More Chrome Addons That Make Google + Better
Posted on 04. Aug, 2011 by Nicholas Greene in Chrome, Features
It’s no surprise that as Google’s social networking site gets more and more popular, more and more developers are taking notice of it. As a result, there seem to be more Chrome apps and extensions centered around G + with each passing day. Apps designed to bring the Google + experience into the larger environment of Chrome. Apps designed to improve upon what you can do with G+, and how you can do it. I’ve already shown you Six extensions guaranteed to make the G+ experience better (well, five…Sorry about that, by the way), and even then, I only scratched the surface. There’s much more to come- and with new apps and extensions releasing every day, you can bet money that there’ll always be some new feature or function for Google’s runaway social networking website.
Here, for your browsing pleasure, are five more applications and extensions that’ll make a brilliant experience even better.
Extended Share for Google Plus
If you’re like me, and tend to share links and posts on a wide variety of social networking sites, an extension like this is a godsend. Basically, it adds a “share on…” link to each item shared by your Google+ Contacts. Click on this link, and it’ll let you share the item on Facebook, Twitter, Linkdin or Tumblr- or all four, if you so desire. Once you’ve installed it and selected the website you want to share on; you’re good to go. Pretty simple to use, and despite what some of the user reviews on the app have said, I’ve had no problem with the functionality of this one.
G + Extended
This extension adds a number of rather useful keyboard shortcuts (not to be confused with the Google + Commander Userscript, which adds a number of “ctrl” based user commands to G +- that one’s a bit more ‘geek-oriented’ than this one). Basically, this is one of those extensions designed to make things easier. With G + Extended, you’ll gain access to the following keyboard ‘shortcuts’ when a post in your stream has focus (basically, click anywhere in the post, or use “j” or “k” to navigate through your posts):
- “+” Will +1 a post
- “-” Will remove your +1 on a post
- “p” will toggle your “+1″ on a post
- “s” will share a post”
- “e” will expand the comments thread so you can view older comments
From the looks of things, the developer is currently looking to expand the library of shortcuts, and is asking for user input/commentary on what they feel would be a useful addition to the extension. If you’ve got an idea as to what could be added; swing by the page(linked above) and leave a comment.
Photo Zoom
This is one of those extensions that fits under the “elegantly simple, but inarguably useful” category. Here’s the scenario- for whatever reason; a photo you’re seeing in your Google + stream is too small for your tastes. Maybe you’re trying to view a photo that one of your contacts shared, or simply get a closer look at their profile picture without having to go to their page. Photo Zoom has the answer. Once you’ve installed it, all you have to do is mouse over an image in your Google + stream, and it’ll load the zoomed/full size image right there in your stream. Once you remove the mouse from the image, the zoomed in photo vanishes.
Like I said: simple, but useful.
I’ve only found one issue with the extension thus far- it doesn’t seem to like animated photos.
Comments Toggle
Sometimes, a post you’ll see in your Google + stream just has…way, way too many comments. It can very easily get to the point where your stream starts to feel rather cluttered. This extension offers up a solution- though the developer does note that there may be a few errors or unfixed bugs on the extension page. Anyway, what Comments Toggle does is…well, basically, what’s written on the box. It automatically hides comments on posts shared to you by your circles. To see them, all you have to do is click. My one grip with the extension is that it doesn’t display all the comments in a thread- the ones that Google + hides by default as “older comments” will still be hidden if you click ‘show comments.’ Not a particularly major concern, but it’s nevertheless a touch annoying.
Could be a function to add in a future release, I suppose. Either way, this one’s a pretty useful extension if you find your G + stream feeling too cluttered by comments.
Helper For Google +
I’m gonna go out with a bang this time around. This extension is downright huge- and probably one of the most useful on the list. First off, it adds a tweet button to every Google + post. That by itself wouldn’t really differentiate it from any of the other extensions on here, but it also adds a translate button(letting you use Google Translate on pretty much any post you desire in your stream), enables desktop notifications (with sound, to boot), offers linked hashtags in a similar fashion to Twitter to make search easier, and finally, allows you to search for Google + posts and profiles directly from the Chrome omnibus by typing “plus” before the query.
Like I said, huge extension- and well worth the download.
