addressing mail

[harr...@gmail.com]

It is a total mystery to me as to how to populate my to, cc and bcc
fields with addresses from my contact list, for both emails and
forwarding emails. I assume without much faith that a simple answer
exists since Google doesn't provide the information in its guide or
help files. I would appreciate help since I'm tired of manually typing
addresses in.

[asphyx]

just start typing the first letters of you contact name, and a box will appair to show you all possible names you can choose by clicking

2006/4/25, harr...@gmail.com <harr...@gmail.com>:

http://asphyx0r.deviantart.com
http://www.coolminiornot.com/browse/submitter/asphyx

-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.12
GCS d-- s+:++ a-- C++++ UL++ P++ L++ E---- W++ N+++ o-- K---- w++
O- M+ V-- PS+++ PE++ Y+ PGP+ t+ 5+ X+++ R+++ tv+ b+ DI- D++
G e+ h! r++ y*
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

[Fuzzy Logic]

Did you try the FAQ? I searched for "addresses" and found a good bit of info.

https://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=6583&query=addresses&topic=0&type=f

Fuzzy

[Zimmerman Harry]

Thank you.  Not a model of clarity.  After years on yahoo, it made no sense to me when I read it.

[Wingz¹²¾]

GMail doesn't have a drop-down 'address book' on 'contacts list' like
Yahoo!Mail or Hotmail etc. So you need to use a simple fix to allow you
to do just that.

Open the links 'Contacts' and 'All Contacts'. Now mouse-over your first
contact, and go to 'Contact details' and 'edit contact information'.
Prefix the name with a symbol, say * or +, and save. Do this for EACH
of your contacts. You may also use different symbols for different
categories, e.g * for work-related contacts, + for family, ~ for
friends, $ for bankers, etc.

Now, in any of the fields (To:, Cc:, Bcc:) if you just enter that
particular symbol, you'll get the complete list of the contacts
prefixed with that symbol, and you can choose whoever you want. Voilá!
But it's NOT a very user-friendly way, I agree, but it's the best under
the circumstances.

People say that all these are 'coz Google is in Beta. I'm eagerly
awaiting the Google Gamma for many more profound improvements ... like
the ability to choose my addressees as I think of them! Maybe even to
write my mails for me. It mostly does everything else with flair!
-----------

[Wingz¹²¾]

Apart from my previous reply about selectable addressee list while
composing/forwarding, you could also perhaps consider clubbing your
contacts in 'Groups', and then using each of your 'Groups' in the
different fields 'To:', 'Cc:', or 'Bcc:' as required. This is ok if you
have nearly the same groups you send messages To, Cc, or Bcc to.
----------

[Nick Chirchirillo]

What you are suggesting is taking advantage of Gmail's autocomplete feature.  All you have to do is start typing the contact's email address, and that list will appear that you are talking about.  This will allow you to add contacts to your message as you think of it.  I don't think that Google will do anything else to this, as it works perfectly and once people realize how to do it, they like it better than yahoo's and hotmail's way of adding contacts.

--
nickman55.googlepages.com
-----
Fight back spam! Download the Blue Frog.
http://www.bluesecurity.com/register/s?user=bmlja21hbjU1

[Dave]

Also, you can compose a message to multiple people by selecting the
checkbox next to each contact on the contacts page and clicking the
Compose button at the top.

[Wingz¹²¾]

Yes, true ... but this can ONLY be done for a new mail; not while
'replying' or 'forwarding'. The only way it fits all circumstances is
to 'customize' your 'Contacts' using suitable prefixes, and then using
those prefixes to 'autocomplete' your addresses.

It's still a little of a pain, though. Suppose you need to mail 50
people out of 100 in your Contacts list in various fields (To/Cc/Bcc),
not only do you need to prefix that symbol 50 times (i.e. 100 key
presses, assuming Shift + SymbolKey), but additionally, there will be
at least 50 more Tabs, plus minimum 50x51/2 or 1275 'down' key presses
(even if those 50 names were the first 50 on that 100-odd list! That's
1425+ key presses ... a pretty HIGH figure by ANY standards.! And
that's just for a single mail!

If GMail allows us to 'ControlKey+Select' multiple options from that
'autocomplete' list, then, perhaps, it would be more manageable. I DID
use that prefix-autocomplete method first, but with now more than 25-30
contacts, I find it easier to bunch them in Groups of about 10 each,
and then include a Group and delete whoever I dont need. That takes
time too, but it's much quicker than using the autocomplete.

However, I hope that you have realized that adding this difficulty in
adding multiple addresses is a GREAT feature for stymieing SPAMMERS
though!
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