5 Chrome Extensions That Work Beautifully in RockMelt

If you're not familiar with RockMelt, it's a a web browser that focuses on social sharing, Facebook chat and RSS feeds. It's built on Chromium, so it has the speed of Google Chrome along with most of the design. While some of Chrome's extensions do not quite work properly on RockMelt, there are others that work beautifully. I know some people who decided not to use RockMelt because it's lack of compatibility with extensions, but with new updates happening every week RockMelt is quickly improving and worth using.

I actually prefer the way RockMelts handles extensions over Google Chrome's method. While Chrome puts extension icons beside the search bar and does not give you the ability to remove icons or move them around, RockMelt does allowing rearranging and removal of icons. Also, RockMelts places their icons in right sidebar, so your search bar and address bar do not have to suffer (get smaller and smaller) with each new addition of an extension.

By the way, the right sidebar is also where RSS feeds and your Facebook and Twitter timelines are placed (as you can see from the image to the right). So now that you're more familiar with RockMelt, here are 5 extensions that you're sure to enjoy.

FeedSquares

This is one of my favorite extensions in Chrome, so I'm glad it also works in RockMelt. Basically, FeedSquares makes Google reader more enjoyable and makes your feeds pretty to look at. RSS items are presented as squares on a wall and then you can click on one to open in the story in the center of the screen over your wall. (link)

Gmail Checker Plus

If you're someone that keeps a browser tab open with Gmail 24/7 (like me) then this extension will come in handy! Within the preview window you can mark messages as read, delete messages, mark messages as spam, archive items and more. Desktop notifications are also available. (link)

Diigo

I love being able to bookmark, highlight and add notes anywhere on the web with Diigo. This little extension really comes in handy when reading articles. You can highlight the things that really interest you and save them to your Diigo library. The web highlighter toolbar can be moved around anywhere on the page as well. (link)

TooManyTabs

"A must-have extension that manages your tabs, reduces your tab overflow, and saves your sanity." TooManyTabs allows you to "suspend" tabs in order to save memory and clear out your browser tabs. There are also other features like tab sorting and searching. It's nice to be able to put the tabs you're not using on hold until later. (link)

Clip to Evernote

As you probably already know, with Evernote you can save full pages and clip content and then save them to your Evernote notebook(s). It also allows you to enable a feature where you can search through your Evernote notebook(s) whenever you search Google; the results will show at the top of your Google results. (link)

FYI: If you're wondering how to manage your extensions (RockMelt does not make it readily available), you'll need to go to chrome://extensions/ in your browser. Also remember that you can drag and drop icons or right click to totally remove them from the sidebar!

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Take Control of Your Inbox and Get Organized with Taskforce

As I’ve mentioned before, my Gmail account is horrific. It seems like something so simple as keeping it organized has become a huge chore. In an attempt to redeem myself, I signed up to receive an invite to Taskforce. So far, I have been using the service for about a week and it has really come in handy. So now I’m sure you’re wondering, what is Taskforce?

Well it’s a little drag-able widget that

“integrates into your existing workflow; allowing you to assign tasks collaboratively, and eliminate email overflow. You can write comments, attach files and prioritize tasks.”

Taskforce is installed via a browser extension (Chrome, Firefox or Safari) and can be used with Google Mail or Google Apps for your domain. It splits your emails into three logical components: Action, Information and Broadcast. Any email message can be converted into a task and you can even set  a 2-day reminder for it.

A nice feature that Taskforce adds is the ability to collaborate with friends and coworkers. This is because tasks can be shared and you can also add comments to them. This is great for eliminating even more email because you shouldn’t need to do CC’s or BCC’s as often — and no more replying back and forth via email, just use Taskforce comments for that.

Action (New)

I’m still not 100% sure of how this area works. Tasks just seemed to appear here magically. I did notice that you can add items in this section to your current tasks just by clicking on it. You can also invite users and add comments to these items.

Information (Current)

Here you can see current tasks. This is just a speculation but I think that all new tasks are added here, and if you set a reminder for the task, it then gets moved to “new” in 2 days so that you know it’s important. Items here can be rearranged by just dragging and dropping. Checking off an item will remove it from the list. Clicking on a task will let you see more info, invite other users, add comments, open the related email, edit and archive the task.

Broadcast (Activity)

The activity feed adds your own personal social timeline to your inbox. All broadcast emails (notifications, updates, messages) from sites like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, LinkedIn and more will be placed here and archived in your inbox. Emails in which you’re CC’d can also be placed here if you choose. This helps to clear up your inbox of all those (sometimes annoying) social networking notifications.

You will have to set this up by creating a Gmail filter and then forwarding your messages to an email specified by Taskforce. They will give you step-by-step directions for this once you get your invite.

Taskforce also has mobile access. You can use their mobile site to view, add and manage your tasks as well as add comments. Plus you’ll also be able to view your activity feed.

I find Taskforce a lot easier to use than other tools out there for organizing your inbox. I like how it removes all the annoying social networking notifications and turns them into a mini-timeline right in your inbox.

I don’t like how the items are handled once clicked though. When you click on an item in the activity stream, it takes you to the email message and then you have to click to open it. I kind of wish that it could open it up within the widget. Besides that, I’m finding Taskforce very useful and definitely think it’s a keeper.

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Organize Gmail and Keep it Under Control with ActiveInbox

When it comes to organizing my Gmail inbox, I fail horribly. Though I do use a service called OtherInbox to organize my messages, it still does not stop me from letting my messages pile up for days, even weeks. Right now I feel like there’s no hope for it, so I was pretty excited to come across ActiveInbox. It claims to “help you clean out your inbox, build stronger relationships, get work done faster and to never let you forget an important email.” I am currently using it with the Google Chrome browser, but it can also be used with Firefox. You simply need to install a plugin to get it working.

So, ActiveInbox “creates Status labels in Gmail that help you turn emails into tasks.” The labels that you can choose from (to begin with) are pictured below. You will be able to add or remove labels once you finish setting it up.

Once installed. You will have a new widget on the left sidebar of Gmail. There will also be more option menus (pictured below) for each email message. You will be able to choose a status and category, plus archive any email that you’re done with.

The status corresponds with the labels you picked (pictured above). Emails with a status will then be added to the “To Do” tab in your sidebar. The category menu lets you add the message to your any labels that you’ve already created within Gmail

With the ability to add statuses to your emails, you can quickly go through all of them, label them and have them out of your actual inbox. You can then access them from the “To Do” section whenever you have the chance.

As far as the other sections, I’ll briefly describe them below.

• Projects: “Group emails into projects and sub-projects to make them easy to retrieve and to respond to the continuous demands of your day.”
• Contexts: View emails that require an action (such as call, respond, chat). You can create context labels and apply them to emails.
• References: “Reference labels identify an email as a type of resource for easier retrieval.”
• Old: Move old labels that are no longer used here.
• Labels: This is where you can view any Gmail labels that you’ve created.

Each label that you click on, in any of the areas, will open up all emails with just that label.

There’s really no way I can go into every detail about ActiveInbox; it really has a lot of features and is a bit complex. Honestly, I find it pretty confusing and overwhelming. If you’re a busy person like me, you may not have the time to even deal with ActiveInbox.

I’m sure you could achieve what they’re doing by simply using the Gmail label system, and it will be less confusing. Plus there is also the OtherInbox Organizer, which I currently use and feel does a better job of organizing your inbox — and don’t forget about Gmail’s new priority inbox feature.

There are currently two types of account: ActiveInbox Free and ActiveInbox Plus. The paid account is currently $24.95/year (was $49.95). Not sure how long this sale will last but you may want to act now if this is something that you think is beneficial. You can see the differences between the two types of accounts here.

To learn more, check out their Getting Started Guide.

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