or  a big problem. This lab helps to prevent that by asking if you meant to email someone else instead based on frequently used groups of contacts. [Note: Only works if you’re sending the email to 2 or more people]

Green Robot

Not sure whether someone is at the computer or using their phone? The Green Robot lab lets you know! [Note: Only works if the person is using an Android phone.]

Hide Labels From Subjects

Perfect for if you’re working on a netbook with a small screen, the Hide Labels from Subject lab, well, it hides the labels from the subjects.

Hide Read Labels

Love your labels and filters, but hate them cluttering up your email sidebar? Me too! Which is why this is my second favorite lab-it hides any unread labels from view, showing only the labels with unread messages in them.

Hide Unread Counts

I think that heading covered it pretty well.

Inbox Preview

This is a nifty lab that shows you a static preview of your inbox while you’re waiting for Gmail to load.

Inseting Images

This lab allows you to insert images directly into an email either by uploading a file or using a direct URL.

Mail Goggles

Ok, at first glance this email seems really silly, but I’ve actually found it to be useful. The labs actual purpose is to help prevent you from sending drunk emails by making you answer a few math problems in a specified amount of time-you can pick which level of math problems you want to be quizzed on. The default is for Friday and Saturday nights. HOWEVER, I find it helpful to me as a check as to when my designated work hours are over and my personal life hours have begun. I set-up the lab to pop-up during “off-hours” to remind me that I should no longer be working for the day. It’s a helpful work-life balance reminder.

Mark As Read From Here Button

This lab enables you to save a few mouse scrolls (or clicks?) by creating a Mark As Read Button that sits right next to the delete button. Nifty!

Message Sneak Peek

Ever get an email when you’re on your way out somewhere or in the middle of something? You know you won’t have time to respond, but you’ve been waiting on an answer? Message Sneak Peek to the rescue! It allows you to right click on a message and get a “sneak peek” of the email without marking it as read.

Message Translation

This lab is pretty straightforward. Using Google Translate, it allows you to translate emails from one language to another. Pretty nifty for those of you who work with international clients.

Mouse Gestures

Personally, I’m much more of a keyboard navigation person myself, but if you find yourself unable to ditch the mouse, this lab is definitely for you-it allows you to use gestures as control instead of clicking. Unfotunately for Mac users, it works best on Windows.

Multiple Inboxes

Gmail filters are an absolute god-send, but wouldn’t it be awesome if you could view the filters as an inbox in itself? That’s exactly what the person who created Multiple Inboxes was thinking! I’ll go over it a bit more later in the post.

Navbar Drag and Drop

Another self-explanatory-but useful! lab-this one allows you to easy re-order the items in your Gmail Navigation Bar by using Drag-and-Drop.

Nested Labels

Gmail Labels-some people love them, some people miss their folders and folder heirarchy. If you’re the later, you NEED to try Nested Labels.

“Manage your email by sorting it into a hierarchy of labels. Add slashes (/) to label names to express inheritance. For example, if you want a Home label with two child labels named Kids and Shopping, create the three following labels: Home, Home/Kids and Home/Shopping.”

Old Snakey

This is probably the only lab that will DECREASE your productivity instead of increasing it, but if you’re into old school games and have some self-discipline, you might want to check it out. Turn on Gmail keyboard shortcuts, hit the & key, and play an old-school game of Snake right in Gmail.

Picasa Previews in Mail

This is just like the aforementioned Flickr Previews in Gmail, except with PIcasa.

Pictures in Chat

Personally, I think this is pretty useless, but the lab enables you to see people’s picture when you use Google Talk in Gmail.

Quick Links

Quick Links is  a nifty lab that creates a little box in the upper left-hand corner that allows you to bookmark any Gmail URL-such as frequently used searches or important individual messages. Huge time saver.

Quote Selected Text

Refresh POP Accounts

Right-Side Chat

Send and Archive

Sender Time Zone

Signature Tweaks

Super Stars

Text Messaging in Chat and SMS in Chat Gadget

Text Messaging in Chat allows you to, well, send text messages using Google Talk. The SMS in Chat Gadget creates an additional box to make sending text messages in Google Talk even easier.

Title Tweaks

Title Tweaks changes the order of the words in your browser bar, enabling you to see how many messages you have-even when the window is minimized.

For example instead of the browser bar showing “SUBERAPPS Mail – Inbox (5) – hello@suberapps.com” this lab would change it to “Inbox (5) – hello@suberapps.com – SUBERAPPS Mail” Pretty nifty if you need to keep your eye on an important message, but want your inbox to remain out of the way.

Undo Send

Another pretty self-explanatory one, but that doesn’t make it any less awesome. Undo Send lets you undo send if you sent an email and immediately realized that you made a mistake. So handy!

Video Chat Enhancements

Currently, this lab enhances video chat in Google Talk by adding higher resolution and bigger windows. The lab developers mention that there are more features to come!

Yelp Previews in Gmail

Another nifty preview lab-this one allows you to quickly view Yelp listings, including rating, location, and phone number whenever someone emails you a Yelp link.

Feel that Gmail is Missing a Labs Feature?

Google allows you to make Labs Feature Requests here: http://groups.google.com/group/gmail-labs-suggest-a-labs-feature/topics

And Now-A Closer Look at Some of the Gmail Labs

Canned Responses

While Canned Responses might sound like a lazy way out of responding to email, it actually can be quite productive and with the way the lab works, doesn’t have to be a generic automated response.

Instead you can use the poorly-named Canned Responses to create templates for emails.

Once you enable the lab, a clickable link next to “Insert Invitation” is created. You can then click on Canned Responses, click on a template, open it up and edit it. Definitely a time saver.

To create  a Canned Response:

• Click on “Canned Response”
• Click on “New Canned Response”
• Name your Canned Response
• Type what you want your template to be.
• Click on “Canned Response”
• Hit “Save”

And voila! You now have a nice email template that you can easily modify and use without having to retype the same things over and over.

AND…yes, I’m going Billy Mays style…THERE’S MORE:

You can set up Canned Responses to respond to certain Gmail Filters. Amazing.

For More on “Canned Response:”

• Make Use Of: Save Time with Gmail Email Templates Using “Canned Responses”
• WebWorkerDaily: 3 Handy Uses for Gmail’s Canned Response Feature

Import/Export Filters

Gmail filters are hands down one of Google’s best features. I swear by them.

What if you have a new Gmail account and want to migrate over some common filters? Or want to show a less-tech savvy friend how awesome filters are by a demonstration? Well, you COULD individually add each one yourself. OR you could skip the headache and enable the Gmail Import/Export Filters lab.

Once you turn on the lab, there will be a new “Import Filter” button next to “Create Filter” in the filters section of Settings.

Next to the delete button, you’ll have an export button. Simple and awesome.

More Information on Gmail Filters:

• Lifehacker: Import and Export Your Gmail Filters
• Lifehacker: 10 Must Have Gmail Filters Available for Download
• Lifehacker: Set Up Multiple Gmail Filters By Editing and XML File
• Matt Thommes: Maintaining Gmail Filters with XML

Multiple Inboxes

Multiple inboxes is a really awesome feature. The problem with quickly clearing out your inbox is, well, things got set aside to be looked at or taken care of later…then later never comes. Out of site-out of mind.

Multiple inboxes easily solves that problem by allowing you to create different inbox panes and letting you get creative with the types of panes.

For example?

• A big fan of starring emails that require a later action? Set up a pane is:starred
• Have a tendency to forget about those emails that you’re waiting for a response on? Set up a pane label:waiting
• Those nifty newsletters that you plan on reading later? Set up a pane label:toread
• Want all your client emails in one place? Set up a pane label:clients

The possibilities are just about endless!

Do you have multiple email accounts all going to one central account? A great idea is to enable the Multiple Inboxes lab and then make individual panes for each account. It keeps things tidy and is a great way to manage multiple accounts.

More on Multiple Inboxes

• WebWorkerDaily: WWD Screencast: Gmail Labs Multiple Inboxes
• WebWorkerDaily: Increase Productivity with Gmail Multiple Inboxes
• Lifehacker: Gmail Labs Adds Multiple Inboxes
• The Gmail Blog: Tip: Manage Several Email Accounts with Multiple Inboxes

Looking for More Information on Gmail Labs?

Check out these helpful posts:

• WorkAwesome: 5 Incredibly Useful Gmail Features
• Web.AppStorm: Become a Gmail Power User with These Lab Features
• Lifehacker Tag: #gmaillabs
• WebWorkerDaily: Tag: Gmail
• MakeUseOf: Tag: Google Labs

Have a favorite Gmail Lab tip? Want to gush about how a particular Gmail Lab changed your work-life? Let us know in the comments!

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As a web designer, I spend a large amount of time on the internet, using lots of web apps like Freshbooks, to send and track estimates and invoices to my clients, SQL Buddy, a much more beautiful alternative to PHPmyAdmin which I have installed on my own hosting server to manage mySQL databases, Google Reader, to keep myself up to date with my favourite news, and the list goes on.

If you’re like me, you will wish that the developers have built the web apps native for Mac OS X, so that your browser won’t be cluttered with too many tabs. I’m not saying that by turning all your web apps into desktop apps won’t clutter up your dock, but at least resource hungry web apps that are AJAX or Flash driven (eg. Picnik or Photoshop Express) won’t consume too much memory for your browser’s liking.

Meet Fluid (Free)

Fluid not only convert your frequently used web apps into desktop apps, or Site Specific Browsers (SSBs), it also does a little more. Take Google Reader or Gmail for example, you’ll be able to see unread counts as a dock badge on your dock icon like this (also applies to Gmail):

If you use Twitter, you can even turn Hahlo.com (a Twitter web app client optimized for iPhone) into a menu item, complete with Growl notifications, watch the video below to see how to do that.

Here’s a couple of web apps I have converted into a Mac OS X native desktop application:

Google Reader

mySQL Database – SQL Buddy

Freshbooks

The possibilities are endless. For instance, I like to manage mySQL databases as a standalone application so that I can put it on my other screen without needing to switch to my browser to manage a database during a development process. If you don’t have dual monitors, switching to a web app is only a matter of Cmd+TAB.

Coupled with QuickSilver, Launchbar or any other application launchers, it’s even easier to launch your frequently used web apps quickly, avid app launcher users will know what I mean.

How does the app work?

Converting a web app into a Mac app is easy, launch Fluid and you’ll be greeted by a user friendly window. Enter the URL of the web app you’re converting, the name of the app, and choose between using the website’s favicon as a dock icon (not recommended as your icon will be blurry), or choose your own icon (highly recommended). If you have an image file eg. png, jpg, gif, bmp, but not sure how to convert it into a Mac icon, go here, or if you don’t mind paying for a native Mac OS X icon convertor, here’s a good looking and functional one.

It’s that easy, the following are more videos to learn more about Fluid (the TinyURL feature is really handy):

The Fluid Thumbnail Plug-in:

Fluid TinyURL Features:

Enjoy!

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