Google__ The Missing Manual - Kevin Purdy [3]
About This Book
YOU MIGHT HAVE ALREADY heard that Google+ gives you better control over your social networking, but what does that mean, exactly? And where does Google+ fit into your life if you’re already using Facebook, and maybe Twitter, too? And how can you use Google+ on your cellphone, tablet, or other web-friendly device?
This book explains all those things and more. You’ll get a smooth introduction to Google+, one that won’t leave you looking like you’ve just learned how to use your mouse. You’ll learn what you can do with the site—and how to do it better. This book explores and explains the much-touted features of Google+, and covers details and perks that make the site so appealing to fiddlers (like your humble author). And you’ll get a firm sense of how your public profile is used on Google+ and learn ways to protect your privacy.
This book is aimed at people of all skill levels. Don’t have a Google account? No problem—this book walks you through getting one, and explains how Google+ connects with other Google services you might like. Already rocking out on the Web, but want to understand how Google+ fits into your web existence? This book makes the case for using the site and gives you the know-how to use it well, but also outlines its limitations.
NOTE
Most of the screenshots in this book were taken on a Windows computer running Chrome, the free web browser from Google. (You can learn more about Chrome at www.google.com/chrome.) And unless otherwise specified, most of the images of cellphone screens were taken on a phone running Android (http://tinyurl.com/gpdroid), version 2.3 (a.k.a. Gingerbread), also from Google. So if you use a Mac, a different browser, or a different type of phone, don’t be alarmed if what you see on your screen doesn’t exactly match the images you see in the following pages. You should still be able to follow the instructions in this book; any major differences between, say, Android and iPhone are noted in the text.
The Very Basics
TO USE THIS BOOK (and Google+), you need to know a few basics. This book assumes that you’re familiar with a few terms and concepts:
Clicking. This book includes instructions that require you to use your computer’s mouse or trackpad. To click means to point your cursor (the arrow pointer) at something on the screen and then—without moving the cursor at all—press and release the left button on the mouse (or laptop trackpad). To right-click means the same thing, but pressing the right mouse button instead. (Usually, clicking selects an onscreen element or presses an onscreen button, whereas right-clicking typically reveals a shortcut menu, which lists some common tasks specific to whatever you’re right-clicking.) To double-click, of course, means to click twice in rapid succession, again without moving the pointer at all. And to drag means to move the cursor while holding down the (left) mouse button the entire time.
When you’re told to Shift-click something, you click while pressing the Shift key. Related procedures, like Ctrl-clicking, work the same way—just click while pressing the corresponding key.
Keyboard shortcuts. Nothing is faster than keeping your fingers on your keyboard to enter data, choose names, trigger commands, and so on—without losing time by grabbing the mouse, carefully positioning it, and then choosing a command or list entry. That’s why many experienced Google fans prefer to trigger commands by pressing combinations of keys on the keyboard. For example, in most word processors, you can press Ctrl+B to produce a boldface word. In this book, when you read an instruction like “Press Ctrl+C to copy the text,” start by pressing the Ctrl key; while it’s down, type the letter C; and then release both keys.
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