Tip Sheet for Google Docs

TLT Group Tip Sheet for Google Documents

For more resources about educational uses of GDS (Google Document or Spreadsheet) from the TLT Group, see:

Click here for info about educational uses of Google Docs, etc.

Click here for info about copying Google Docs

IT IS OFTEN USEFUL TO INSERT SOME VERSION OF THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH AT THE TOP OF A GOOGLE DOCUMENT - ESPECIALLY IF THE DOCUMENT IS LIKELY TO BE USED BY PEOPLE NEW TO GOOGLE DOCUMENTS.
Note: You can view a Google Doc in two different modes - "edit" and "preview."
It's easier to follow the "hot links" if you are in preview mode.
To change to "preview" mode, click the blue "Preview" link above.
When in preview mode, items that appear to be "hot links" function as hot links do when viewed by most browsers - you can click once and be taken to the intended topic/area. However, you cannot change the document in "preview mode."
To change a document, switch to "edit" mode, click "edit this document" at the bottom right hand corner.
"Edit" mode is only available to those who have been made "collaborators" for this document.

If you can see Google Docs editing menus at the top of the document, you are in edit mode.
If you have succeeded in getting into preview mode, you will see no Google Docs editing menus.

SUMMARY OF THIS DOCUMENT

I. Different "Views" of Google Documents

II. Setting up Google Account: Pre-Requisite for Creating/Editing; NO IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE; NO ANONYMOUS CHANGES; MORE HELP

III. Getting Started: Explore "Edit" Options and Adjust Screen View

IV. Word-Processing Functions & Commands

V. Collaborators: Inviting/Adding; Emailing to; Removing Yourself

VI. Handy Features: Autosave, Separators, Access Previous Versions & Revisions, Colored Highlighting, Keyboard shortcuts

VII. Practical Advice for Working Simultaneously as a Group on a Shared Google Docs Document

VIII. Organizing a Collection of Google Docs Documents

IX. Google Docs Help Options

I. DIFFERENT VIEWS OF GOOGLE DOCUMENTS

NOTE: GOOGLE DOCS DOCUMENTS (including this one!) APPEAR DIFFERENTLY DEPENDING ON HOW YOU VIEW THEM.

A. PREVIEW VERSION OR PUBLISHED VERSION

IF YOU ARE USING "PREVIEW" OR VIEWING THE "PUBLISHED" VERSION YOU WILL NOT SEE MOST OF THE EDITING AND RELATED ICONS OR OPTIONS. You WILL NOT SEE all the icons or major tabs at the top left, such as: "File," "Edit," "Insert," "Revisions," etc. You will not see who else is looking at the document.

B. EDIT VERSION

IF YOU ARE THE ONE WHO CREATED THE DOCUMENT OR IF SOMEONE INVITED YOU TO BE A "COLLABORATOR" (AND YOU ACCEPTED) YOU CAN VIEW IT IN "EDIT" MODE. You WILL SEE all the icons or major tabs at the top left, such as: "File," "Edit," "Insert," "Revisions," etc.

II. SETTING UP GOOGLE ACCOUNT

Are these videos useful:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xM87V6EJWR4 (overkill? too techie? focuses on Google Analytics)

PRE-REQUISITE FOR CREATING/EDITING DOCUMENTS OR SPREADSHEETS

You must have a FREE Google Account to create or edit Google Docs & Spreadsheets.

You can get a Google Account at https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount

If you already have a Google Account, just go to http://docs.google.com/ and sign in.

Help with getting, modifying a Google Account

Google's help page: http://www.google.com/support/accounts/?hl=en

Excerpts from Google's help page for Google Accounts

"What's a Google Account? It's a unified login system that gives you access to: free Google services, including Google Docs, Google Pages, Google Groups, and more. See: http://www.google.com/options/
If you've used any Google services before, you probably already have a Google Account. Your account username is probably the email address you used during the process of creating your Google Account.

A note about Gmail: Creating a Google Account won't automatically give you a Gmail account, nor will it affect your current emailing capabilities. Creating a Gmail account, however, does automatically allow you to sign in to any of the services mentioned above. Just enter your Gmail username and password. I.e., if you already have a Gmail account, you can use it as your Google Account if you wish.

How to create Google Account

Go to: http://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount

Enter the email address that you want to use for all subsequent Google services - an email address from which you currently send and receive email and which you are likely to check often enough for your transactions with Google services. THIS IS WHERE YOU WILL RECEIVE THE VERIFICATION EMAIL MESSAGE WHICH CONTAINS INFO AND INSTRUCTIONS ESSENTIAL TO COMPLETE THE REGISTRATION PROCESS.
Choose a password at least eight characters long and can't be a commonly used word. Select a unique combination of letters and numbers.
RECORD THE USERNAME AND PASSWORD SOMEWHERE TO HELP YOU EASILY RECALL AND USE THEM - but where others are unlikely to find them.
In the Word Verification section, type the wavy characters exactly as they appear in the picture.
When you receive the verification email message, click on the indicated link within it.

NOTE: NO IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE!
REMEMBER, THAT ONE OF THE VALUABLE FEATURES OF A GOOGLE DOCS DOC - SUCH AS THIS - IS THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT ACCIDENTALLY MESSING IT UP, BECAUSE NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, PREVIOUS VERSIONS ARE STILL AVAILABLE TO ALL.

NOTE: NO ANONYMOUS INSERTIONS, CHANGES, EDITING
YOU CANNOT EDIT A GOOGLE DOCUMENT ANONYMOUSLY.
It is up to you whether or not you insert your name or other identifying info along with any change you make; however, all "collaborators" can - with very little effort - determine at least the Google Account identity associated with any and every editing change!

MORE HELP

Once you go to Google docs, you'll find the Help link (upper right) helpful for most questions.

See end of this document for a list of questions addressed in the Google Doc help menu - and to get an idea about what's possible in Google Documents.

Below are a few hints from the TLT Group to get you started.

III. USEFUL FIRST STEPS - EXPLORE EDIT OPTIONS, ADJUST SCREEN VIEW

Useful first Step - Exploring "Edit" Options: WHEN IN EDIT MODE YOU WILL SEE several "tabs" near the top left of this and other Google Docs documents. If you click on the "Edit" tab, you will see a blue Edit options bar just above the main body of the document. Notice the row of small icons within that blue bar. If you pause your cursor over each of these icons for a few seconds you will see a few words explaining the purpose of that option. If you click on one of these icons you will either find a pull-down menu or some other action will be initiated.

Useful Viewing Hint: The way in which you configure your own browser, and the size of your computer screen may limit what is displayed. If you change your desktop and/or browser to "full screen" view you will be able to see a more complete display of Google Docs features and options.

If you use the email option within Google Docs, you may discover that you've entered the subject and the message text and selected the recipients but NOW the button you would click to send the message is inaccessible and below the window frame you're using… and you cannot reach it by scrolling. The solution: Go to the browser "view" menu and select "full screen" ; to get out of full screen you can minimize that window. Better? solution: with the cursor located within the part of the window that is available for inserting the main body of your message, press the Tab key a few times in succession. Each time you should get a view of a lower part of the window.

IV. WORD-PROCESSING FUNCTIONS, COMMANDS

Commands similar to well-known WP programs (MS Word, ClarisWorks, etc).

Control (Apple key) +C or +X or +V for copy, cut, and paste.
One click drops cursor. Two clicks highlights a word; three clicks highlights a line/paragraph.
Highlight and then use icon pull-downs to change font, size, color, style (though sometimes these formatting things are uncooperative and clunky)
HINT: if you are copying and pasting from another document, just before you paste into Google make sure the Bold (or Italic, etc) icon on the menu bar is NOT highlighted. Otherwise everything you paste will be bold, no matter what the original looked like, and it’s nearly impossible to change back again. (This hint doesn't always work & I can't figure out why.)

V. COLLABORATORS - Inviting/Adding; Emailing to; Removing Yourself

ADDING SOMEONE AS A COLLABORATOR
TO A GOOGLE DOCUMENT OR SPREADSHEET THAT YOU HAVE CREATED (OR FOR WHICH YOU ARE A COLLABORATOR)
When you have been added as a collaborator to a Google Document or Spreadsheet (GDS), you can edit that document. You are also permitted/enabled to send email to other collaborators and to add other collaborators for that particular document or spreadsheet. You can also remove a collaborator - preferably only doing so with the permission and knowledge of that collaborator! NOTE: If the original creator of the document decided NOT to permit others to add collaborators, that function will not be available to you.
Click on Collaborate tab. Add email addresses in the obvious box for those whom you are inviting to share the document. Multiple email addresses can be added at the same time. Separate them by commas or hard linebreaks. You will then be asked if you wish to send them an email message notifying them of their new status - and the URL for this document.
Once the address has been used for one GDS (Google Document or Spreadsheet) it will "pop-up" as a choice if you create another document and begin to type in the same collaborator. There is a way of importing gmail contacts into GDS.
Until someone informs the "collaborators" of the URL for the document, they will be unable to participate!
SEND EMAIL TO COLLABORATORS
At any time, when you have opened a Google Doc or Spreadsheet that you created or for which you are one of the collaborators, you can click on the "Email" option near the upper right (when in edit view) and then select as many of the other collaborators as you wish to receive an email message. You may also decide whether or not to include a copy of the current version of the document within that email message.
REMOVING YOURSELF AS A COLLABORATOR FROM A GOOGLE DOCUMENT OR SPREADSHEET
AT ANY TIME if you prefer NOT to continue as a "collaborator": Open the document, click the "Collaborate" tab, then click the "Remove" link next to your name - or, if you see a box with an "x" in it next to your name, click on that "x". You will no longer be a collaborator. You should be able to find your name or part of your email address under the list of collaborators that appears in the upper right portion of this screen.

VI. HANDY FEATURES: AUTOSAVE, SEPARATORS, PREVIOUS VERSIONS/REVISIONS, COLORED HIGHLIGHTING

Handy features of this program

When you first create a new document, the program will ask if you want to autosave. About every 30 seconds the system will automatically save the current version of the document. Autosaving also acts as an auto refresh for others viewing the document while changes are being made.
Help make organization visible by adding separators quickly: pull down from Insert à Separator à horizontal line
Check previous versions of the document by pulling down from Revisions tab
Each revision of the document is saved as a separate file – forever. Revisiting past versions is easy; you can tell which collaborator added what.
Permanent colored highlighting is possible by using icon between text color and link icons
You can insert a table into a Google Document by going to Insert>Table. Be sure to choose a Border color (ex.Black), otherwise the table will not appear in "Preview" mode.
To delete columns or rows, or insert columns or rows, put your cursor in an appropriate cell and (for PC users) right click.
My favorite page in their help center: Keyboard Shortcuts http://docs.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=66280

VII. PRACTICAL ADVICE FOR COLLABORATIVE WORK ON A SHARED DOCUMENT - ESPECIALLY SYNCHRONOUS WORK!

Hints about group work on shared document

When working synchronously (e.g., talking on a telephone conference call) when editing a document -- elect one person to type in notes or changes so one command doesn’t block out another.
Have everyone except the notetaker view the document in Preview mode (click "Preview" icon above blue tool bar). This avoids having the page view jump unexpectedly for everyone else every time someone makes a change. (To get out of preview mode, press the back arrow or click on the "edit" option in the bottom right-hand corner of the document.)
Those in preview mode should click on Refresh periodically -- that will not change anyone else's page, will not interfere with the notetaker's progress, will allow most recent additions to appear. Changes to the document will ONLY appear to those viewing in "Preview" or published mode after "refreshing" the image.
When editing with/for a group, defer formatting decisions (font, color, size, ...) and concentrate on content and structure.
If format/appearance is important to the group (as in publishing it to the outside world)-- assign one person to copy and paste the final Google doc into a word-processing program, fix format, and email as attachment to desired recipients or distirute and use in any other way.
Changing file name (from pull down File menu to Rename) will NOT change the URL (Internet address) of the document, which is helpful for those who store URL hotspots in a desktop folder.

VIII. ORGANIZING A COLLECTION OF GOOGLE DOCS DOCUMENTS

Organizing your documents in folders by topic, etc.. (A document can appear in more than one folder)

To create a folder, go to the table of contents (home) page. Use the "New" menu to create your folders.
To move a document into a folder, put the mouse on the document icon (not on its title - if you do that, it opens the document) and drag the document into the folder. To move more than one document at a time (into, for example, a folder called "priority", click the box to the left of its icon, putting an "x" there. Click all the documents that will go into the 'priority' folder. Then pull down the "add to folder" menu and choose 'priority' - all those documents will be added to the 'priority' folder.
To see the documents in a folder, click on that folder (on the left hand side of the table of contents screen)
Tip: if you open a folder, and then drag a document into a second folder, it will be moved out of the first folder. So, if you want the document to appear in both folders, use the method described in the second bullet above ("To move a document into a folder")
Tip: To keep yourself organized, periodically open the folder called "Items not in folders"

IX. Public/Privacy - Searchability of Google Documents
Can you be sure that the "right people" can find your document and that the "wrong people" cannot?

From Drew Smith:

If the document isn't published, then nobody can see it without permission/authorization.

Quoting From the Google Docs Help Center:

"'Can anyone find my documents or spreadsheets by searching for them on Google?'

"No. Robots and spiders can't get to your documents or spreadsheets unless you publish your documents/spreadsheets, or elect to share your spreadsheets with everyone. Even then, however, you must reference the published/shared URL from pages outside of Google Docs & Spreadsheets to have it appear in Google's search index.

"Translation: The URL of a published document is not automatically indexed by the Google search engine spider. However, if the URL of a published document is linked to from a page that the Google search engine spider already knows about, then the spider can (and eventually will) follow that link and then index the contents of that document."

X. GOOGLE DOCS HELP OPTIONS

Check the Help Menu for Answers to These Questions about Google Docs (Plus Troubleshooting Tips):

OR You can just check out this list to see what's possible with Google Spreadsheets.

NOTE: http://groups.google.com/group/GoogleDocsSpreadsheets is a good resource for seeing tips and questions from other users of Google Docs and Spreadsheets.

Creating and Saving

· How do I name or rename a document?

· How do I delete a document or spreadsheet?

· How can I save a copy of a document to my hard drive?

· How do I email in?

· How do I upload a file?

· How do I create a new document?

· How do I insert a clickable URL into my document?

·   How do I link to bookmarks in my document?

Basic Editing

· How do I get a word count for my documents?

· Are there any keyboard shortcuts that I can use when editing my documents?

· How do I spellcheck my document?

· Can I spellcheck my document in a language other than English?

Advanced Editing

· How do I format my document in columns?

· How do I edit a comment?

· What happens to my comments when I post to my blog?

· Who can see my comments in documents?

· How can I add comments to a document?

· Is it possible to freeze rows?

· Can I put a spreadsheet into my document?

Organizing Your Files

· What’s the difference between “Active,” “Tagged,” “Starred,” and “All” in the “Browse Docs & Spreadsheets” menu?

· How do I tag a document or spreadsheet?

· How do I sort my list of documents and spreadsheets?

· What does "Browse Docs & Spreadsheets?" do?

· Does the search cover archived items?

· How do I search for a document or spreadsheet that I edited two weeks ago?

· How do I save a document or spreadsheet to my local computer?

Printing

· How do I print my document?

Importing and Exporting

· Which file types can I use to save a copy of my documents to my hard drive?

· Which file types of document files can I import?

· How do I upload multiple documents?

Collaborating and Publishing

Overview

· After I add my collaborators, how do I go back to editing my page?

· What is the difference between owners, collaborators, and viewers?

· What do you mean by publishing?

· How do I publish a document as a web page?

· What can my collaborators do with a document once I've shared it with them?

· What is collaboration?

· How does my Gmail contacts list work with Google Docs & Spreadsheets?

Working with Collaborating

· How do I remove myself as a collaborator on a document or spreadsheet?

· Is chat available for my documents?

· What are comments, and what can I do with them?

· Can I remove a collaborator?

· What can my collaborators do with a document once I've shared it with them?

· How do I share a document with someone?

· How can I add collaborators to a document or spreadsheet?

· How do I know if another collaborator is editing a document or spreadsheet simultaneously?

· How many people can edit a document or spreadsheet at once?

Publishing

· Can I post my documents to Blogger in beta?

· Can I allow others to view but not edit my documents?

· What if I want to update or remove a blog post?

· How do I post a document to my blog?

· What blogs can I post to?

· How can I instruct Google Docs & Spreadsheets to publish my documents to my blog?

This document was created by The TLT Group. If you make use of it, we would appreciate it if you acknowledge our work. If you discover an error please contact Lisa Star (star@tltgroup.org) and tell her in detail so we can repair and improve this Tip Sheet.

Thanks!