Hello all the new people here on G+!

A few words on Google+ etiquette:

Important views on commenting

When you comment on someone's post, please try to think what you are doing.
Especially when it's a celebrity or a high profile user with tons of followers:

When people are trying to make intelligent conversation on post threads, please don't go and spam trying to sell your wares or ideas if they are not relevant to that post. You'll get blocked very fast and reported to the bargain.

When +Tom Anderson writes a thoughtful and long post about something but adds a funny picture, you can just +1 the post without making a "LOL" or "Funny" comment, to show you appreciate.
Why? Because the maximum replies to a thread is 500 and if the comments consist of 400 x LOL there is not much space for real ideas or thoughts. And it takes a lot of time to delete those 400 nonsense comments. (Toms should really stop doing that, asking for trouble).


If +Robert Scoble posts a controversial story and you don't agree,don't be a troll with derogatory (bad) remarks but explain why you disagree. No need to get personal, we are all entitled to our own opinion. Respect that, please.

+Christina Trapolino put this very well in her post:
Are you always nitpicking? Do you hate when someone seems excited about something? Do you really enjoy tearing people down with simple, single sentences?

Stay out of my comments.

Everyone should always feel free to disagree with my ideas in my comments. That's always okay with me, provided you're being constructive rather than blatantly negative. I am not always right and often it can really help me crystallize my ideas when people point out flaws in them. I don't expect everyone to agree with me.

What I do expect is basic respect. If you show up and listen to someone speak on a topic, do you think it's appropriate to raise your hand, be called upon to comment, and then to say something rude and totally unhelpful? If so, don't click "comment."

+Guy Kawasaki was recently annoyed because of all the inappropriate comments and threatened to block all and sundry immediately for being a jerk.



Many power users or Google+ celebrities take an active part in their discussion threads and actually interact with other quite ordinary folks, but for how long will they do that if the thread is full of crap, I don't know.
The Google+ community is very special and we welcome all newcomers with open arms. As long as you behave! :-)
The best way to get more followers is NOT by commenting "Just saying Hi" but to write your opinion or thoughts on the original post.

Remember also when sharing a post from someone else to mention the previous sharer (if not original post) by +name name and thanks.

So forget the short "nice" or "awesome" from comments and +1 instead, okay?
Unless you have something more insightful to add to the discussion.
But if the post is humorous, a gif or funny photo, then one-liners are accepted. Here's an example: https://plus.google.com/108998673146368660257/posts/5kPxy9DG2HS

Google+ Etiquette bit that should not have to be discussed, even.

IGNORING

Imagine this: You're commenting on +Bradley Horowitz , +Robert Scoble +Trey Ratcliff or +Tom Anderson post.
You understand that they've got so many shout-outs and responses that they cannot answer. Still they do, sometimes, to total strangers. Happened to me. But you don't really mind as you don't even expect to be answered.

Another occasion: You're commenting on a post. The postee has you in the circles and vice versa, as do many of the others in the discussion thread. They totally ignore you.
How does that make you feel? You can see that they're at it all the time, commenting, answering each other, LOLling, making jokes: Your joke/contribution is left unanswered, unplussed by anyone, unnoticed, lost in the thread...

Happens also with total strangers you have circled, mostly with tight-knit groups who know each other since those good old times in Twitter or Facebook. But how could you know they are all mates already? That you are intruding?

People are passionate about the Google+. People should also know how to behave. People could just post within their circles if they are not ready to accept outside commentary or contacts. A +1 on the comment is enough many times, just to show you care.

I've given advice to Goobies: Make Google+ an adventure, venture out of your comfort zone.

What if they're being ignored? Feels bad, right? Mightn't this drive them back to Facebook where they're known?

Let's look at both sides of the coin...
If you need more help in using Google+, here's my webmag:
http://www.scoop.it/t/googleplus-help


This is a real discussion thread and how it should be:
See the post from +Ahmed Zeeshan and +A.V. Flox which is a very good example of good behavior: https://plus.google.com/103030116155431184588/posts/PaRoiin4cyu
The comments are very enlightening.


#Jaanatip #Googleplustip #G+Tip

In Google+ or other types of social networking, making comments means you're not just putting unchecked ideas into the Circleverse.

Do we have conversations because we want to put ourselves in the limelight or to make our ideas better and learn from others? Perhaps you're rather airing your ideas, collaborating to build something more refined?

We also talk to each other so we can build social relationships which may be useful to us later: But often enough, we share knowledge for its own sake. We build our collective understanding by talking to each other. Commenting is talking, too.

Discussion is an exchange of knowledge. Argument is an exchange of ignorance. (Robert Quillen)

Would you go to a party and just shout hi to everyone? Or laugh your ass off?

Commenting intelligently and on the topic is a behavior that is its own reward. For anything else, there's the +1 button.

You may disagree with me and refer to freedom of speech and for every man's right to do what they want (anarchy?) but I use my freedom to voice out an opinion and wish that one-liners be kept for funny gifs or similar.

What is your opinion on this? Agree or disagree? :-)


#googleplustips #googleplustip

Here's my favorite Circle:



This is the one circle I check no matter how busy I am.

Go ahead and enjoy!

#circleshare #circle

Are you new here and don't quite know what to do: The silence is eerie...

Well, the same would happen on any social media platform without engagement. Remember the early days on FB or Twitter?

Open up a Twitter account, start tweeting. Where's the response?
But start engaging, replying, re-tweeting, following... Soon you have a lively feed and people to talk to.

If you don't circle unknown people or engage, of course it's boring! :-)

Google+ is different from other platforms and needs a bit more work than, lets say Pinterest. But once you've understood what the idea behind Circles is, the rewards are great. Don't wait for your friends and family to join you but venture outside your comfort zone and you might be surprised!

I started using Google+ in June with no-one I knew, first of my nationality, non-geek and middle-aged. I'm burdened with a double vowel and an umlaut in my name but still I've enjoyed G+ hugely from the beginning. Even now only a handful of people I know IRL are here. But I really don't care as I have a Circleverse full of great new acquaintances and in many cases, new friends, too.

It's just a question of finding your niche. And making an effort.
My 5 C:s are: Circle, curate, create, communicate & consume!

Be persistent! :-)
Use the search for your pet topics, music or sports, look at the people's profiles who comment on those posts and circle, circle, circle...
Then comment, post, share and circle again. Repeat and keep on repeating.

Feed the Google+ fires with the flame of your passions!

Here's a good start:
+Newbies+ +Google+ Tips And Tricks +Google Plus For Business

This is my Google+ Goodness circle:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/107742059751171695340/posts/3qnGysx8wCC
(Pic original by +Russell Deasley )

#Googleplustip

Spammers, stay away!

You will be ruthlessly dealt with, I have no mercy.
Here is what I do:

I first reply to the spammer for warning (You are a spammer etc), open up his profile in another tab, flag the comment and then report & block in the other tab. Flagged comment is shown as greyed and only the post originator will see it.

EDIT: No need to click over to anyone's profile anymore, now we can block directly from a flagged comment.

If someone already flagged the comment now there is a grey triangle. When I hover on it, I see options:
Remove - Restore
Remove and block this person.

How to deal with URL spammers:

On encountering a spammer with a website link:
I do a Google+ search (try both latest and best of) with the website's URL and find the fake profiles & the posts they have spammed.

Flagging any spam comments helps a lot.

No need always to go to each profile page if the spammer has also posted the links:

It's quicker for you if you do the search and use the grey arrow drop down on the posts's right side, there is the "block" option, after blocking you can also "Report" the post as spam.

If you want to show a link in a discussion thread, and it's relevant to the post / discussion, please tell us so in an explanation.

Sama suomeksi (same post in Finnish) https://plus.google.com/u/0/101780786123023132934/posts/eVP4DAz6qJm

#Jaanatip #Googleplustip #Googleplustips Finnish: #Jaanavinkki
(War on Spam pic www.webpronews.com)

In Google+ or other types of social networking, making comments means you're not just putting unchecked ideas into the Circleverse.

Do we have conversations because we want to put ourselves in the limelight or to make our ideas better and learn from others? Perhaps you're rather airing your ideas, collaborating to build something more refined?

We also talk to each other so we can build social relationships which may be useful to us later: But often enough, we share knowledge for its own sake. We build our collective understanding by talking to each other. Commenting is talking, too.

Discussion is an exchange of knowledge. Argument is an exchange of ignorance. (Robert Quillen)

Would you go to a party and just shout hi to everyone? Or laugh your ass off?

Commenting intelligently and on the topic is a behavior that is its own reward. For anything else, there's the +1 button.

You may disagree with me and refer to freedom of speech and for every man's right to do what they want (anarchy?) but I use my freedom to voice out an opinion and wish that one-liners be kept for funny gifs or similar.

What is your opinion on this? Agree or disagree? :-)


#googleplustips #googleplustip

There are so many individual uses to this Circleverse of ours:
Someone may be looking at the platform through professionalism and marketing, others are just having fun and being social.

No-one is telling you how to use it:
However, when well-meaning people give advice on different aspects in how you could use Google+, please respect their suggestions. That's what they are: Suggestions and examples.

If you don't agree, that's fine. But please refrain from berating the poster and others who might welcome those tips.
Some people might find the advice suited to their situation and needs.

No one is forcing anyone to do anything on G+ against their will, so pass on if the advice is not for you.

Let's keep G+ positive!

#Googleplustip

Are you planning a Hangout On Air or an event?



For the people around the world local time zones can be very confusing...
Why not make it clear to every one?

Use this free tool:
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedform.html

Just set the event date and time, then copy the link.

#Googleplustip

The +Rahul Roy Collection
If you've missed any of his Google+ Related Posts...

11 Reasons Why You’ll Be Using Google+... : http://goo.gl/ATgFX
13 reasons your google+ account may get limited.... : http://goo.gl/dZFWJ
15 Ways to Get Your Google+ Brand Page Circled : http://goo.gl/zp8MP
40+ Reasons Why Google+ is better : http://goo.gl/6ILPZ
8 Handy Tools to Get Google+ Badge for Profile : http://goo.gl/uA3Y1
Any one interested in helping newbies? : http://goo.gl/kzI3H
Collection of Google+ Infographics : http://goo.gl/cyaUa
Differences between Google+ Pages and Profiles : http://goo.gl/hn1YU
Do you know About Google+ Ripples? : http://goo.gl/KapIl
Facts about new Google+ Interface : http://goo.gl/TnCKr
Get free Google+ Guide By +MakeUseOf : http://goo.gl/S85CU
Google+ Basics for new Google+ users : http://goo.gl/IEGZu
Google+ Feature requests : http://goo.gl/mH9h4
Google+ Guide for New Google+ Users : http://goo.gl/0QUt8
Google+ is all about helping others. : http://goo.gl/VMdAl
Google+ v/s Sh*tbook : http://goo.gl/LHqew
Google+ welcome wagon circle : http://goo.gl/TJHIU
Helping New Google+ users from Public Stream : http://goo.gl/LW555
Highly Recommended circle for Newbies : http://goo.gl/6R5Ms
How to Create RSS Feeds for Google+ Profiles? : http://goo.gl/uCAmG
How to enable new +1 button for your G+ Account? : http://goo.gl/wx3zc
How to find whether you've been in a shared circle? : http://goo.gl/tTU2z
How to Get circled? : http://goo.gl/7vcvk
How to Get Official Google+ Profile Badge : http://goo.gl/BfMRA
More exposure for Newbies : http://goo.gl/0F1jl
Must follow peeps for newbies : http://goo.gl/d6CEp
New and interesting way to find new people : http://goo.gl/PmltJ
New Google+ Infographics : http://goo.gl/6Xn57
Newbies Circle V3.0 : http://goo.gl/jckf9
Resources for new Google+ : http://goo.gl/mUC5y
Should You Join Google+ By +Guy Kawasaki : http://goo.gl/3Z6WU
Stealing Google+ post is not a Good Idea : http://goo.gl/naXUT
Take a quick look at Google+ : http://goo.gl/Vr22g
Thank Your Friends for Relevant Search Result : http://goo.gl/f5Czg
Top 10 Google+ Helpers of the week : http://goo.gl/Pw42w
Top 10 New Engagers of the week : http://goo.gl/9VpTi
Top 10 Newbies of the week : http://goo.gl/ggVPj
Top 10 posts of the week for Newbies : http://goo.gl/GZJiK
Top 25 Shared circles for New Google+ users : http://goo.gl/9no8M
Top 3 Google+ Songs : http://goo.gl/oTjjx
Top 40 posts of the week for New Google+ Users : http://goo.gl/lZxRq
Top 50 posts about Google+ from the past week : http://goo.gl/Vldxc
Top 50 posts of the week about Google+ : http://goo.gl/OOLnu
Top 55 posts about Google+ from the past week : http://goo.gl/vtPdU
Top 60 Posts About Google+ from the Past Week : http://goo.gl/NIq4c
Top 70 posts of the week about Google+ : http://goo.gl/NI5XC
Top Gplussers who deserves more followers : http://goo.gl/6s4Jq


Thank You, +Rahul Roy for the help and support you provide for the Community!!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
« Other Top Profile Lists »
The +Denis Labelle Collection : http://goo.gl/wbH4d
The +Gabriel Vasile Collection : http://goo.gl/DZVY8
The +Shamil Weerakoon Collection : http://goo.gl/PfqqK
The +Jaana Nystrom Collection : http://goo.gl/f5cOm
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

G+ Tips for Newbies
If you want to jump-start the conversation in the G+ environment and you are new here, here is a short video to help you out. Google Plus Etiquette for Newbies

The difference between the old +1 button and the new Share button:
+1 is always public. Share can be to circles or a person only.

It seems not all of the people have known that you can share a webpage or a blog post directly to Google+ from the +1 button.

Wherever you find a +1 button and you click it, then wait for a while: It should open up a tab where you can add some text and share it to your circles or public. By clicking at the image displayed you should also be able to change the pic shown on your post.

There are extensions for that too, this for Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/jgoepmocgafhnchmokaimcmlojpnlkhp
With this you can +1 and share any outside website.

If you didn't know it, all your +1:s end up in your Google+ profile, too.
Here are mine as I've made them public (see your settings on that page - EDIT button):
https://plus.google.com/107742059751171695340/plusones
I use this as a bookmarking tool. It also tells a lot of things about my interests...

Here's a tip for when you want to share from any of those buttons or the extension:

There's a small inconvenience in the share box. It does not want to accept the 'copypaste' directly, so just type any letter and a space in the beginning and then 'paste' the text you have previously, before clicking on the +1 or share button copied as if you click on the +1 you then cannot go back and copy any part of the text without the share box disappearing. Then remember to remove the letter and the space from the beginning of the post.

So at first copy a part of the text, click the button, add the text to the share box, add your own insights, use the * and _ at the end and beginning of those words or sentences you'd like to show better to underline your message, then choose the circles or +mention the persons you want to share the story with (or go public). And only then click share.

*NEW:* 
There's a very nice Chrome extension by +Tzafrir Rehan called DoShare: You can schedule your Google+ posts and also share a nice comment you've received. Excellent feature! 
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/oglhhmnmdocfhmhlekfdecokagmbchnf

For scheduled sharing from Google+ to other SoMe channels I use Bufferapp:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/noojglkidnpfjbincgijbaiedldjfbhh


A nice add to the discussion by +Ronnie Bincer:

Browser Bar code for Google+ Sharing - drag-drop to bar, share anything!
https://plus.google.com/u/0/108210288375340023376/posts/XzRvSQ9mscK

#Googleplustip

New share button info: http://googleplusplatform.blogspot.com/2012/04/introducing-google-share-button.html

Connected Sites, Apps, and Services

See here:
https://accounts.google.com/b/0/IssuedAuthSubTokens?hl=en

#account #googleaccount #Googleplustip

Some nice tips for enhancing the profile layout!
Your profile photos show on the hovercard and that is a deciding factor for many people whether they circle or not...

#Googleplustip

Still thinking what to do with your profile image?



This is the easiest method: Download an image from a selection of different topics and change your pic for an unforgettable profile! This image will also show on your hovercard...

See the website for more images: http://www.googlecovers.com/

#Googleplustip

Word clouds...



My posts are all about YOU... :-)

Try it here: http://timc.idv.tw/wordcloud/en/#

#Googleplustip

Go to your G+ Home page. On top you see 'ALL' and next to it the two of your circles' names, with More of them to the right in a dropdown.
Click open a circle stream from there.

On the top right of the white space you see a grey slider with 4 different positions: 'Show nothing', 'Show fewer things', 'Show most things' or 'Show everything from this stream in your All circles stream'. You can slide it the way you want on each individual circle.

If there are one or two very 'active' posters, you can place those in a circle of their own and use the slider to mute them totally.
Then you can just check those circle streams when you fancy it.

By moving the Circles around on your 'Circles' page you can define which two are showing on top.
Hope this helps!

#circles

Yesterday I took this photo in my garden: 
First I switched my existing banner image for the large original photo: Then I just looked for the best part of the photo, cropped as per G+ does and set the image in it's correct size of 940 x 180.
I saved that image to my own file, without any texts.
Next I used the image to make a post, added some text but shared it just with myself, then saved the resulting image. Repeated the process with another text.

Now I have a few more nice banner images that I can use, all saved up.

Try it and make your profile more attractive... :-)

If you like this, feel free to use it as your banner pic!

#Googleplustips #profile  

5 Tips to Make Your Posts Pop
Posted by +Toby Stein:
 
1. Be bold. Be italic.
Surround a sentence with asterisks* to make them bold or underscores_ to italicize the most important parts of your posts.

2. Sign your posts.
+Mention the author of your content to put a human face behind your page and give credit where it’s due. We sign our posts at the top, but there are a number of options. Add a little tagline at the bottom or right below the post’s title. And, experiment with the wording. “Posted by”, “written by”, or plain old “by” are perfectly good options! 

3. Title well.
If your post is on the longer side, some of the body text will be cut off. So, having an interesting, attention-grabbing, and descriptive title is key. You only have a few seconds to grab your customers’ attention, encourage them to read on, or click to expand the post. We’re suckers for puns, plays on words, or clever turns of phrase. The worst thing you can do is choose a title that gives the reader no idea about the content of the post. Be creative, have fun, and be bold.

4. Use shortlinks.
While you can only add one photo/link/video to the bottom of a post, sometimes there’s more information you need to convey or sites outside Google+ that your customers should check out. But, URLs can be unwieldy. So, go over to goo.gl and shorten URLs to manageable sizes that can be inserted into the body of your posts without getting in the way.

5. Go beyond text.
You should never put up a post without a link, video, photo, or something to spice it up. If nothing comes to mind, add a pretty, tangentially related picture or a fun internet meme. These types of extra goodies will grab your customers’ attention, make your tone more personable and relaxed, and add additional depth and breadth to your content.

As usual, photo credit to our guru/hero, +Brian Rose.

There are so many individual uses to this Circleverse of ours:
Someone may be looking at the platform through professionalism and marketing, others are just having fun and being social.

No-one is telling you how to use it:
However, when well-meaning people give advice on different aspects in how you could use Google+, please respect their suggestions. That's what they are: Suggestions and examples.

If you don't agree, that's fine. But please refrain from berating the poster and others who might welcome those tips.
Some people might find the advice suited to their situation and needs.

No one is forcing anyone to do anything on G+ against their will, so pass on if the advice is not for you.

Let's keep G+ positive!

#Googleplustip

This is just the beginning...

I have found out that even Google employees are not really connected on Google+... This must be remedied!

For Google employees
So after many gruelling hours of collecting people and sorting out the circles here are the results.

I will start with Google 1 by Jaana and also notify all the people in the 8 circles WITH THE POST YOU'RE IN so that you may get connected if you wish.

The circle in +CircleCount:  http://www.circlecount.com/sharedcircle/?id=z12wdxwjttr3xxo0u22celljpvm0wvzfs

Look for the other 8 circles, they're coming up soon.
EDIT:  One or two mistaken identities or job changes have come up in all the circles so far, sorry about that.

#Google   #circleshare      

Here is circle 2 / 8 of Google employees on Google+

The first circle: https://plus.google.com/u/0/107742059751171695340/posts/5TMQbd48fPV

You are notified because you are in this circle.

The circle in circlecount.com
http://www.circlecount.com/sharedcircle/?id=z12qvvezumeuufzmo22celljpvm0wvzfs

#Google   #circleshare    

Here is circle 3 / 8 of Google employees on Google+

The first circle with explanation:
 https://plus.google.com/u/0/107742059751171695340/posts/5TMQbd48fPV

You are notified because you are in this circle.

The circle in circlecount.com 
http://www.circlecount.com/sharedcircle/?id=z13my1wwhqr5uzzi404cd1ea5yric3njxj0

#Google #circleshare

Here is circle 4 / 8 of Google employees on Google+

The first circle with explanation: https://plus.google.com/u/0/107742059751171695340/posts/5TMQbd48fPV

You are notified because you are in this circle.

The circle in circlecount.com 
http://www.circlecount.com/sharedcircle/?id=z12rz3lbowmjdrzl522celljpvm0wvzfs

#Google #circleshare

Here is circle 5 / 8 of Google employees on Google+

The first circle with explanation: https://plus.google.com/u/0/107742059751171695340/posts/5TMQbd48fPV

You are notified because you are in this circle.

The circle in circlecount.com 
http://www.circlecount.com/sharedcircle/?id=z12ow5pgrojfxn02g22celljpvm0wvzfs

#Google #circleshare  

Here is circle 6 / 8 of Google employees on Google+

The first circle with explanation: https://plus.google.com/u/0/107742059751171695340/posts/5TMQbd48fPV

You are notified because you are in this circle.

The circle in circlecount.com
http://www.circlecount.com/sharedcircle/?id=z121u3zp4ubzzde2422celljpvm0wvzfs

#Google #circleshare  

Here is circle 7 / 8 of Google employees on Google+

The first circle with explanation: https://plus.google.com/u/0/107742059751171695340/posts/5TMQbd48fPV

You are notified because you are in this circle.

The circle in circlecount.com
http://www.circlecount.com/sharedcircle/?id=z135clua4zzcv11q404cd1ea5yric3njxj0

#Google #circleshare  

Here is circle 8 / 8 of Google employees on Google+, for now...

The first circle with explanation: https://plus.google.com/u/0/107742059751171695340/posts/5TMQbd48fPV

You are notified because you are in this circle.

The circle in circlecount.com
http://www.circlecount.com/sharedcircle/?id=z13vcntrcq3vxzypd04cd1ea5yric3njxj0

#Google #circleshare  

There's more to come some other day...  I'm receiving more Googlers circles from nice Plussers!
Thank you my dears, you know who you are... :-)

Are you on Twitter?


Take a look at your own topics, search for posts and different subjects by colour.

Below is a screenshot of my page, the link is here:
http://tweettopicexplorer.neoformix.com/#n=JaanaNystrom

Just insert your ID to the bottom left of the screen and watch the magic happen...  :-)

#Twitter    

Create your own ebook PDF out of your own posts: Sign in and choose a hashtag for filtering posts. It could be the topic you mostly post about, your personal hashtag, or you could just experiment.

If you wish to add a cover image, you can use any image but the most impressive is to use A4 size (2480 x 3508 pixels).  Then just add another hashtag #booktitle  to that post and to the site

Thanks go to +Visnja Zeljeznjak for pinging me and +Dusan Vrban & +Kainoto for creating the site!

Here's one of mine, I created it using  hashtag:

My dear Circleverse:



When you add me to your Circles I always try to check who you are, to see if you're worth circling back.  Without public posts and a good 'Information' text on your profile it's very difficult to determine what your likes are...
The same if I find you commenting on someone else's post: Make your profile image striking for attracting the attention, if that's what you'd like, that is.

Posts, profile, photo... If there is nothing showing, I'll not even think of circling you back, sorry.

The first thing for you to do is to add something to your 'present employer' as it shows on your popup profile pic or hovercard.
Use your imagination, just a company name does not necessarily tell much. Unless it's Google. :-)

I have my time zone there and 'Google+ enthusiast'... Tells something about me already, right?

The second thing: Your photo (avatar) should be a bit bigger than in Twitter etc, many (even professional) people have blurry pics. Does not sell well... Show us your face!

Here's a site for you, if you need help with the images:

  +Google Plus Profile Picture + Banner Maker 

http://www.gplusavatarmaker.com/
and
http://www.gplusavatarmaker.com/GPlusBannerMaker.html

 

The difference between the old +1 button and the new Share button:
+1 is always public. Share can be to circles or a person only.

It seems not all of the people have known that you can share a webpage or a blog post directly to Google+ from the +1 button.

Wherever you find a +1 button and you click it, then wait for a while: It should open up a tab where you can add some text and share it to your circles or public. By clicking at the image displayed you should also be able to change the pic shown on your post.

There are extensions for that too, this for Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/jgoepmocgafhnchmokaimcmlojpnlkhp
With this you can +1 and share any outside website.

If you didn't know it, all your +1:s end up in your Google+ profile, too.
Here are mine as I've made them public (see your settings on that page - EDIT button):
https://plus.google.com/107742059751171695340/plusones
I use this as a bookmarking tool. It also tells a lot of things about my interests...

Here's a tip for when you want to share from any of those buttons or the extension:

There's a small inconvenience in the share box. It does not want to accept the 'copypaste' directly, so just type any letter and a space in the beginning and then 'paste' the text you have previously, before clicking on the +1 or share button copied as if you click on the +1 you then cannot go back and copy any part of the text without the share box disappearing. Then remember to remove the letter and the space from the beginning of the post.

So at first copy a part of the text, click the button, add the text to the share box, add your own insights, use the * and _ at the end and beginning of those words or sentences you'd like to show better to underline your message, then choose the circles or +mention the persons you want to share the story with (or go public). And only then click share.

*NEW:* 
There's a very nice Chrome extension by +Tzafrir Rehan called DoShare: You can schedule your Google+ posts and also share a nice comment you've received. Excellent feature! 
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/oglhhmnmdocfhmhlekfdecokagmbchnf

For scheduled sharing from Google+ to other SoMe channels I use Bufferapp:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/noojglkidnpfjbincgijbaiedldjfbhh


A nice add to the discussion by +Ronnie Bincer:

Browser Bar code for Google+ Sharing - drag-drop to bar, share anything!
https://plus.google.com/u/0/108210288375340023376/posts/XzRvSQ9mscK

#Googleplustip

New share button info: http://googleplusplatform.blogspot.com/2012/04/introducing-google-share-button.html

Welcome to Google+, a world of various passions!

Are you an aspiring photographer, enthusiastic kayaker, artist, designer, diver or golfer, looking for inspiring authors or musicians, fascinated by zombies? Looking for business contacts or just pure pleasure?

Fret no more, for in Google+ you’ll find lots of people with the same zeal by using lists, search and ‘Sparks’.

How can I search for a certain topic or individuals with the same tastes?

You can use the filters at the top of your search stream to view just the type of content you want to see.

Choose from among:

Everything, People and Pages, Google+ posts, Sparks (from the web) or Hangouts

You can narrow down the search by using the next drop-down menu:
From your circles, From you, From this location

Below the filters, you can also sort your search stream according to relevance or timeliness:
Most recent or Best of

Saving a search
To save one of those Google+ searches, click Save at the top of the page.
Doing so will save this stream so that it’s instantly accessible from the 'Explore' page in Google+ side column. This makes it easy to access those Google+ searches that you perform often.
An example: If you have recently bought a new phone and become fascinated with, let’s say ‘Android’, then you can search once for ‘android’, save it as an interest, then click the text ‘android’ in the Explore page whenever you want to see the latest from Google+ search: Business Pages, posts or web content. Golf, scuba diving, blogging... Whatever makes you tick!

Using sentences like "shared a circle with you" and saving that, you'll see all the publicly shared circles from everyone, or from your circles only. Or perhaps searching for hashtags about informative posts like #googleplustip or :
Using 'Best of' option here is sometimes better, then you won't get all the re-shares.

EDIT:  Now you can also see all my posts with these hashtags in a Timeline form:

http://www.googleplussuomi.com/timelinetest.php?googleid=107742059751171695340&sort=newest&search=jaanatip

and

http://www.googleplussuomi.com/timelinetest.php?googleid=107742059751171695340&sort=newest&search=googleplustip

Anything else you'd like to add to my suggestions? :-)