Posts you see in your Google+ Home stream

The screenshots are from a desktop using Chrome browser.

When you see posts in your Home stream, there may be several different types of posts.

When you log into Google+, you’ll see posts from the people and pages you follow, as well as the communities you’ve joined, in your Home stream. With just a few clicks, you can customize this Home stream, so you can see more updates from your Family circle, Sports Collection or Cute Puppies community, and less from other circles and communities; however you want to make your Home stream your own!


Show more or less from your circles

Want less updates from a specific circle, like your Birdwatching circle, and more from your Runners circle?

Go to the Home tab, click More in the top menu , and select one of your Circles from the drop down menu. In the In this circle section in the top right, click on the gear icon and choose Show posts in Home stream, where you can select Fewer, Standard, or More posts.

Unchecking Show posts in Home stream mutes the Circle, and you won’t see posts from anyone in that Circle in your Home stream.

Read more about subscription circles: how to get notifications from a circle

Collections

You may see posts in your stream with a blue text and icon: These posts belong to a Collection.
Collections allow people to categorise their posts and it also gives the followers a choice to unfollow certain topics they're not interested in: A win-win situation.

Follow or Unfollow Collections on desktop / browser: Click on the arrow menu top right in a post.  Or go to the Collection in question.  On mobile you can also tap on the bell for notifications or tap the "Following" for unfollow.

Get notified of your favourite Collection's posts: Click on the bell.

Find more topics and Collections which interest you by searching for keywords:  No need to even follow the person when you can just follow your interests - Collections.

Tips and posts about Collections:

How to Collect a post

Manage the Notifications

Get back to the main Collection

Everything you need to know about Collections

Collections Help Center articles from Google

Communities

Show more or less from a community

Visit one of your communities, and click on the gear above the community’s profile pic. Once again, check or uncheck Show posts in Home stream, and if checked, you can choose   Fewer, Standard, or More posts.

Regardless of your settings, you can always visit a specific circle or community to see everything that’s been shared.

Community post vs. a "normal post" shared in someone's profile: See the green icon and Community name on top.

Shared in the Google+ Help community:
https://plus.google.com/+JaanaNyström/posts/jU2LNzrLaBg

Shared on my profile:
https://plus.google.com/+JaanaNyström/posts/4fBwxsJBsHT

Why do you post into Communities?

More about sharing from communities:

Someone can reshare a community post in Public if the community where the post originates from is a Public one.
All "Private" communities posts have the sharing disabled by default.
To be able comment on a community post you should join the community in question.

This post is shared in the user's own profile, no green icon, the post is shared in Public.

You may see recommended posts from someone in your circles with a text on top: 
"(name here) +1'd this post".

You can disable this feature from your own settings by choosing the Settings from the left pop-up menu:

Direct link: https://plus.google.com/settings
-  and then choosing "Manage Apps and Activities"
Direct link: https://plus.google.com/apps
 -  again choosing "Google" from the top:
Direct link https://plus.google.com/apps/google

Manage your +1 Highlights on Google+: Who sees your recommendations in their stream
- who sees some of the posts you have given a +1 to. Google's algo decides which posts are displayed.

There's nothing you can do if the users in your circles have this setting on, bar ask them to disable the feature, uncircle them or just bear it.

A post recommended by a user: +1 Highlights. 

What's Hot and Recommended

What you see here depends on what types of posts you and the people in your circles most share or interact with.  Your shared interests.

Post from "What's Hot"

If you don't like what you see here, perhaps it's time to clean up your circles...  Or mute the WH stream.

Read more about "What's Hot"

Mute the "What's Hot and Recommended", then you won't see any more posts in your Home stream.

From Top Contributor +Peggy K:

Control how often you see "What's Hot"  posts in the Google+ Android app

Here is how you can control how often you see What's Hot or Recommended posts in the most recent version of the Google+ App:

1. Open the app and tap "Home" under your name

2. Scroll down and tap "What's Hot"

3. On the "What's Hot" screen tap the gear icon

4. Tap "Amount" 

5. Tap "Few" or "None" 

Tagging

If someone from your circles gets tagged in a photo, you may see a post.  You can decide who can automatically tag you in your settings.

Someone in your Circles or Extended Circles was tagged in a photo

Google+ tips for newbies and old hands!

This link for the Google+ post below is easy to remember and save: Full of great links for Google+ use.

http://bit.ly/TopContributorTips

More about your settings: