Andrew Maxwell

How I Buzz

May 15, 2010

I have been asked by a few people how I use Buzz. I created this document so that people can reference and use it to help them with Buzz. Below you will find screenshots and methods that I use to help me with Buzz. All important items are highlighted in red.

Global Hotkeys and Misc shortcuts

  • Home = Takes me to the beginning of the line in a new post or comment
  • End = Takes me to the end of the line in a new post or comment
  • Up Arrow = Scrolls up through the page
  • Down Arrow = Scrolls down through the page
  • F5 – Refresh the page
  • Ctrl + F5 = Hard Refresh
  • Click the “Buzz” Link to clear all un-read items
  • Midle Mouse Button (MMB) = Opens a link into a new tab
  • Ctrl + Left Mouse Button (LMB) = Opens a link into a new tab

Built In Gmail Hotkeys using Gmail Labs Feature

  • / = Takes me to the top of the page
  • / = Takes me to the search box so that I can quickly do a search
  • M = Mutes a Post
  • Shift + L = Likes a post
  • J = Goes to the previous Post
  • K = Goes to the next post
  • R = Replys to a post
  • ? = Lists all of the hotkeys for Gmail and Buzz
  • F = Allows me to send a post to my Evernote so that I can either read it later, save it because I find it important

HotKeys using Shortcut Manager

  • Ctrl + Alt + b = create a new tab in my browser which takes me directly to Buzz

Image Map for all Hot Keys on the Keyboard

Gestures using Chrome Gestures

  • Up = Goes to the top of the page
  • Down = Create a new tab
  • Left = Last page (back browser button)
  • Right = Next page (next browser button)

Quick Links using Gmail Labs Feature

  1. author:Andrew Maxwell
  2. is:buzz
  3. @Andrew Maxwell
  4. commentor:Andrew Maxwell
  5. “Andrew Maxwell”

Filtering my Buzz posts – This idea was from Marc Thomas)

  • Step 1: Look for the subject “Buzz:” (include the quotes)
  • Step 2. Have it skip the inbox (this helps if you have a phone that uses push notifcation)
  • Step 3. Apple a new label “Buzzz” (This must have 3 Z’s because you can not use “Buzz”)
  • Step 4. Make sure you check the box to “Never send it to spam” (This eliminates any chances of missing a post)

My Filter Settings

Buzz in your Inbox

  1. Once I like a Buzz post that I was on it will get sent to my gmail Label “Buzzz” and if I want to come back to it again I will Star the item
  2. This lets me see if someone has commented after me in a post, sometimes they will mention my name with out @ replying properly
  3. This lets me see comments that people have created on my posts, even old posts that I haven’t seen for days or weeks

Organizing my Buzz Contacts

  1. Create a group called “Buzz” in your contacts
  2. Every time you follow a new person, go into your contacts, find their name
  3. Add the users email address
  4. Click save
  5. Add them to the group “Buzz”

How to @reply someone properly who is not in your contacts (Choice 1)

  1. Right click on a users name in a post or comment
  2. Copy Link address
  3. Type the ‘@’ symbol in a new post or comment
  4. Right click right after the @ symbol and paste in the copied URL
  5. Remove “http://www.google.com/profiles/” from the beginning of the pasted content
  6. Remove “#buzz” from the ending of the pasted comment
  7. Add “@gmail.com” right after the users, username
  8. Your done!

How to @reply someone properly who is not in your contacts (Choice 2)

  1. Midle Mouse Button (MMB) or Ctrl + Left Mouse Button (LMB) on a users name to open a link to their profile into a new tab
  2. Copy username from URL string
  3. Type the ‘@’ symbol in a new post or comment
  4. Paste user name right after the @ symbol
  5. Add “@gmail.com” right after the users, username
  6. Your done!

Sending a private message the easy way

  1. Create a new group in your contacts called “Private Buzz”
  2. Now add yourself only to that group

Now when you want to create a private post to someone you just include the “Private Buzz” group and then @ reply to them like you normally would. (This idea was from Michelle Marie)

Links in Evernote of people that I interact with the most

Sharing from Google Reader

  1. Click on your “Sharing Settings” located in the “People you follow” section on the left
  2. If you setup your contacts using the “Buzz” group as previously mentioned then this will be easy. Click the check box labeled “Buzz”
  3. When you read an article that you like, click the share button at the bottom left of the article
  4. If you want to add a comment to this article, then add it right after clicking the “Share” button. A new link will pop up called “Add Comment”. Click the link and it will create a comment on this share into Buzz.

Using Buzz to have people comment on my blog articles

  1. Go to your Buzz settings located in your Gmail settings. (A screen shot of mine is below)
  2. Go down to the “Your connect sites:” section
  3. Click on “View and Edit”
  4. If your profile has properly recognized your blog, then it will show it as an option to be added
  5. Click on the link at the button that says “Add”
  6. Done! Now when you post a new article to your blog, it will automatically post into Buzz

Here are Buzz related articles that I have written about since the launch of Buzz:

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