Ever since Google created the email wonder known as Gmail, people have been raving all about it, and it doesn't look like there's an end in sight because of Google's continual updates to the service and the lack of similar competition. As such, there are plenty of people who are using the service, with that number growing on an hourly basis.

Using Gmail for your email needs also allows you to make use of items which are designed for Gmail, such as extensions for numerous browsers. One such extension which may be of particular use to you is an extension called Send From Gmail.

About Send From Gmail

Send From Gmail is an extension for the Chrome browser, and is developed by Google itself. The extension essentially allows you to share links with others by composing an email using Gmail after clicking on the extensions button in the top right corner. It is updated rather often, as it keeps up well with Gmail's changes, as you'll see below.

Use

Once the extension is installed, you'll have a new extension button in the top right area of your browser. It will have Gmail's logo with an arrow at the bottom pointing to the right. Now, whenever you're on a page which you'd like to share with someone, simply click on the button. A new, smaller Chrome window will appear that appears to be loading Gmail. When it finishes loading, you'll see that it has composed a new email within Gmail, and has already filled in the subject field with the title of the website, and the body is filled in with the URL that you are on.

All you will need to do from this point is fill in the email address of the intended recipient (or have Gmail autocomplete it if they're in your address book), add an additional message to the email's body if you would like, and hit send. For those who have a keen eye, the compose window will look exactly like Gmail's new pop-up compose window.

The new compose window is one of Google's latest additions to Gmail, where you can compose from anywhere within Gmail. No matter if you're looking at your list of emails, actually reading an email, or anything else, you'll have the compose window in the bottom right corner to allow better multi-tasking. This same compose window is what is pulled up whenever you click on the extension's button.

Settings

Send From Gmail also has support for Google Apps accounts if you'd prefer to use one with the extension. Simply right-click on the extension's button, and choose Options. From there, you can type in the domain of the Google Apps account domain to use it over a regular Gmail account. Additionally, you can insert a prefix which will be inserted into the subject field of all emails generated by the extension. More information about these two options can be found on the settings page itself.

Installation

It is an easy affair to install the extension into Chrome. Simply search for "send from gmail by google" in the Chrome Web Store, or simply follow this link and then click on Install. In no time at all, the extension should be added to Chrome and ready to use.

Conclusion

Although quite simple, Send From Gmail does make it easy to save and share interesting links with others via email a lot quicker and easier. As virtually everyone has an email address, sharing URLs via email is one of the most common methods, and having such an extension to do most of the dirty work makes it effortless.

How do you share your URLs? Do you use Gmail or another service? Let us know in the comments!