Transcript Slide 1
Using Google Docs:
The Basics
Paul Jude Beauvais
August 31, 2009
What Is Google Docs?
• Google Docs is a free online service that
writers can use for composing and storing
documents. The Google Docs site also allows
writers to share their online documents with
others so that several people may work on a
single document without e-mailing it back and
forth.
Using Google Docs: Why? (1)
• Google Docs is free. Writers can use it without
purchasing any software or paying any fees.
(Students don’t need to buy Microsoft Office.)
• Google Docs users can access their documents
from any computer because the documents
are stored online. (Users also can download
documents to work on them off-line.)
Using Google Docs: Why? (2)
• Students can continue using Google Docs after
they leave our classes. (Some other
platforms—e.g., BlackBoard and the
proprietary sites that publishers provide—are
not available to students after they leave
college.)
Using Google Docs: Why? (3)
• Google Docs is a convenient platform for
viewing drafts of work without making
photocopies or e-mailing attachments.
• Google Docs is a convenient platform for
teachers to use in responding to drafts.
• Google Docs is a convenient platform for
students to use when composing and editing a
group project (as long as the collaborators
work sequentially instead of simultaneously).
Using Google Docs: Why Not? (1)
• Google Docs does not work well for
collaborative writing by multiple students
working simultaneously (i.e., “in real time”) on
a single document.
• Google Docs provides fewer format options
than Microsoft Word.
• Some formatting is lost when documents are
uploaded to or downloaded from Google Docs
(but much of it can be restored).
Using Google Docs: Why Not? (2)
• Microsoft is making Office available online. It’s
now available in a beta version for users of
live.com. If you really like using Microsoft
Word, you may want to wait a year and see
whether Microsoft Online Office meets your
needs better than Google Docs.
Setting Up an Account (1)
• Go to docs.google.com and bookmark this
page.
• Click on the “Get Started” Button.
• Enter your e-mail address.
• Enter a password.
• Re-enter the password.
Setting Up an Account (2)
• Uncheck “stay signed in” and “Enable Web
History.”
• Type the provided verification word in the
“Word Verification” box.
• Click the button labeled “I accept. Create my
account.” (This should take you to the
“Account Creation Confirmation” page.)
Setting Up an Account (3)
• On the “Account Creation Confirmation” page,
click the link labeled “Click here to continue.”
(This should take you to your Google Docs
“main” page, where you can create and
manage documents.)
• Although you now can create Google Docs,
you can’t share them with anyone until you
verify your account. (The next few slides
explain how to do this.)
Verifying an Account (1)
• Sign out of Google Docs.
• Check your e-mail at the address you entered
when registering for Google Docs. There you
should find a message with the subject line
“Google Email Verification.” Open this
message.
Verifying an Account (2)
• In the “Google Email Verification” message,
click on the link that follows the sentence, “To
activate your account and verify your email
address, please click on the following link.” A
window will pop up to confirm that you have
verified your account.
• Click the button that says “Click here to
continue.” This will return you to the sign-in
page for Google Docs. Sign in again.
Creating a New Document
in Google Docs (1)
• After signing in, click on the “New” button.
(It’s the left-most button in the blue toolbar.)
• Select “Document” from the list of options. (A
blank document labeled “Untitled” will open.)
• To rename the document, click on the word
“untitled.” (You will be prompted to give the
document a new name.)
• Begin composing using the default settings.
Creating a New Document
in Google Docs (2)
• Google Docs are formatted for viewing on a
screen, not a page. For this reason, they
display without margins, page breaks, or page
numbers. However, you can add some of
these features while you’re working on a
document, and you can add other features if
you format the document for printing.
Creating a New Document
in Google Docs (3)
• The default settings for a Google Doc are tenpoint Verdana type in a single-spaced
document.
• To change these settings, click on the “Edit”
button (in the light blue menu below the
document name) and select “Document
Style.” This will open a window that provides
options for changing type face, type size, line
spacing, and other features.
Creating a New Document
in Google Docs (4)
• If you want to make a Google Doc display in a
page-like “portrait” format instead of a
screen-like “landscape” format, click on
“View” and select “Fixed width page view.”
This will display the document as one
continuous page that is 8.5 inches wide. (You
can continue composing in this mode.)
Saving a New Document
in Google Docs (1)
• To save a Google Doc in your Google Docs site,
click on the “Save” button in the upper-right
corner. This saves the document in the “Web
Archive” (*.mht) format, designed for viewing
within the Google Docs site.
• You also can save by clicking the “File” button
in the light blue menu below the file name,
and then clicking “Save.”
Downloading a New Document
from Google Docs (1)
• You can download a Google Doc to work on it
offline or save it on your own computer.
• A downloaded Google Doc may lose some of
its formatting, but you can add features by
editing the document with Microsoft Word or
whatever other program you use to open it.
Downloading a New Document
from Google Docs (2)
• To download a Google Doc, click “File” (in the
light blue menu below the document title)
and then select “Download file as.”
• Select a file type for the document (e.g., PDF,
Word, or Text). A window will open, giving you
the option of saving the document. Click on
the “Save” button.
Uploading a Word Document to
Google Docs (1)
• In addition to creating documents in Google
Docs, you can upload Word documents to
Google Docs from your computer.
• Some layout features are lost when a Word
document is uploaded. Many (but not all) of
these features can be restored when you work
on the document in Google Docs.
• The simpler the Word document, the easier it
will be to work on in Google Docs.
Uploading a Word Document to
Google Docs (2)
• On your main Google Docs page, click on the
“Upload” button in the blue tool bar at the
top of the page.
• Click on the “Browse” button, and select a file
from your computer. Then click “Open.”
Uploading a Word Document to
Google Docs (3)
• Either keep the current name of the document
or type a new name in the box marked “What
do you want to call it?”
• Click the “Upload File” button. The file will
open in Google Docs.
• You now can work on the file as a Google Doc
and share it with others through Google Docs.
Sharing a Google Doc (1)
• A Google Doc can be shared with other people
who have Google Docs accounts. When you
share a document with someone, it appears
on the list of documents in the person’s main
Google Docs page. The person can open the
document from that page.
Sharing a Google Doc (2)
• When you share a Google Doc with someone,
you can designate whether the recipient will
be a collaborator (i.e., someone who can
change the document) or just a viewer (i.e.,
someone who can see the document but can’t
change it).
• If you do allow recipients to change a
document, you can track the changes and
accept or reject them.
Sharing a Google Doc (3)
• To share a document with someone, begin by
opening the document. (Do this by clicking on
it in your list of documents on your main
page.)
• When the document is open, click on the blue
“Share” button in the upper right-hand corner
above the document. Then select “Invite
people.” This will open a window labeled
“Share with others.”
Sharing a Google Doc (4)
• In the “Share with others” window, type (or
paste) the e-mail addresses of the recipients
with whom you want to share the document.
• Click to select either the “To edit” button (if
you want the recipients to be able to change
the document) or the “To view” button (if you
want the recipients to be able to read the
document but not to change it).
Sharing a Google Doc (5)
• You can share a document without notifying
the recipient (in which case it will just appear
in the person’s list of Google docs), or you can
notify the person by e-mail.
• To share the document without notifying the
recipient, click the link labeled “Add without
sending invitation.”
• To notify the recipient, type a subject line and
message. Then click the “Send” button.
Sharing a Google Doc (6)
• After clicking the “Share” button, a window
will appear to confirm that your message has
been sent. Click the “Save & Close” button to
conclude the “sharing” process.
Sharing a Google Doc (7)
• To remove recipients or change their
privileges, click on the “Share” button and
then select the option “See who has access.”
This will open a “Share with others” window,
with recipients listed on the left.
• A drop-down menu appears following each
recipient’s name. Select the “None” option in
this menu to remove a recipient.
• After making changes, click “Save & Close.”
Editing a Google Doc
as a Collaborator (1)
• When someone shares a document with a
recipient through Google Docs, the document
appears in the list of documents on the
recipient’s main Google Docs page.
• The recipient can click on the document to
open it.
Editing a Google Doc
as a Collaborator (2)
• If a recipient has “collaborator” privileges,
s/he can type changes right in the document,
just as the owner of the document would.
• After changing a document as a collaborator,
click “Save and Close.”
Viewing the Revision History of a
Google Doc (1)
• The owner and recipients (viewers and
collaborators) of a Google Doc can view the
revision history of the document. The owner
and collaborators also can choose whether to
accept changes or revert back to earlier
versions of the document.
Viewing the Revision History of a
Google Doc (2)
• To view the revision history of a document,
click on the “File” button in the light blue
menu below the document name. Then select
“Revision history.” This will display a
chronological list of all changes made to the
document, along with the name of the person
who made the changes.
Viewing the Revision History of a
Google Doc (3)
• To the left of each listed change is a link that
will open the version of the document that
contains that change, as well as any changes
made earlier.
• When a revised version of a document is
opened through “Revision History,” the
version number is displayed in the tool bar
above the document (e.g., “Showing revision
#5).
Viewing the Revision History of a
Google Doc (4)
• To the right of the version number (e.g.,
“Showing revision #5”) are buttons labeled
“Older” and “Newer.” These allow the viewer
to switch to versions of the document that
were produced before or after the one
containing the changes in the displayed
version.
Viewing the Revision History of a
Google Doc (5)
• To the right of the “Older” and “Newer”
buttons is another button labeled “Revert to
this one.” Clicking this button makes the
displayed version the “most current” version
of the document. (Reverting to an older
version eliminates changes made after that
version was produced.)
Viewing the Revision History of a
Google Doc (6)
• Clicking the “Revert to this one” button also
closes the “Revision history” display, returning
the viewer to the standard display of the
document.
• Click “Save and Close” to preserve changes
and exit the document.
Comparing Two Versions of a
Google Doc (1)
• To compare two versions of a Google Doc, first
open the current version of the document.
• Click “File” and then select “Revision history.”
• In the “Revision history” list, each link for a
numbered revision is preceded by a box.
Check the boxes next to the two versions that
you want to compare (e.g., check “Revision 5”
and “Revision 2”).
Comparing Two Versions of a
Google Doc (2)
• Click the “Compare Checked” button (in the
light blue tool bar above the list of revisions).
• A single document will open, and it will
contain a merged display of the versions. Any
differences between the versions will be color
coded. (Content that is in Version 2 but not in
Version 5 will be highlighted in one color;
content that is in Version 5 but not in Version
2 will be highlighted in a different color.)
Comparing Two Versions of a
Google Doc (3)
• A key for interpreting the color coding appears
at the right end of the light blue tool bar
above the document.
• The “Compare Checked” mode is useful for
comparing versions, but it is not possible to
edit in this mode. To resume editing, click
“Back to revision history.” Then click “Back to
editing.” This will return you to the current
version of the document.
E-Mailing a Google Doc
as an Attachment (1)
• To email a document to a recipient, begin by
opening the document.
• Click on “Share” and then select “Email as
attachment.” This will open a window labeled
“Email Document.”
• In the “Email Document” window, enter the email address of the recipient. You may also
want to type a message in the message box.
E-Mailing a Google Doc
as an Attachment (2)
• In the “Email Document” window, click the
button labeled “Email document as,” and then
use the drop-down menu following the button
to select a file type for the document (e.g.,
Word document or PDF).
• Click “Send.” (Notice that you didn’t need to
attach the document. If you e-mail a
document that you’ve opened, it attaches to
the e-mail message automatically.)
Printing a Google Doc (1)
• The default settings for a printed Google Doc
are one-inch margins all around and no page
numbers. To change these settings, click on
“File” (in the light blue menu below the
document name) and select “Print Settings.”
This will open a window where you can
change all four margins and add page
numbers.
Printing a Google Doc (2)
• Changes in the “Print” options for a Google
Doc do not display automatically, but you can
preview features such as margins, page
breaks, and page numbers.
• Click on “Edit” and then select “Print Preview.”
This will display all print features of the
document (including page breaks and page
numbers); however, you cannot compose in
this mode.
Printing a Google Doc (3)
• To print a document, begin by opening the
document.
• Click on the “File” button (in the light blue
menu below the name of the document), and
then select “Print.” This will open a Print
window where you can make the usual
choices (i.e., which pages to print, how many
copies to print, and so on).