The PLUS (+) feature

2,247 views
Skip to first unread message

Gordon Stewart

unread,
Jun 28, 2004, 8:05:33 PM6/28/04
to gmail...@googlegroups.com
Hi there

Can anyone give examples on how / why they use the + feature in their emails ?

Ive got 28 Labels / Filters now, - & its suiting me fine...

Based on the TO field or the SUBJECT - I can filter perfectly fine

(except the 2 threads merged into one - but thats a Gmail fault - not
my filters)...


Just curious as to what others use it for

--

G Stewart
http://nzocg.kwister.com
New Zealand Online Communities Group

Mark G

unread,
Jun 29, 2004, 12:31:50 AM6/29/04
to gmail...@googlegroups.com
I use the + addressing to use my Gmail as online storage, online
bookmarks repository, and online notes rep.

(messages sent to myname+notes are labeled MY NOTES, and so on.)


--
Mark L. Gamis
University of the Philippines
Visit My Tech Blog on http://indio-geek.blogspot.com

JustKenneth

unread,
Jun 30, 2004, 11:03:00 AM6/30/04
to gmail...@googlegroups.com
Gordon,

I guess the filters are helpful when the recipient knows in advance
something about the emails which they intend to label, i.e., the
sender's email address, subject, whatever.

The + feature, on the other hand, is useful when the recipient can't
necessarily identity in advance the incoming email for labeling but
the sender knows which label ought to be applied to it.

Kenneth


--
Kenneth Ayers
justk...@gmail.com

Adrian Budiman

unread,
Jun 30, 2004, 2:52:48 PM6/30/04
to gmail...@googlegroups.com
Another useful feature is to determine where potential spam is originating from.

For example:
When signing up to a suspicious website, say.. abc.com, we can use
userna...@gmail.com. When we receive spam directed to username+abc,
then we know which site misused our address.

Kendel

unread,
Jun 30, 2004, 3:35:33 PM6/30/04
to gmail...@googlegroups.com
Not to be a total twonk, but where is this + feature detailed? I
check through the Help files and saw squat.

Kendel

unread,
Jun 30, 2004, 3:51:56 PM6/30/04
to gmail...@googlegroups.com
Never mind; I just played with it myself and figured it out.

"Farking Ay!"

/impressed

texas critter

unread,
Jun 30, 2004, 4:16:21 PM6/30/04
to gmail...@googlegroups.com
On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 14:52:48 -0400, Adrian Budiman <bud...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> For example:
> When signing up to a suspicious website, say.. abc.com, we can use
> userna...@gmail.com. When we receive spam directed to username+abc,
> then we know which site misused our address.

Then you can complain to that site and explain that since they spammed
you or sold your address to spammers, you'll never be spending any
money with them or using their site again.

And then you can also create a filter to send all username+abc
directly to the trash which will catch most spam sent to that address.

--
hth,
texas critter

Glenfinnan Web Hosting: http://www.glenfinnan.net/
EL-M FAQ: http://www.emaillist-managers.com/

Domino's Mom

unread,
Jun 30, 2004, 4:55:50 PM6/30/04
to gmail...@googlegroups.com
On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 15:16:21 -0500, texas critter
<texasc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> And then you can also create a filter to send all username+abc
> directly to the trash which will catch most spam sent to that address.
>

Fantastic idea. Man you guys are really thinking. ;)


--
Cheers,
Bev

Adam Lasnik

unread,
Jun 30, 2004, 5:45:13 PM6/30/04
to gmail...@googlegroups.com
You can also separate mail from various social / business groups. For
instance, I can give my swing dance friends the address
myname+s...@gmail.com, and my geek/Webmaster friends
myname+w...@gmail.com.

Frankly, I'd rather that Gmail supported aliases, which would be
considerably more useful and efficient. But in the meantime, plussing
is still cool.

Regards,
Adam
http://www.lasnik.net/

Larry W. Virden

unread,
Jun 30, 2004, 12:34:17 PM6/30/04
to gmail...@googlegroups.com
On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 08:03:00 -0700, JustKenneth
> The + feature, on the other hand, is useful when the recipient can't
> necessarily identity in advance the incoming email for labeling but
> the sender knows which label ought to be applied to it.


I can't get the + to work - the email arrives, but unlabelled.
is there some other trick?

--
Tcl - The glue of a new generation. http://wiki.tcl.tk/
Larry W. Virden http://www.purl.org/net/lvirden/
Even if explicitly stated to the contrary, nothing in this posting
should be construed as representing my employer's opinions.

Larry W. Virden

unread,
Jun 30, 2004, 3:13:20 PM6/30/04
to gmail...@googlegroups.com
My thought was to add +spam to onetime emails - so that anything to
the address was dumped into the spam mailbox right away. Of course,
if you actually want email from the site, then you have to deal with
things a bit differently.

Mark G

unread,
Jul 1, 2004, 1:10:16 AM7/1/04
to gmail...@googlegroups.com
> I can't get the + to work - the email arrives, but unlabelled.
> is there some other trick?
Are you sure you have setup your filters properly? using the +filter
does not automatically label your mail. You have to setup an
appropriate filter for it (e.g. messages sent TO
youname...@gmail.com, apply label BANANA)

Larry W. Virden

unread,
Jul 1, 2004, 4:55:37 AM7/1/04
to gmail...@googlegroups.com
Ah - that is what I was missing! I misread an early mention about it. Sorry!

nm-reverse-...@ii.deflexion.com

unread,
Jul 1, 2004, 6:06:10 AM7/1/04
to Gmail...@googlegroups.com

Larry W. Virden wrote:
> Ah - that is what I was missing! I misread an early mention about
it. Sorry!
>
> On Thu, 1 Jul 2004 13:10:16 +0800, Mark G <emel...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> > > I can't get the + to work - the email arrives, but unlabelled.
> > > is there some other trick?
> > Are you sure you have setup your filters properly? using the
+filter
> > does not automatically label your mail. You have to setup an
> > appropriate filter for it (e.g. messages sent TO
> > youname...@gmail.com, apply label BANANA)


It would be very nice if Gmail users did not need to create a filter
for each plus address that they use. On a number of other systems, for
example FastMail.FM, if a mailbox named foo exists then mail sent to
useri...@fastmail.fm is automatically delivered to userid's foo
mailbox (i.e., no special filter is needed). I've written some about
this on my Procmail Quick Start in this section:

<http://www.ii.com/internet/robots/procmail/qs/#downcasing>
Nancy
Infinite Ink
http://www.ii.com

Apostol Apostolov

unread,
Jul 1, 2004, 7:06:17 AM7/1/04
to Gmail...@googlegroups.com
If there wasn't that requirement, spammers or just people with wicked
sense of humor would have caused Gmail users a hell of trouble with
sending thousands of mail messages to - for example -
gmailuser+Important, gmailuser+NotSpam,
gmailuser+KeepItSecretFromWifey, gmailuser+MakeMoneyFast,
gmailuser+OneTimeOffer, gmailuser+RIAAKnowsWhatYouDidWithKazaa and so
on...

I know you don't want this happening - EVER!

Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages