Introduction to Google Docs

1 What is Google Docs?

2 Setting up a Google account
3 Navigating Google Docs
4 Creating new Google Docs projects
5 Sharing, publishing, collaborating
If you do not have a Google 6 Revision history
account please see the instructor 7 Forms
about setting up an account
before the class begins. If you do
not want to set up an account you
can follow along with the
handout.

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1.1 What is Google Docs?

While most people use Google as a search engine to find information on the internet, Google has created numerous
other services or ‘applications’ to assist computer users, often providing them free of charge. By providing many of these
applications via the internet and for free, Google encourages a new approach to computing. Most computer users still use their
personal computer to store software and the different files they create. Google’s applications are often software that you do not
have to load on your computer but access via the internet the same way you would your email account. Google pushes
computer users to move away from the PC-based model of computing for a web-based model, or what is often called ‘cloud
computing’. Cloud computing is a model for computer users in which they go to the internet for just about any project or task.
As wireless internet becomes more accessible, and more people use mobile devices, cloud computing will offer more and more
services.
One important feature of the cloud computing trend involves office software, which till now has been dominated by PC-
based software, primarily Microsoft (MS) Office. Google Docs is Google's web-based office suite. Google Docs and MS Office
each have their benefits and drawbacks. On the one hand, Google Docs offers free access, free online storage, and a number
of collaborative features. On the other hand, MS Office remains the most widely used office suite, has numerous features that
Google Docs does not, and offers much more support and training opportunities. Also, in response to Google Docs, MS has
recently launched SkyDrive, a web-based, stripped-down version of MS Office. It is important to remember that Google Docs is
always being revised, and has some limitations. Google Docs will get better over time but it has a long way to go before it
matches MS Office. Yet, for many people, it provides the basic programs they need to complete their daily tasks, and the
storage, collaboration and accessibility features MS Office and other programs do not. This guide will help those unfamiliar with
Google Docs to decide if it can be useful for them. It assumes you have limited computer experience and covers the most
basic operations for using Google Docs. Finally, by learning how to use Google Docs, attendees will hopefully gain a better
understanding of the cloud computing trend.

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1.2 What is Google Docs?

Google Docs: Microsoft (MS) Office:

 a web-based office suite: the office programs, and  a PC-based office suite: the programs and the
the documents you create with them, are all kept documents you create with them remain on a
on a Google server and accessed via the internet at computer or local drive;
docs.google.com;
 MS Office must be purchased, registered and loaded
 available to anyone with internet access whether onto a computer;
through a PC, laptop or mobile device;
 MS Office provides more sophisticated features and,
 free with a Google account; if you have a Gmail as a fixed and widely used program, more resources
account you already have access to Google Docs; are available for guiding and training the user.

 allows you to share documents for viewing and Office Web Apps/SkyDrive:
editing, and allows multiple users to collaborate  a web-based office-suite: the office programs, and the
simultaneously on a project over the web; documents you create with them, are all kept on a MS
server and accessed on the internet; it is provided by
 1 GB of free storage space; you can purchase extra MS and basically provides a stripped down version of
storage space starting at .25/GB/year; MS Office (no footnotes, line spacing, etc.); again, this
is not the same MS Office suite as what you purchase!
 Google Docs has limited features; it is constantly www.live.com;
under revision and open to change; it has very
limited support and training opportunities.  free, but requires a Windows Live account; if you have
a Windows Live account you can already access it;

 allows users to share documents but not collaborate;

 25 GB of free storage space.

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2.1 Setting up a Google account

By creating a Google account you have free access

to Google Docs and many other Google
applications. To create a Google account:
 go to www.google.com, and in the top right
hand corner click on Sign in;

 on the sign in page, beneath Google

Account, click on Don’t Have a Google
Account? Create An Account Now; if you
have a Google or Gmail account, Google’s
email service, you can simply log-in with
your existing account;

 otherwise, on the Create an Account page

enter your current email address (it does
not have to be a Gmail account), create a
password and choose your settings, such
as enabling web browser history or setting
Google as your default webpage;

 if you do not have an email account, or want

to create a Gmail account, just go to Gmail
at the top of the Google page.

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2.2 Setting up a Google account

• After you submit your application for a

Google account you will receive an email
from Google to validate your application.
Follow the instructions in the email to
validate your account. When you create
your Google account you now have access
to other Google services, like Google
Calendar and Google Reader.

• By establishing a Google account you

automatically agree to the terms of service,
which is typical of any web service you sign
up for.

• Your projects on Google Docs are stored on

Google Docs servers, and accessed on the
internet. According to the terms of service,
if you are ever unable to pull up your saved
documents from Google, or if Google loses
those documents, Google is not
responsible.

• Once you establish your account with

Google you can immediately access Google
Docs. After you sign in you will see the
Google search page you are familiar with.
On the upper left hand row of icons click on
MORE. In the drop down menu click on
Documents. The next page is the Google
Docs home page. Or, you can just go to the
web address docs.google.com.

• Log in to Google Docs the same way you

would log in to your email account, with
user name and password.

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3.1 Navigating Google Docs

Once you establish your

Google account and log
into Google Docs you
should see the Google
Docs home page or
Documents list. You want to
take note of several
features:

1) Create and Upload

start new projects,
upload existing files
from your PC, or find
a template;

2) Docs List
your projects with
format, title, shared
status, folder;

3) Filter & Sort

search by doc type,
and visibility or
ownership status;
organize your
projects list by date,
title, priority;

4) Details Pane
view the details of
each project, a
snapshot, sharing
status, creation date,
etc.
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4.1 Creating new Google Docs projects
By clicking on Create new, a menu will
drop down with options for creating new
projects.

 Document is a word processing

program similar to MS Word.

 Presentation is a slideshow
program similar to MS PowerPoint.

 Spreadsheet is a spreadsheet
program similar to MS Excel.

 Form is a program for creating

web-based surveys and invitations,
and which allows you to track
responses.

 Drawing is a program similar to

Painting from Accessories in MS
Windows.

 Collections allows you to create

new or arrange existing folders for
organizing your projects.

 From template brings up hundreds

of templates using Google Docs;
these include budgets, resumes,
letters and more; most of these
templates are projects created by
Google Docs users who submit
them for open use.

To the right of Create New is the Upload

option. 7
4.2 Creating new Google Docs projects: uploading and downloading

Uploading
You can import existing projects from your
computer or external drive into Google Docs.
To upload a document:

• click Upload, to the right of Create new;

• a window displaying the drives on the

computer appears; choose the drive
and then the file you want to upload;

• the projects you import into Google

Docs can be in different formats; for
example, you can upload an old MS
Word document or a PDF from your
computer into Google Docs (further on
we will discuss formats and
conversion);

• on the Upload Settings window select

your conversion settings; unless you
command otherwise, Google Docs will
automatically convert the uploaded file
into a Google Docs format; you do not
have to convert a file to store it in your
Google Docs account, simply uncheck
the box reading ‘Convert…’; to edit an
uploaded project you must convert it
into a Google Docs format.

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4.3 Creating new Google Docs projects: uploading and downloading

Downloading

You can also download a Google Docs project to

your computer or portable drive:

• from the Docs List, choose the projects you

want to download by clicking once on the
document in the Docs list but not on the title;
clicking on the title will open the document;

• after highlighting the document in the Docs

list, right-click on the highlighted area to pull
up a menu with various actions you can take
on that project; or, highlight the project and
at the top of the Docs list click on Actions for
the same menu; choose Download from the
menu;

• on the Convert & Download window choose

the format you would like to export the
project into; projects have to be converted
into a new format to be exported to a
computer or drive; the example to the right is
a Google Document (a word processing
project) so the drop down menu offers HTML,
RTF, MS Word and other format options for
exporting;

• if you would like to export all your Google

Docs at once, in the Convert & Download
window select the All Items tab and choose
the export format for each of the different
projects; you can export up to 2 GB in a
single export, though keep in mind that
multiple or larger projects take a longer time
to download. 9
4.4 Creating new Google Docs projects: uploading and downloading

Downloading

You can also

download from an
open project:

• click on File in
the top left
corner;

• in the drop
down menu
find Download
as;

• select the
format in
which you
want to
download it.

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4.5 Creating new Google Docs Projects: Conversion and File Formats

Files, Formats and Conversion

Whether you are exporting a Google Doc to your own computer, or
uploading a document from your computer into Google Docs, you will
need to consider formatting:
 Google Docs is compatible with a number of file formats, including
most MS Office formats;
 some features or settings in a particular document may be lost in
conversion;
 each program in the office suite has different conversion settings
and formats it can be converted to and from;
 Google routinely makes changes to these settings to adapt to
newly available formats. Below are several links to listings of the
different file formats compatible with Google Docs.

Converting uploaded files to Google Docs formats

Converting exported Google Docs to other formats

Google Docs Storage

 Google Docs provides you with 1GB of free storage space; you can
store documents you have converted into a Google Docs format,
unconverted documents, and even files that Google Docs cannot
open, such as image and audio files.
 You can purchase extra storage space from Google for .25
/GB/year.

Google Docs Storage

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5.1 Sharing, Collaborating & Publishing
Sharing is an important feature of
Google Docs. First, we will cover the
different ways to share your
document, and then go over editing,
viewing and permissions:

• from the Docs list select the

project you want to share; from
the right-click or Actions menu
select Share; on the drop down
menu select how you want to
share it;

• if you have the project open, in

the top right-hand corner find
the same Share option.

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5.2 Sharing, Collaborating, Publishing

In the Sharing settings window, add who you would like to share
the project with and the kind of permissions you want to give
them:

• in the field at the bottom beneath Add people: type in the

email address of the person; those you have already
shared the project with will appear in the list above;

• on the right-hand side, beneath the Change icon, you will

find the permissions status of each person.

There are three kinds of permission you can share with someone:

 Is owner: the person who creates and initially shares the

project is the owner; the owner determines who to share
the project with and what sort of permissions others have;
only the owner can permanently delete a shared project; at
the bottom right corner, under Change, the owner can
reduce the editor’s permissions so that editors can only
make changes to the project, they cannot offer or change
permissions for others;

 Can edit: editor status allows people to make changes to

the project, share the project with others, and designate
edit or view status; they cannot delete the item; the owner
can prohibit the editor from sharing and changing
permissions;

 Can view: view status means a person can view the

document but cannot make change or share the project.

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5.3 Sharing, Collaborating, Publishing

The recipient of your invitation to share a project

will see an email like the one in the window to the
right:

• recipients will then have to follow the link to

Google Docs and set up an account in order
to view the document;

• if the recipient of the invitation has a Gmail

account, the link will take them directly to
Google Docs.

There are several sharing options. On the share

menu you can also select:
 Email editors/viewers: For those you have
already shared the project with you can
directly email them from here; their email
addresses will automatically appear in the
address box.

 Email as attachment: If you would like to

share a project with someone who does not
want to use Google Docs, select this option
and the project is automatically attached to
an email in the format you want; simply
type in their email address and send.

 Publish to the web: Recreates your project

as a webpage with its own URL.

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5.4 Sharing, Collaborating, Publishing

On the Sharing Settings window select your Visibility

options by clicking on Change in the top right hand
corner. There are three options:

Private:
 all Google Docs projects start out under this
setting; only those you have granted
permission and extended an invitation to can
view projects under these settings; the invitee
must have or set up a Google account to
access the project.

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5.5 Sharing, Collaborating, Publishing

Anyone with the link:

 this option allows anyone with the URL to

access the project, without logging into or
creating a Google Docs account; also, you
can allow anyone with the link to edit a
project;

 on the Sharing settings window select

Anyone with the link; if you want to allow
anyone to edit the project check the box
beneath Edit access; remember, with this
option anyone who can get the URL can
edit the project however they like;
otherwise simply leave it unchecked and
click Save;

 on the next window near the top you will

see the URL highlighted; you can copy and
paste it, or Google provides links to Gmail,
or Facebook and other sites where you
might want to post it.

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5.6 Sharing, Collaborating, Publishing

Public on the web:

 the Public on the web option is almost

exactly the same as the Anyone with the
link option, except that it posts your project
as an open webpage; it can be found and
viewed on the internet without logging into
Google Docs; the project may show up in
an internet search, though not necessarily;
if you make changes to the document those
changes will not show up unless you
choose that option;

 on the Sharing settings window, under

Visibility options select Public on the web;
if you want to allow anyone who comes to
the page to be able to edit it, whether you
gave them the link to the webpage or they
just discovered it through an internet
search, then check the box under Edit
access; if you want to prohibit editing,
simply leave the box blank;

 similar to the Anyone with the link option, in

the next window you will find a URL at the
top of the page that you can copy and paste
or forward to Gmail, Facebook, etc.; the
project is now a webpage for anyone on the
internet to find; when you are finished click
Close.

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5.7 Sharing, Publishing, Collaborating

Making a project public & private

You can simultaneously publish a project and make it

private:

 go to the Share menu and set your Sharing

settings to Private;

 then go back up to the Share menu and select

Publish to the Web;

 under Control publishing you can select whether

or not you want the Web version of the project to
be updated with each revision;

 the simultaneous Private and Publish to the Web

option allows you to keep revising a project that
you have published, while controlling what
version is published to the Web; also, the project
you publish is an HTML embeddable file.

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5.8 Sharing, Publishing, Collaborating

Collaborating is a special feature of Google Docs.

When you share a document and give others
permission to edit, you can simultaneously edit
the project with up to 50 other people (only 10
editors at a time for Presentations):

 log into your Google account and open up

a project that you have already shared with
collaborators; have your collaborators log
in and open the project at the same time;

 on the right-hand side of the page you will

see a chat window that lists the editors
currently working on a project; next to
each editor is a colored box; when the
editor makes a change to the document
you will see their changes in real time and
the same colored box above their changes;

 at the bottom is a chat box to communicate

with your fellow collaborators.

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6.1 Revision history

Google Docs tracks the revisions of each project

both for private and collaborative projects.

 After opening the project click on File and

select See revision history in the drop down
menu.

 On the right-hand side of the page you will

see Document history, a chronological list
of the revisions that includes the date, time
and those involved in the revision, with
editors designated by colored boxes. Each
box in the list is called a Time stamp.

 If you click once on a revision the edits

made during that revision will be
highlighted. Notice in the bottom right
snapshot that the first revision is
highlighted and in the body of the project
the edits are highlighted in green to
designate the collaborator who made them.
The text she deleted is highlighted in green
and crossed out and any other additions
she made are highlighted in green.

 If you want to revert back to an earlier

version of your project simply click on that
Time stamp and click Restore this revision;
by restoring an older version you do not
lose the current version. It simply becomes
another past revision you can restore.

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7.1 Forms

Google Docs Forms allows you to create your own surveys,

questionnaires and invitations, and track the responses:
 from the Create New drop down menu, select Forms;
 you will then see a template with which you can
construct your form;
 fill in the fields as designated; the top field, Untitled
form, provides a space for your title;
 below is a field for subtitles, instructions, or messages;
 in the yellow section, in the field next to Question Title,
you will type your question; add any additional text in
the second field;
 under Question Type choose the format of your
question, whether a textbox for individual responses,
multiple choice, checkboxes, etc.;
 when you have typed in the question click Done;
 to create another question double click on the in the
area of Sample Question 2 and you will see the same
format;
 when you have entered your questions, select Email
this form to send it to your contacts or select More
actions to get a url that you can copy & paste or embed,
so that anyone with the link can access the form;
 once you send out your form, a spreadsheet for tracking
responses is automatically generated in your Google
Docs account; your questions are listed in columns, the
responses are dated and entered into the appropriate
cell; from this you can generate an attractive graph and
summary of responses.

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