14 DAY TRIAL // Google has just unveiled a big batch of updates for Google+, probably the last ones of the year, as the engineers are taking a well earned vacation for the holidays. After the year Google+ has had, it's clearly deserved.
The latest update brings one big new feature, two revamped ones and a greatly improved one.
"Today we’re pleased to announce a goodie basket full of Google+ features and functionality for you to unpack and enjoy over the holidays. Some of these were on nearly everyone’s wishlist... and some we hope will be welcome surprises," Google's Bradley Horowitz announced.
"These features will be rolling out over the next couple of days, and we hope you’ll find them useful this holiday season and beyond," he said.
Control the amount of posts from each circle in the main stream
First and foremost, there is now a way of controling how many updates you see from a particular circle.
There is a 'volume' slider for each circle, if you're not interested in any update from that group, you can slide it all the way down to zero.
It is also possible to see just some updates, the really big ones, most updates - the trivial ones get pushed to the side, or all updates if you don't want to miss anything.
Since you can adjust the amount of updates for each individual circle, you'll end up with a highly customized main stream.
Facebook also has a way of surfacing just the important updates, but it is fully automated and doesn't rely on groups.
More detailed notifications
Also debuting is an improved notifications box, the one you see following you everywhere you go on Google.
There is now a small excerpt of posts and more details on actions so you'll be able to get a lot more info just from the notifications without having to visit the Google+ page.
"We now have easy-to-read 'sneak previews' that immediately present what’s new and why you might care. We’ve polished these notifications up and made a few other meaningful improvements too, including the ability to see the +1’s and shares your posts have received since you last checked," Horowitz explained. Google+ Pages get multiple admins
The single biggest requested feature for Google+ Pages has been the ability to enable more people to post as the page and manage content, comments and so on.
There is hardly any page that would not benefit from this and Google is now making it possible for up to 50 people to collaborate on a page.
To make sure that everyone knows what everyone else is doing, there is also a new notification flow to keep all admins in the loop.
Finally, pages will also see an unified number of users that have 'engaged' with the page, either by +1'ing it or adding it to their circles.
A revamped photo lightbox
The photo lightbox, arguably the weakest part of the Google+ Photos section, has been greatly improved. The layout has been tweaked to make better use of the space available. It is also possible to hide the comments and see only the photos. Tagging people has been revamped as well.
Considering just how much Google+ has evolved since launch, these last features of 2011 serve as a great reminder of the amount of work Google is putting into its social network and as a sign of even more changes and improvements to come.
