Q&A: Connecting the Gmail Dots

By J.D. BIERSDORFER

Q. In my Gmail address, I have a period in there to separate my first and last names for easier reading. When I was logging in the other day, I mistyped my user name into the Gmail Web site without the period but my password still worked. How is that?




A. Although the period in the first part of your e-mail address may make it easier for humans to process at glance, the Gmail service ignores it. In other words, the system sees honey.badger@gmail.com and honeybadger@gmail.com as the same address and your password works with either variation.


While leaving the period out when logging into your Gmail account will not save you much time, you can play around with different versions of your address to save time elsewhere — like sorting through marketing offers or mailing lists.


You can insert a "+" or additional periods in the first part of your Gmail address (up to the @ sign). Then you can use that modified address when buying things online, posting online or joining a discussion group by e-mail. Later, you can filter messages based on the version of the address that was used. A post on the Gmail blog explains how it all works here.




http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/19/qa-connecting-the-gmail-dots/