Technology How To

Introduction
Google Documents is a web-based word processor that allows users to simply view or collaborate on a document over the internet. Google Docs also offers presentation and spreadsheet formats, but this handout will specifically focus on the document format. Thankfully, Google’s features are very user-friendly, therefore the menu options on all of the formats are very similar and easy to use.

***In order to use Google Docs, you must have a Google Account***

To access Google Docs, go to docs.google.com and sign in with your Google Account

Creating a Document
Once you are signed in, your Google Docs homepage will appear. To create a new document, simply click on the New tab, and scroll down to Document. The new and blank Google Document will appear.

To change the title of your page, simply click on the already given page name (”Untitled”) and type in a new title of your choice.

Sharing a Document
Google Documents allows the user to easily share their document in two different ways

• The user can invite collaborators who can edit the document and invite more users
• The user can invite viewers who cannot edit the document and can view it only

To share your document, click the Share tab at the top-right corner of the page and scroll down to Invite People

From here, the user can choose whether to invite people to edit or view. After choosing one of those two options, type the e-mail addresses of the desired users. You may also choose to invite an entire Google group by typing in the Google group address (YOURGROUP@googlegroups.com).
***Note*** The other users must have a Google Account to access the document!! However the document can be sent as an e-mail attachment as shown in the Share tab if the desired user does not have a Google account.

Text Editing
Google Docs offers text editing and formatting that is very similar to Microsoft Word. As shown in the toolbar below, font, paragraph and page formatting are all readily available. Google Docs also offers Headings that can be reached by selecting the Format tab, clicking styles then choosing the desired heading.

Inserting Items
Google Docs allows the user to insert items just like a normal word processor. Click on the Insert tab a choose to insert a picture, link, table, comments, etc.

Saving Document to Microsoft Word
If you desire to save your Google Document as a Microsoft Word document, simply go to File, scroll down to Download File As and click on Word. The document will then load as a Word document and you can save the file to your hard drive.

Printing a Google Document
When clicking File>Print, the Google Document will turn into a PDF file in order to print. However, as explained before, the Google Document can be created into a Microsoft Word Document where it can also be printed.

Introduction
Google Sites is a simple way to create a web page without the hassle of HTML code or Cascading Style Sheets as displayed in Dreamweaver. Google’s template is not for creating web pages that need a slick display. Rather, Google’s basic setup allows for a page that can help a user display important information to thousands of people at the click of a button. A user can have a web page that includes news, calendars, countdowns, mailing list sign-ups, etc. Best of all, its FREE and simple to maintain.

Initial Setup
In order to create a site through Google, users must create a Google Account. It’s FREE and very easy to setup.

1. Go to www.google.com
2. Click Sign In
3. Click Create an Account Now

If you use G-mail, Google Docs, Picasa, etc., you already have a Google Account!

Once the account is created, sign into Google with a User Name and Password.

While signed in, click the more link at the top left of the main Google page and scroll down to Sites.

Creating A Site
While at the Google Sites main page click on the Create new site button. This will allow the user to enter the following:

• Name of the Site
• Site Description
• Site Accessibility
• Site Theme

Enter in the security code and just like that, the new site has been created! The user should now be at their new site “Home” page.

Basic Googles Site Features
Now that the site is set up. here are a few important features of the Google Sites Template:

Navigation/ “Side” Bar- Provides a list of links to the pages that can be accessed within the site

Page Display- The central part of the site that displays information from individual pages on the site

Page Toolbar- Located above the Page Display; allows the user to Edit Site Settings, Create a New Page, Edit a Page, etc.

Site Search- Located in the top right corner of the screen; allows user to search keywords throughout the site

Page Toolbar

Site Settings
The Site Settings tab is located at the right end of the page toolbar. This is a great starting point because within this link the user can control who has access to their site, the overall appearance of their site, and the general settings of their site (site name, landing page, etc.)

Creating a New PageGoogle kindly starts the user off with a “Home” page and a “Sitemap.” However, it is obvious that more pages are needed to make this site usable. To add more pages to the site, simply click on Create a New Page in the Page Toolbar. From here the user can enter multiple page settings including:

• Page Name
• Type of Page - Web Page, Dashboard (Refer to the Dashboard option section to receive further information on this very useful option), Announcements, File Cabinet and List
• Page Location (Putting the page at the “top level” makes the page its own individual link, while putting it under another page makes it a sub-page)

Lastly, clickCreate Page

Edit PageTo edit the content within a particular page, simply click on the link of the page in the Navigation Bar and then click the Edit Page button in the Page Toolbar. From the Edit Page screen, the user can edit the font, content, insert tables, insert pictures, etc.

Dashboard OptionGoogle Sites is such a fantastic tool in that it allows the user to take all of its other Google programs and apply it to their Google site. For example, with a Google account a user can create a Google Calendar, a Google Document or even a Picasa Photo album, all of which can be added to the Google Site. The Dashboard option within the Create New Page tab is the gateway to this useful opportunity.

• First, click on Create New Page within the Page Toolbar
• Check the Dashboard option and fill out all other necessary information

• Here the user can choose to enter multiple Google gadgets or remove the other gadget fields by clicking on the field and selecting the Remove link
• Once the desired amount of gadget fields are on the screen, click on the gadget field and select from the list of Google options (i.e. calendar, document, Picasa, or even a YouTube video)

If you selected:

Google Calendar

• Google Sites asks for the URL address of the Google Calendar
• To obtain the URL, open up a new tab and go to www.google.com, click on the More link and find Google Calendar
• Create a new calendar for the subject of the Google Site using the My Calendar tab on the left side of the page
• With the new calendar up on the screen, click the Settings link in the My Calendar
• Next, click the link of the name of the new calendar that appears on screen and scroll down to “Calendar Address”
• Click the blue HTML button and the calendar URL will appear - Copy and Paste into the site

Spreadsheet Form

• The Spreadsheet Form runs through Google Documents and acts as a very easy way to create a mailing list or a questionnaire for your Google Site
• Information inserted in the form on the site is put into an organized spreadsheet, complements of Google
• To access Google Documents, click the Documents link at the top of the main google.com page
• From here, click the New tab and scroll down to Form
  
• The main spreadsheet form editing page will now appear- Title the form and add all desired questions

YouTube Video

• Simply look up a video on YouTube and copy the link into the HTML field shown below

More Actions
The More Actions tab in the Page Toolbar holds many important editing options for a page as well. The three most important options in the More Options tab are the following:

• Page Settings- The page is created, but its not showing up in the Navigation Bar? Here the user can check off the box that indicates “Show this is ‘Navigation’ in the sidebar.” Now the page is easily accessible for site visitors
• Print- Easily print the content from an individual page, rather than having the site template on the printout
• Delete- If the page is no longer useful to the site, use the delete option to erase the page permanently