new Google Groups user interface & Email and contacts import tool shutdown

Transition to the new Google Groups user interface

Google launched a new look for Google Groups in May last year. This design offers a new and improved user interface in addition to some popular features like:

– Collaborative inbox
– Rich text formatting of messages in the Groups interface
– Ability to move posts to a different discussion, mark it as a duplicate or assign it to someone
– Customizable roles and permissions for people
Google will retire the old interface soon after June 10th. After this day, people will automatically be transitioned over to the new UI and will not have the option to go back to the old one.

Email and contacts import tool shutdown

Starting today, Gmail’s migration tool for messages and contacts is being removed. This tool was primarily used by new Gmail account holders who wished to import mail and contacts from another email provider into their Gmail accounts. Google is exploring new long-term solutions, but in the meantime users can still import mail and contacts to their Gmail accounts. Messages can be imported using Mail Fetcher and Contacts can be imported from CSV files.