Google Apps for My Domain - Seven Months Later
Posted on November 3, 2006
8 Comments
About seven months ago I wrote about my switch to “Gmail for my Domain.” At some point since then it became “Google Apps for Your Domain” but since I really don’t use the other apps… I’ve had a some recent comments and emails about that old post so it seemed like a good time to jot down an update on how things have been going.
I love it. Seriously, I really do.
The email handling is awesome. This thing catches well over 100 spam emails a day at my main account. On average, less than 5 actually reach my inbox each day. Getting and sending email is responsive and I can’t say that I’ve ever noticed an outage. Best of all, it’s a set it and forget it kind of deal.
I still use Outlook at home for all my email stuff. But when not at home, it’s very simple to log into the web interface, which functions exactly like regular Gmail, and check my mail.
I’ve been asked if there’s a “catch-all” email address. I don’t recall finding it 7 months ago, but there’s definitely one there now. It can be found under Domain Settings > Advanced Settings. (Thanks Max for the comment and nudge).
Since I’ve started, integration for Google Calendar and Google Talk has been added. I’ve not used them in this context so really have no opinion. There’s also a web publishing service that I hadn’t even noticed before today. Some DNS adjustments have to be made (need to create a CNAME record) so I’m not quite ready to explore that one either! I guess it would come in handy for a small business that doesn’t already have a spot on the web? It uses the Google Page Creator WYSIWYG thing.
Have a domain and want to try out this service? Start by visiting the Google Apps for Your Domain page. Currently free. Even if you just use the email aspects of it, it’s worth setting up in my opinion.
Tags: email, gmail, google, google-talk, hosting
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8 Responses to “Google Apps for My Domain - Seven Months Later”
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Solo Technology,
Do you have any feel for what Google’s plan is for the pricing of “Google Apps for Your Domain?” I understand it’s free now. Have you heard any good rumors on this?
Thanks.
Mitch
aka ScrappyUntechie
Hi Mitch,
It’s odd that after so many months no really good rumors have bubbled up yet about pricing, isn’t it? I’ve honestly heard NO rumor. I’m hoping I’ve interpreted this quote correctly though!
Hi!
So, I’m not sure I understand this. Let’s say I want to use jerome@casablancaproject.com through Gmail. I’m assuming that means others can write to me at jerXXX@casablancaXXXX.com . Now, how do I actually *check* my mail? I have a Gmail account (jeromexxxx@gmaxxx.com) — do I have to somehow *add* the other address to it? Please advise.
Hi Jerome,
To get your email, you log into your “google apps for your domain” site. The mail aspect is just like the gmail you already know and love.
It won’t impact or change your existing gmail account.
On the question of those who already have a gmail account that also want a hosted account. *like me* You can “add an account” to your current gmail acct. That way all mail sent to your new alternate account will also show up in your old gmail. You can also chance settings so that it will reply with the address it was sent to. So if you get stuff through your new acct, but are looking at it with your old acct, you can just hit reply and it will use the correct reply-to. You DO have to change settings tho. I actually added my old acct to the new, and my new acct to my old. That way all my email shows up both places. (duplicated) Gotta be careful not to reply to the same message twice, but .. well won’t happen with me. I’m using the start page, and can send using either address now.
I have a question though. Its great that I now have another domain. But it would sure be nice if the start page wasn’t a redirect to partnerpage.google.com/blahblahblah. Is it possible to set it so that my start page actually works as “startpage.mydomain.com”? While its not that critical, it would still be nice to have it show.
Barring that, is it possible to easily create a startpage for everyone using the google page creator to mimic the functionality?
I guess I could setup an iframe and that way it would appear to be an actual real domain address for my newfangled domain, but still hve all the functionality of the google start page with minimum effort. Guess I’ll try it.
Hope everyone is enjoying playing with this stuff as much as I.
Later
Mike, I know this is a very late post, but I just saw this thread. Anyway, in case you haven’t found it by now, you can set the page to start with ’start.mydomain.com’ so it’s easier to remember. There is an option to change the URL. That’s where you can set your preference. Hope this helps.