Since the end of June there has been a buzz about a new web resource called Google+. I like to call it G+ for short. It is sorta like Facebook (FB), only better (me thinks!) Here are the three best posts from among 15 or so that I've read hoping to figure out what the heck this Google+ is all about.
- GooglePlus by Tamura Jones.
- John Newmark shared this Google+ Cheat Sheet
- Joan Miller and Dawn-Ann Kirkpatrick shared this post from PC World: 9 Reasons to Switch from Facebook to Google+4
WHAT'S A VANITY URL?
Basically it is an "easier to remember" URL for a page at Facebook, or in this case at Google+
Gone are the days of being a CompuServe user8790243@compuserve. Thanks for the advice from Cio about creating an "easier to remember" URL for G+.
HERE'S HOW TO GET A G+ VANITY URL (SORTA)
At Google+, my profile page is:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/107941607363534146959/posts
The unique part is the 107941607363534146959
However, I went to cio.com and followed Google Tip #3 that explains the process for creating one's own vanity link. I typed in the text DearMYRTLE and copied/pasted 107941607363534146959 in the appropriate box, and then clicked the ADD button. As shown below I receive the cheery "OKEY" and the clickable hyperlink as shown below. My G+ "easier to remember" URL is now:
gplus.to/DearMYRTLE
WHY ONLY SORTA?
This isn't a real vanity URL, more like a tinyURL of sorts for Google+ because once you click on the "easier to remember" URL gplus.to/DearMYRTLE, it takes you to my Google+ page known affectionately as https://plus.google.com/u/0/107941607363534146959/posts [emphasis added].
Guess we're all reduced to a number, eh?
It is my guess that it won't be long before Google+ includes vanity URLS. After all, we're not using CompuServe anymore are we, Google? (hint, hint)
If it is all about communicating (social networking) then Google ought to make it "easier to remember" our profile locations when pointing potential new members to Google+.
All my Google+ friends can just find me going around in circles. (Pun intended!)
Happy family tree climbing!
Myrt :)
DearMYRTLE,
Your friend in genealogy.
Google+ does have a Vanity URL already :-) I just wrote about it today at http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/07/jumping-on-google-bandwagon.html
ReplyDeleteYou simply add your gmail account name (mine is olivetreegenealogy) to http://profiles.google.com/ So mine becomes
http://profiles.google.com/olivetreegenealogy
If you don't have a gmail account you can choose any available username to tack onto the end of http://profiles.google.com/
Tamura Jones has had some good posts on it too. Appreciate your easy to follow instruction on the vanity URL
ReplyDeleteYou do have something similar to a vanity url with Google+
ReplyDeletehttp://profiles.google.com/username
where username is your Google username.
e.g. http://profiles.google.com/DearMyrtle
This is possibly better to use than the gplus.to service since you aren't relying on a third party service.
Dear John, Lorine & Tamura (via email),
ReplyDeleteYou've mentioned the Google profile, which isn't a Google+ profile YET and yes, Ol' Myrt here considered it.
The closest I've come to finding an "easy to remember" URL for G+ is the third part product Gplus.to, since the resulting URL looks like G+.
As for Tamura's suggestion (via email) that Ol' Myrt revise the original blog post, I don't think I will. Earlier this week, I asked folks to also subscribe to comments to get the "full" picture. A blog post initiates a topic for conversation that is fleshed out in comments.
Besides some folks like Mr. Myrt receive the blog posts via email, and my changing the blog post doesn't revise the email version of the post they've already received.
At this point in time my definition of "wise use of technology" includes subscribing to comments of our favorite blogs.
M