That Computer Guy

Recently, Google made some hints that page load speed may start becoming a factor in search results next year – their thinking being that the quicker a site loads, the quicker the searcher finds the information they are after. And given this is what Google does, better results reflect better on them.

So following a quick review of this site in the newly released Site Performance section of Webmaster Tools and not liking what I saw:

Ouch!

So I’ve decided that it’s about time for TCG to get a bit of a site refresh. In the coming weeks, I’ll be making some changes to the site – and re-launching it on the awesome Thesis Theme from DIYThemes.

The iNove theme I have been using has served me well this past 9 months or so, but I’ve been building a few sites on Thesis of late, and all I can say is that if you are wondering whether there is a difference between free and paid WordPress themes – the answer, when it comes to Thesis, is definitely YES!

One of Thesis’ major strengths is its impeccable coding; and having the right code in the right place in the infrastructure of your site, well, it’s like the concrete in the foundations of your new apartment building – you want it there!

(Oh, and before I crack another bad metaphor, good coding can also make your website load quicker.)

I also be launching some new services, so look out for the new site in the new year, and have a great festive season!

I love technology. Except when technology doesn’t love me.

Off to see a new client earlier today, I planned my route using Google Maps. Unfortunately for me, Google Maps had seemingly created a road I needed to travel on out of thin air, and then forgotten to tell the road that it now existed.

What’s worse, is that this is the second time now this has happened to me. I think Google is out to get me lost.

Do you have any tales of technology failures? Leave a comment below.

I am, and as some of my clients will agree, a bit of a Google tragic – I do like their stuff.

In my defence though, I have to say that’s it’s purely for the simplicity and usefulness of their products. You have a problem, they solve it. You have a problem you didn’t know you had? Chances are they’ve got that covered too. And into this latter group falls a new feature in Google’s email client – Gmail.

Gmail has been a staple for me for a while now, and I’m hooked on that you can centralise all of your email domains to it. Being a mobile worker and yet still able to access any of my email addresses in one place is a golden goal!

What I’d overlooked until recently though was that users of some email software, and in particular Microsoft Outlook, would see my emails as coming from “myaddress@gmail.com on behalf of myemail@mydomain.net”. Now, given my rant on why you should get your business a domain name, this was not ideal, to say the least!

Today, the “Big G” ticks off that box by introducing the ability to set which outgoing mail server you want to use for your mail – your domain server or Google’s server. Here’s how the process looks without this feature:

Image: Google

And here’s how it works after enabling:

Image: Google

For mobile workers or those with multiple email addresses like myself, this means I can log on to my Gmail wherever I happen to be, and still know that emails to my clients appear as if they are from my domain address, regardless of the software they are using.

Here’s how to set up “Send mail from another address without on behalf of” in Gmail:

Firstly, you’ll need your email domain details. You can usually find these on your ISP’s website, in a welcome letter, or on your website’s control panel (cpanel or similar). Once you have these, log in to your Gmail account and look for “Settings” towards the top right hand corner.

Select the “Accounts” tab:

And then click on “Edit Info” on the right:

If the settings you have in the next screen are as you want, click “Next Step”

Hit the radio button for “Send through your ‘domainname’ SMTP servers…” and enter the details you gathered previously. Depending on your settings, you may need to tick the checkbox to always use a secure connection. Click “Save Changes” and you’re all done!

As this is my first tutorial here on the TCG blog, I’d be interested to know if you found it useful? Did you like it? Hate it? Please let me know in the comments – it’s only going to make the posts better!