Invites for Google Wave are flowing and probably you might have got one too. So, just starting with Google Wave ? Here are some important basics and pointers which will aid you in better using Google Wave and its features. Also check out my earlier post on sharing, viewing and editing Google docs in Google wave.


Wave’s Keyboard Shortcuts

Almost every good application has easy keyboard shortcuts and even Google Wave has some. Even though Wave is short of some standard , basic shortcuts here are some which you must know for easier and quicker use.

  • Arrow Links : Move up/down within a list of waves , and left/right from inbox to open wave panel with your arrow keys
  • Spacebar : Go to next unread wave in a list
  • Ctrl+E : Edit a selected wave
  • Shift+Enter ( in Edit mode ) : Finished editing your wave , equivalent to clicking ‘done’ button
  • Enter : Add a reply to a selected wave directly under it
  • Shift + Enter  ( in view mode ) : Add a reply to the botton of list of waves

Here is the full list of shortcuts for Wave


Filter Waves with Advanced Operators and Saved Searches

As Wave is a Google product , one can surely expect a robust search mechanism and it fares well on expectations. One can search Waves based on various attributes such as creator, their tags and whole range of other attributes. Example- If one wants to see all the public waves , the ones in which anyone can using Waves can see , use with: operator. ( with : public )

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To save a search for reuse , click ‘save search‘ button on bottom right. When you save it you can also filter buttons that match it. Uncheck the ‘archive‘ button when you save the with:public searches to prevent cluttering your inbox . ‘With : me‘ search is also very useful for seeing waves which are explicitly with you. To see the waves which you have updated use ‘by : me‘

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Other search operators are ‘tag: ‘ and ‘ has : ‘ for tags and attachments. You can find the full list of advanced search operators for Wave here. For example to search for all waves with an image , use ‘has:image‘.

Making Your Wave Public

To make a wave public is not a 1 click thing. You need to add public@a.gwave.com to your contact list.

1. To do this click the + button on bottom right of the contacts module.

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2. Type public@a.gwave.com in the address field. Google will say ‘User does not have a Wave account’. Still press enter . The public group will appear in your contact list.

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3. Add public to any wave you want to make public.

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More on Wave soon……