[How To] Getting Around Google+

Lost trying to navigate your way around Google+? This handy guide should help you get on your feet.

Getting Around Google+

Navigation Menu

See the strip of icons on the left side of the page on Google+? Well that's the navigation ribbon, and this will be the way you get to the core parts of Google+.

The current set of services available on the ribbon are:

• Home - This takes you straight to your home stream
• Profile - This will take you to a page where you can view, add and edit information on your profile
• People - This is a feature that lets you find new people to add, as well as being able to organise everyone you've added to different circles. For instance, you could place your family members in your family circle and so on.
• Photos - View and edit your photo albums and view what's in your Instant Upload folder
• What's Hot - Clicking on this will take you to "What's Hot and Recommended", a custom stream to view popular and recommended posts.
• Communities - Join social hubs based around your interests.
• Events - Create, view and edit Google+ Events.
• Hangouts - View featured Hangouts, and view who's Hanging out on Air
• Pages - View all your Google+ Pages in a glance.
• Local - Discover nearby places and write reviews for the places you love.
• Settings - This will take you to a page where you can tweak your Google+ experience.

Account Switching

If you have multiple accounts tied to your +Google account, you can quickly switch between these by clicking your profile picture on the top-right of most Google websites (Google+, Gmail, YouTube etc). You can also switch to a page (if you manage any) if you so wish.

You can also jump straight to your account and privacy settings, add accounts, sign out, and even change your profile picture.

Search Bar

The key to discovery on Google+

You'll see at the very top of Google+, the search bar. The search bar can bring up results for:

• Posts
• People
• Pages
• Communities

The search bar brings up results similar to the Omnibox in Chrome, you'll be able to see searches as you type, pressing the enter key will bring up the most relevant content based on your query.

So if you search for the hashtag #googleplusdaily, it will bring up the stream for that hashtag with the 'best of' and most recent posts that have used the hashtag.

A typical search results page on Google+

Eventually you'll come to find that one of the most used features on Google+ that you use will be the search box because it really is that useful. Just type to explore the vast and ever-growing network that is Google+.

Notifications

When someone interacts with you, the square next to your name on the top-right of Google+ will turn red.  This is the notification box, it'll tell you how many notifications you have too, and updates in real-time so there's no need for refreshing.

Changing the settings for notifications is simple, just head to Account Settings and click on the "Google+" branch (or just click here). You can change who can notify you, and which notifications will be be sent to your email inbox or pushed to your mobile devices. Pretty nifty.

Hangouts

On the right-side of Google+, you'll see a box in which you can chat to people in your circles, and if you've already used Google Talk before, anyone who's in your Talk contact list.

Got an +Android device? You can also keep in touch with your Google+ buddies by signing into Talk, just locate the Talk icon in your app-menu!

Google+ has been built with privacy in mind, so you can choose who you can chat with in the settings.

Hangouts

Fancy hanging out? Just click the "Start a Hangout" button on top of the chat list to have multi-video conferencing with your friends and family. To learn more about Hangouts, +Zach Alcorn has written a handy how-to, just click here to learn more.

That's a Wrap!

So there you have it, now that you've read this, you should be ready to start exploring the awesomeness that is Google+.

Have fun!