Improvements to desktop notification page

Hey folks, over the next couple of days, we’ll be rolling out some highly requested usability enhancements to the desktop notifications landing page (plus.google.com/notifications):

Open in a new tab: You will be able open a notification in a new tab via right-click menu, [cmd|ctrl]-click or middle-click. (Note that this keeps the notification in an unread state.)

Profile hovercards: Hovering over any profile picture will bring up the profile hovercard. Additionally, profile pictures are click targets, so they can similarly be opened in a new tab.

Updated lightbox on Google+ Web

Hey folks, another update this week. Over the next few days, we’ll be rolling out a new version of the photo lightbox on Google+ Web. The new lightbox, which appears for photos that are part of single-photo posts (not yet for multi-photo posts), places a greater emphasis on the photo caption and comments.

There are a couple of reasons why I’m happy about this new lightbox. First, the EXIF data (found in the “Show information” menu item) brings back the display of the photo date; the previous lightbox displayed the post date. And second, clicking on the back arrow brings you to the post no matter how you arrive at the lightbox (people who found their way to a lightbox without being able to get to the post know what I’m talking about).

Optionally remove recent content from banned community members

Hey folks, over the next several days, we’ll be rolling out a feature on Google+ Web that will allow community moderators to choose to remove posts and comments from members they ban.

To invoke this feature, select “Remove, report, and ban” from either a post or comment and then select “Also remove recent comments and posts in the community by this user.”

Currently, this will remove recent post and comments from the banned user (you may need to perform a web page refresh to see content removed from your view). We’re looking to improve this feature in future iterations, so bear with us with the ambiguity of “recent”, which should, in most cases, cover your needs.

New Google+ content restrictions for G Suite

For those who administer Google+ for domains, the team is gradually rolling out over the next couple of weeks one of the most highly requested enterprise features: new content restriction modes (Public, Private, and Hybrid) to help manage content within the domain. Read more about it on G Suite blog.

Bulk moderation of Ask-to-Join requests

Over the next several days, we’ll be rolling out a new feature for community moderators which will allow them to apply moderation actions in bulk on the list of ask-to-join requests. This feature will be accessible via the “Moderate” button in their communities. Enjoy!

Find content and communities from all across Google+ with Discover

Big news today Google+! We’re rolling a brand new Discover stream to help you and new users find the absolutely best content our network has to offer. If you glance over at your left-hand navigation bar, you’ll notice a shiny ‘Discover’ tab waiting to be explored. Inside, you’ll find trending posts from curated sources in a new, denser format. Also inside are Featured Collections, Recommended Communities, and the previously announced Topics – which got a bit of a makeover as well, so be sure to check them out!

New and signed out users will land on Discover (previously ‘Featured Collections’) which puts content from a diverse set of sources front and center. We hope that this creates a better experience for new users that more readily communicates the awesome stuff G+ has to offer while providing existing users with a fun way to find and follow creators they haven’t yet, ahem, discovered.

To make way for Discover, you may have noticed we removed the Collections tab and the Events tab. Don’t worry! Collections and Events aren’t gone; they’ve just been moved. ‘Featured Collections’ have a new home within Discover and ‘Your / Followed Collections’ can be found by clicking on ‘Communities and Collections’ on your profile. Events can now be found in the overflow menu (three dots) on your profile when you can also find your Insights.

These changes will be live on web and iOS within the next day or so for all users. As always, please let us know what you think by replying to this thread or using the ‘Send Feedback’ option on web or in-app. Enjoy!