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Written on February 12, 2008 – 8:27 pm | by Ali Sabki |

gmail The same method of storing documents on Yahoo! can also be used on Gmail as well. In fact, the set up is even easier. For this purpose, I like Gmail a lot better because of their use of labels instead of folders. One email containing a stored document could be slapped with multiple labels, making the document easier to find in a search. Here are the adjustments needed to make Gmail a document storage site (at least until they bring the fabled Gdrive online).

You’ll need:

* A Gmail account - Free and easy.
* A label called, “Docs” - Click on “Settings” and, on the next screen, click on “Labels”. Scroll to the bottom and create the new label.
* Now, click on “Filters” and scroll to the bottom of the page and create a new filter called, “Docs”. Put an email address in the “To:” field for your documents that uses the “plus” feature that Gmail has and is dedicated to storing documents. The form is myname+docs@gmail.com. Similar to the AddressGuard in Yahoo, it needs no set up; you simply use it. In Gmail, any word that is appended to your Gmail screen name with a plus sign goes into your inbox without any set up required. Click on “Next Step”. In the check boxes, check the following: “Skip the Inbox”, “Mark as Read”, and “Apply the label:”. In the drop down field, choose your “Docs” label that you made in the previous step.
* Finally, click on “Create Filter”.

Again, to make this work, simply scan a document into your computer. Attach it to an email and address it to your “Docs” address. Send it on its way. Gmail will scan the incoming email, note that it is to your “Docs” address, archive it, mark it as read, and label it with the “Docs” label.

A couple of tweaks makes this a lot easier. In your Contacts list, create a contact called “Docs” and give it your myname+docs@gmail.com address. Addressing an email to send a document to Gmail becomes as simple as typing the word, “Docs”. The second tweak is to standardize the subject line to make searching easier. For example, when I receive minutes from one of Leadership Team meetings, I store it using the subject, “Minutes: Leadership Team 080212″ (the number at the end is the date).

Between Yahoo! and Gmail, the edge goes to Gmail for its better searching capabilities and the availability of its advanced search operators. A search string of, “label:docs minutes” returns only meeting minutes while “label:docs tax 07″ returns only my tax documents for the 2007 tax year.

As a commenter mentioned in the previous post, there are sites that offer storage space. However, I’ve noted that one of two things usually happens with those sites (some of which I’ve used). The first thing that can happen is that they can disappear. Like brick and mortar businesses, new Internet businesses go under at a high rate. As soon as I’ve put a few things on them, they’re telling me I have a certain amount of time to move them. The other thing that happens is that the site begins to charge a monthly or yearly fee. The site I had been using before switching to Gmail just contacted me today to say that they expected me to upgrade to a premium plan if I wanted over 100 MB of space. It would only cost me $50 per year. No thanks, Gmail gives me 6+G and it’s free!

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