Google Wave is the combination of Email, instant messaging, social networking, project manager and in-browser communication client. If you have requested Google Wave for an invitation there is a great chance that your request is been accepted. At the first glance of common people may not understand the features and function in this web application. But when you get familiarize with its features it will be very easy to play with.

Continue reading to know some important features and tips of Google Wave in shot and simple.

User interface of this new web application looks simple and familiar like any other Google application. Mainly it is divided into four sections: Navigation, Contacts, Inbox and your current Wave. Using Google Wave is bit different from other applications.

In the Navigation section you can see many options, click on any of the option to populate its contents in the Inbox section (middle box). To start a new Wave just click on the New Wave button in the middle box and enter the title of the Wave. You can add member to that Wave from the contact list or drag and drop contacts from the contacts section.

All the member of that Wave can read and write content to share thoughts with one another. This is the feature which makes Wave interesting. One can use Wave for Project Management, Education, Customer support, forums and many more possibilities. You can set permission for who can view and post messages in a wave.

Any member in Wave can edit and replay all at the same time. This means you can have chat and email like conversations all in one wave. The Wave which contains unread messages/modified will be brightly displayed in the inbox and show number of unread messages in a small box next to the wave. Click on the wave to read unread messages, spacebar can be used to navigate between unread messages quickly.

You can view complete history of a Wave easily. Click on the play back button to start viewing all the changes that have been made in a Wave. This feature can be really helpful for managers and all others alike to check the progress of a project, etc.

Extensions help you to include new and useful features to this web application. Though Google Wave is still in public preview stage there are several extensions already available. One can install and uninstall these extensions according to his/her need. There are two types of extensions available mainly called Gadgets and Robots. Web masters can place Google Wave conversation on his/her website with ease.