Introduction to Google Applications

Introduction to Google Docs

Create and collaborate on documents, spreadsheets and presentations with Google Docs.

Google Docs makes creating, editing and sharing documents, spreadsheets and presentations simple and free. Your docs are stored safely online, so you can access them any time, from anywhere. Create a doc from scratch, upload an existing doc or browse the template gallery for a format that suits your needs – it’s easy. You can even use Google Docs to create an online form to collect data from others.

Create and edit docs.

To get started, visit your Google Apps account via your MyWales dashboard.
Go to Google Docs and click the New button (upper left), then create a document, spreadsheet, presentation or form. Start from scratch, upload an existing doc to edit or share online, or use a template.
To choose a template, select New > From template.

Access docs from anywhere.

Because your docs are stored securely online, you can access
them from anywhere, from any computer with an Internet connection and a standard browser. And it’s easy to export or download your docs in a variety of formats, including HTML, PDF, CSV and others – just open your doc and select File > Download file as.

Collaborate with others.

Use the Share button (either from the Docs homepage or when
editing a document) to invite others to edit your docs online. You can all view and make changes to the same docs online. Just think: no more unwieldy email attachments – and no more problems with version control. Just select Tools > Revision history (in documents) or the Revisions tab (in spreadsheets or presentations) to track who changed what, and when.

Publish to the web.

Publishing your docs online is easy – just select Share > Publish as web page (in documents) or the Publish tab (in spreadsheets or presentations). You can un-publish at any time. To give others the ability to view but not edit your docs, use the Share button to invite them as viewers.

Collect data with forms.

Select New > Form to create a form using a variety of question types (multiple choice, checkboxes, etc.). You can embed your form in an email, and respondents’ answers will be added automatically to a spreadsheet, so collecting the data you need is a snap.