The new "Extensions" link in the Google Wave navigation panel gives you quick access to a set of fun and functional extensions.
The gallery is simply a set of waves containing extension installers (the puzzle pieces). The first wave, "Read me first" contains an introduction to extensions and how to use them.
Some examples:
- Mind Map, to collaboratively build and visualize workflows or hierarchies
"Because we can have mini conversations inside of our waves, we can keep all of the information pertaining to a particular subject contained inside a single wave.
The beauty of this organization is that every morning, we can look at our inboxes and get a quick overview of what the other person has been doing.
Google Wave notifies us when there is a change, there is no need for an extra email summarizing what has happened."
These are some of the keyboard shortcuts I have found useful:
Ctrl then E - Edit message
Shift then Enter - Same function as 'Done' button -- signifies you are finished editing your addition to a wave.
More Tips
Use Folders and saved Searches in the left sidebar. To save a search, enter the query, and then press the "Save search" button on the bottom right hand side of the results panel.
For example:
is:note: When using Google Wave as a personal notebook, and jotting waves that no one else is a participant on. This is probably an outside use case of Wave -- it's purpose is collaboration -- but this handy is:note operator does easily return "notes to self" waves.
One of the most common suggested uses of Wave is taking collaborative notes during meetings, classes or conference sessions.
Wave for Q&A
This is probably a good idea, especially during conferences.
Wave as a Conference Backchannel
Alternatively, Twitter can do the same but in public space. The newly launched Google Buzz seems ideal for a conference backchannel limited to a particular group - this is is easy to set up from Gmail Contacts.
Wave as a Group To-do List and Daily Work Log
Every day, a fresh wave contains that day's tasks, ordered by priority, and what time they're due. Over the course of the day, workers in the group update the wave to reflect the current status of each task.
A Google Docs spreadsheet would work for that purpose as well.
Wave as an Event Planner
Alternatively, there are Google Docs templates for the same thing.
The Google Wave team is testing out a series of templates. They are public, read-only so to use them, you will have to hit 'Copy to new wave'. Some examples are listed below. You must have a Google Wave account in order to see the templates. General Plan an event Discussion with voting
The gadgets are installed by URL from the wave interface (click "Edit") and are available only for that particular wave, i.e. you have to install the gadget URL in each new wave where you want to use it. I suggest you keep a list of the gadget URLs for easy referral.
The bots are installed differently from gadgets. You have to add the bot as an email contact. Then you open a new wave and you add the bot in the same way you would add a person.
Some of the gadgets and bots that I found useful are listed below.
Useful Gadgets for Google Wave
Napkin. The Napkin gadget lets you do some "back of the napkin" brainstorming and drawing. URL:
http://my-wave-gadgets.appspot.com/wave/NapkinGadget.xml
Picasa/Flickr Gadget. Drop the Picasa/Flickr gadget in a wave, then point it toward an album on photo sharing sites Picasa or Flickr for clickable thumbnails that expand to larger views of the images. URL:
http://wave-picasa.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/picasa.xml
Mind Map. Insert the Mind Map gadget to collaboratively mindmap ideas with other participants in a wave. URL:
http://cactus-wave.appspot.com/net.brucecooper.mindmapgadget.MindMapGadget/net.brucecooper.mindmapgadget.client.MindMapGadget.gadget.xml
Useful Bots for Google Wave
Wikify (wikifier@appspot.com). The Wikify bot adds links to and definitions from Wikipedia to your waves for a given topic.
Madoqua (blog-bot@appspot.com). Bloggers and other web publishers who want to try publishing the contents of their waves should try the Madoqua bot.
Inbeddable (inbeddable@appspot.com). To embed an image that's already online, add the Inbeddable bot to your wave, and then type the URL of the image. When you click Done (or press Shift+Enter), Inbeddable converts the image link into the image itself.
RobotIndex (robotindex@appspot.com). The RobotIndex bot adds a search-as-you-type directory of bots and gadgets to your wave.
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The new "Extensions" link in the Google Wave navigation panel gives you quick access to a set of fun and functional extensions.
