There’s a lot to like about Google+ and it has the potential to make a major impact on the future of the Internet. After just two weeks in closed beta, it already has 10 million users. Still, it’s far from perfect. I’ve put together my list of the top 10 things Google needs to fix or add in Google+. Take a look at the list and then jump into the discussion and argue with me by adding the fixes that you think deserve more attention in Google+.

1. Let us mute someone from the Stream

On Google+ it is a lot easier to find friends and people to follow than any social network that has been built so far. And, with Circles, you can divided them into groups and then easily jump between the various streams of your Circles. However, there is also the big “Stream,” which aggregates all of the people you have in Circles and this is the default view you see on Google+. The one feature missing here is the ability to mute a person from the Stream (while still being able to see their updates in their Circle). You can mute individual posts from the Stream, but you can’t currently mute a person. This is badly needed so that you can stay connected to interesting people but not have the overly chatty people monopolize your Stream.

2. Show list of my +1 items from Google+

The +1 button allows you to gives the thumbs up to really good Google+ posts and updates. However, this should also work like a list of favourites or bookmarks. Right now, there’s no way to see a list of the things where I have clicked +1. If I go to my profile there is a +1 tab, but that’s the list of external items (from web sites or Google search results) where I’ve clicked +1. The items from Google+ itself need to be added to this list.

3. Fix the share and re-share issue

One of the stickiest issues Google needs to figure out is the Share functionality. If you’re familiar with Twitter, this is like a Re-tweet (RT). However, when you share a post on Google+, it removes all of the comments and +1s, allows you to add your own comments above the post, and then your followers can add their own plusses and comments. That can be pretty cool, except when a bunch of the people you follow all share and re-share the same post. With the approach Google has taken to sharing, there may not be an easy answer, but something will need to be done to sort this out, at least for stuff that gets shared more than 2-3 times in your stream.

4. Let us sort the stream by raw timeline

By default, the big Stream (and the Circle streams as well) are sorted by relevance and popularity, based on the number of +1 votes and shares, so that the most interesting stuff rises to the top of the Stream. However, Google should also give us the option to sort the stream based solely on timestamp, so that we can see the stuff from people who post interesting things but don’t have as many followers to buoy their posts.

5. Allow comments to be threaded

This is an issue of intense debate, but I think Google should allow threaded commenting on Google+ so that people can comment on and respond to comments, and not just the original post. That would make the threads a lot easier to follow when they get a lot of comments. And, comments on comments could be collapsed by default and users could simply click a plus sign to expand and view them. However, the threading would only need to go three layers deep to allow a response and a counterpoint.

6. Add more functionality to mobile

It’s impressive that Google had its Android app for Google+ ready to download the moment that it launched the “Field Trial” of the new service, and shortly thereafter it submitted an iPhone/iPad app to Apple for approval in the App Store. Even better, the Android app for Google+ is very well done. However, it’s not perfect and it could make the mobile Google+ experience a lot better by adding key functionality — e.g. the ability to +1 a comment, the ability to join a hangout, the ability to easily flip between the big stream and circle streams, etc. While they’re at it, Google should add more core functionality to its HTML app as well. That would be a great way to drive more participation and get a jump on Facebook, which still doesn’t have a great mobile experience.

7. Open it up to Google Apps users

In order to get into the Google+ beta you need a Gmail address (or a Google Account). It does not currently work for the Google Apps domains, which are business accounts where the company is using a corporate version of Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and other Google web apps. Google has stated that Google+ pages for businesses and brands are coming soon. Hopefully, Google+ for Google Apps users won’t be far behind. Since some people may end up having separate Google+ accounts for personal (Gmail) and business (Google Apps) use, Google should also consider options for letting those users log in to both accounts from different tabs in the Chrome web browser.

8. Integrate private messaging

One of the biggest things Google+ is missing compared to rivals Facebook and Twitter is the ability to send a private message to a mutual contact. Sure, there are a few workarounds and hacks that let you do it, but Google needs to make this part of the product’s primary functionality. It also wouldn’t hurt to integrate GoogleTalk (instant messaging) as well.

UPDATE: Google has added a “Send an email” button in Google+ profiles. So, you can now send an email to anyone with a Google+ profile (by default), even if they don’t have you in one of their circles. This is different than private messaging, which I still think would be useful.

9. Set up verified accounts

Since there are already celebrities showing up on Google+ — and a lot of people who are impersonating celebrities — Google needs to set up something similar to Twitter’s Verified Accounts. Just do a search for “Mark Zuckerberg” or “Lady Gaga” on Google+ and take a look at how many accounts there are. There are also plenty of sneaky imposters, like the person who pretended to be Apple’s Jony Ive (the account has been deleted).

10. Show list of interactions with each user

Another useful feature that Google should add is the ability to go to a user’s profile page and see all of that person’s interactions with you — their +1s and comments on your posts, as well as your +1s and comments on their posts. This would help figure out if you should add a person to your Circles, and if so, which Circles you should put them in or add them to.

When you go to Google+, you can find my profile here.

Also read

• Is Google+ about to transform the Web?
• Why you won’t hate Google+ and some tips to get started
• The inside story of Google+ is already being told
• Four ways Google+ will end up in your workplace
• Five things to love about Google+
• Google’s Page upbeat after 3 months on job: 10 million on Google+
• Is Facebook already running scared of Google+?

This article was originally published on TechRepublic.

Parallels are the company behind such well known products as Plesk and Virtuozzo, they are also one of the most incompetent companies I have ever dealt with when it comes to support, a globally shared opinion according to Google and several forums.
They are so bad that if they need to login to your server they will get you to sign a disclaimer to say that if they screw up your system then you cannot hold them responsible or take any action against them. Not because they want to protect themselves from unscrupulous customers but probably because they have no faith in their support staff due to their history of screwing up people's servers. And the advice they give is also often such utter nonsense and if you were to blindly follow it, you would screw up your own server. And yes I can confirm this from personal experience.

Even the most simple support question can become complicated when Parallels is involved, today I used their live chat simply to report a problem with their forums, as I could not do a search as the Captcha anti-spam was broke and would not allow searches, here is the conversation below which I thought I would share for your amusement.

---

Hello, your Online Store Hosting representative is Vishal J.V.

Welcome to chat.parallels.com, Vishal J.V. will be right with you.

Russ

We have just created trouble ticket for you. Ticket number: #1166686.

Vishal J.V.

Welcome to Parallels Plesk Products Licensing Support.

Vishal J.V.

How may I assist you?

Russ

i am having a problem with your forums

Russ

http://forums.webhostautomation.com/

Russ

the search will not work, it wont accept the captcha message

Vishal J.V.

May I know which Parallels product you are using?

Russ

it says report to the webmaster, but I cannot find any contact details for the webmaster

Russ

can you please advice who i need to contact

Vishal J.V.

May I know which Parallels product you are using?

Russ

see above

Vishal J.V.

Please give me 1 minute Russ.

Vishal J.V.

Thank you for your patience.

Vishal J.V.

Russ, I had a check with the domain and the domain is registered under DIRECTNIC, LTD. So we suggest you to contact them.

Vishal J.V.

I will provide you the contact number.

Vishal J.V.

+1.877.856.9598 or +1.813.283.5168

Russ

what has this got to do with directNic? it is your website ?

Russ

run by you

Russ

directNic are a domain registrar

Vishal J.V.

Yes.

Russ

so your asking me to contact a domain registrar to report a problem with your website

Russ

the website is nothing to do with them

Russ

how will they be able to help me ?

Vishal J.V.

Please give me one more minute.

Russ

i need the contact details for the webmaster who manages your forums so i an report the problem

Vishal J.V.

I am having a check Russ. Please give me a minute.

Vishal J.V.

Thank your patience Russ.

Vishal J.V.

I apologise for the long delay.

Vishal J.V.

I will have a check with the issue with our next level of support and willget back to you through email within the next 24 hours

It has been a long time coming but I have finally got around to upgrading my blog software and I chose to switch from BlogCFC to Mangoblog, which thankfully was a pretty painless expereince. My main reason for wanting to upgrade was to stop comment spam, which I have been getting a lot of as my version of BlogCFC has no way to stop this.

The last time I looked at doing this there was no easy solution, I of course looked at updating to the latest BlogCFC, but this turned out to be the most complicated solution of all, as I would have needed to apply a lot of old incremental updates first and do a lot of manual work, so I dismissed this option. So I looked at Mangoblog which I have used on cfmldeveloper and really liked, but there was no easy upgrade route there either.

So I then decided if I was going to have to do this much work then I may as well move to Wordpress which I have really come to regard as the mother of all blogging software and then some. I had made a good start on this several months ago, I had Wordpress installed, chose a theme, got all the config done, all I needed to do was write some scripts to import all my blog posts and comments. However when I next looked at my Wordpress site several months later the permalinks had broken and I could not get them working again, so I got pissed off and decided to give Mangoblog another look.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that the current version had an import tool for blogCFC 5.x, I had my doubts it would work but thought I would give it a go.

Well I am happy to report that the import tool did work, flawlessly, which was good considering I did have a very old version of BlogCFC (5.5), it imported all my posts, all the comments and categories. However it is not perfect as it did not import blog subscribers or comment subscriptions and did nothing at all with images in posts, so all the img url's remained the same.
This is not such a big deal as I don't really care about comments on old posts and a simple post on my old blog advising readers of the new URL will get them to update. The image issue is also easy to resolve, you can either:-

a) copy the folder that contained your images over form your old blog to the new blog.
b) do some url rewriting to redirect the image requests to the old url.

As my old blog is actually just a sub-directory inside michaels.me.uk and I will be keeping it running for a while until Google indexes the new one, I chose option b, and here is the rewrite rule in case your interested (I use Isapi_Rewrite on IIS btw).

RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^images/(.+) russ/images/$1 [QSA]
RewriteRule ^enclosures/(.+) russ/enclosures/$1 [QSA]

And here is the rule on my old blog to redirect the RSS feed

RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^rss.cfm http://www.michaels.me.uk/feeds/rss.cfm [QSA]

If you have any custom CSS for formatting CODE blocks and the like then you will also need to copy this across as well.

As I mentioned I have used BlogCFC before and here are just 2 of the cool Wordpress type features I really like about MangoBlog .

• Extensible with plugins
• Themes , it is also very easy to skin or modify existing themes.

Despite spending 1 month playing silly buggers with Dell’s incompetent sales staff (another wonderful call centre in India) trying to actually order the thing due to constant problems on their website and their always apologetic “please give me another chance” excuses, I went against my better judgement and still went ahead and purchased the Dell XPS.
I had spent so long comparing laptops and their features, and the XPS really does give you the most bang for your buck. More memory and more useful ports than the competitors and a full 1080 HD display is what really swayed me, plus the fact that I could have custom artwork on the lid.

My primary use for this laptop is as a development machine, running IIS, MSSQL, MySQL, ColdFusion etc as well as a general office machine, I had no 3D gaming requirements.

Thankfully I can say that so far I have not been disappointed despite my reservations. The XPS runs windows 7 64bit super fast with its 6GB RAM and Core i5 CPU, it boots fast, searches are fast, programs launch fast and has no problems running all my server apps and development tools (Adobe Creative Suite) all at the same time, even Photoshop, so I really have no complaints on the speed and to boot it is also very quiet and so far does not get very hot either.

The Windows experience index is only 4.4 but this is down the the graphics, which as I said I don’t care about, however it runs Windows Aero just fine. Here are the other indexes, which are much better.

Processor 6.9
Memory 6.9
Graphics 4.4
Gaming Graphics 6.5
Hard Disk 5.9

All in all it is actually quite a bit better than my desktop PC which has a highest index of 5.9, even the gaming graphics surprisingly.

The screen is super bright, so bright that I rarely have it set above 1/3 brightness,  however the primary colours (CMYK) are also on the bright side, not sure whether this is due to the gamma or the contrast, I have tried to adjust them but cannot get it to look quite right. For every day use this is not a big problem, however I do sometimes do some Photoshop work, which is where is does matter as images don’t look quite how they should.

The sound on the XPS is also remarkably good, utilising a JBL sound system, my rock/metal music actually sounds how I expect it sound, rather than the horrid tinny sound you get from most laptops.

Battery life is nothing amazing, but for a laptop of this power it does report a surprising 2-3 hours (depending on power saving features you enable etc), and it does have a built in automatic “Dell power saver” mode that turns off all the aero and other high performance windows features while on battery. Although this mode seems to disable itself once you plug back into the power, meaning you have to manually enable it again.

If you are one of those people that finds your hand constantly brushing against the touchpad and moving the cursor when typing, which messes up whatever your typing, then you will appreciate the “disable touchpad” key on the keyboard which you can quickly toggle when typing.

I did have to contact Dell support once, to find out how to adjust the LCD contrast etc and also because I thought they had printed my custom lid design upside down. Thankfully the support was considerably better than their pre-sales fiasco and non existent customer services. They quickly told me where to find the LCD settings (an icon in the system tray DOH!) and told me to send them a picture of the lid and if it was indeed upside down then they would send an engineer out to replace it. After checking the photos on the Dell site It turned out that the image was supposed to be upside down.

I have recently been having a right nightmare with Kayako SupportSuite as tickets have been coming in to email addresses that we do not use or do not exist and have thus been getting rejected and we never see them.

It turns out this is actually an old *issue* that I discovered long ago but had since forgotten about.

As you will know if you use Kayako SupportSuite/eSupport ( or Fusion as it is now called ) you create email queues, a queue must exist in order to process incoming email sent to that address, and you can also specify the FROM address that the queue uses when sending replies.

So you may wish to accept incoming email to:-

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

In which case you need a queue for each address for each dept, and you would of course expect that when email is sent OUT from the system, it will use the same queue and will either send from the original queue address or the alternate "From Email" address if you have specified one.

This unfortunately IS NOT what happens. It turns out that the queue that an email came in on bears no relevance to the queue used outgoing mail. When SupportSuite sends an email out, it simply uses the last queue in the list assigned to the tickets current dept, I.E. the most recently created queue, and then sends emails from that address.

This is a major issue for many reasons.

1. You may not want ALL QUEUES to be used for outgoing mail, some of them may just be for processing incoming mail only.
2. That queue may have the wrong email address for the dept. the ticket resides in
3. That queue may be using an email address that you do not want to be made public or used by customers, such as it might be used to bring automated emails in to the ticket system
4. You may be using that queue for testing and the email address will never be used outside of that, so you of course do not want tickets being assigned to that address or customers replying to it.
5. You may lose email as a result.

Not to mention the fact that this also rather defeats the whole point in having email queues for me, you would be better off just creating rules to parse the emails, but alas this does not work.

We have had all of these scenarios without realising, and I suspect many other users of this product have also had the same issue, believing as you would that the correct queue is being used for outgoing emails.

the problem is that there is no easy way to work around this problem, all you can do is make sure that the last queue in the list is a valid email address that you do not mind sending email from, there is no way to force the correct queue for the correct dept.

Even if you do this, you may still have a bunch of tickets out there that were sent from the wrong address. So if you were in scenario 3 above and doing some testing with a new queue which you have since deleted, then your customers will be replying to a non existent email address/queue and their emails will thus get rejected by the parser and you will never see them.

The only solution to this, is to a) delete the queue, or b)create a catch-all rule to redirect the emails to another queue or dept.