Google Docs

Create a Google Account

Gmail and Google accounts

Gmail is the email service provided by Google. If you already own a Gmail account, you can use it as your Google account to log into Google Docs, Google Reader, Google Sites and several other Google services.

A Google account without Gmail will allow you to use Google Docs and other Google services. You will only not be able to use Google Mail (Gmail).

This means that you do not need to create a Gmail account to use Google Docs if you do not want to. You can simply create a Google account without Gmail.

Creating a Google account without a Gmail account

Go to Google and click on the "Sign in" link to the top right corner.

Click on "Create an account now".

Fill-in the form. Your username is going to be an email account that you already own, but it does not necessarily have to be a Gmail account. If you use an email account provided by any service other than Google (Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, etc.) you do not need to enter the same password that you use to log in to your webmail panel, although you will remind it better if you always use the same username/password combination.

Creating a Gmail account

Go to Google and click on the "Gmail" link in the top left navigation bar.

Click on "Create an account".

Fill-in the form.

When your Gmail account is created, you can use as your Google account to access Google Docs.

Creating and Editing a Document

Go to docs.google.com and sign in.

Click on "Create new" and choose the type of document you want to create. Select "Document" to create a text document similar to a MS Word document. Select "Presentation" to create a slideshow similar to a MS Powerpoint presentation. Select "Folder" to organise your documents.

Click on the name of the document with the secondary button of your mouse to see the available options for that document (such as "Rename", "Delete", "Export", "Publish", "Share"...).

Google Docs automatically saves your document every few minutes. But you can use "Control + S" to save your document at any time.

Use "Control + Z" to undo any changes; you can undo any action performed during the current session. Use "Control + Y" to redo any undone action.

Use "Revisions" to revert your document to any previous saved version (even of different editing sessions!) or to view when and what changes your collaborators have done to the document. This is a very handy tool that will save you in case of catastrophe.

Collaborating and Publishing

Letting others collaborate on your documents

With your document open or selected in the documents panel, click on "Share" and select "Invite people".

In the dialog box, enter the email addresses of the people you want to grant access permissions to your document. Normally you will use this to allow others to edit your document, so keep the "To edit" radio box checked. In the "Advanced Permissions" tab, you may want to uncheck both boxes if you want to keep control on who is invited to edit your document.

When two or more persons are editing simultaneously the same document, the changes made by one may overwrite the changes made by others, so you'll want to avoid working at the same time as others. You will see a message when any other person is editing the document at the same time. One of you should quit until the other has finished.

Letting others view your documents

With your document open click on "Share" and select "Publish as web page" or "Publish/embed". Or in the documents panel, click on the document with the secondary button of the mouse and select "Publish" or "View the published version".

If it is a presentation, click on "Publish document". If it is a text document, click on "Automatically re-publish when changes are made".

You will see now the public address of your document. Anyone that knows this address can view your document. Copy this link and send it to your friends or teacher by email. But if you need to write it on a piece of paper, you'd better shorten the address with, for instance, bit.ly.

Write a Scientific Report with Google Docs

Read the instructions in the "Questions & Answers Based Report" section that can be found in this same page.

Create a text document and write your report according to those instructions, skipping the following sections: "cover", "index" and "mind map". You can also start from this template.

Create a presentation of no less than 12 slides summarising the contents of your text document. Try to insert one relevant image in every slide and use few words.

Both documents will have to be edited in pairs, so you will have to share them with your partner and grant him/her editing permissions.

Publish both documents.

Once you have finished, invite your teacher as a collaborator with editing permissions to both documents. He/she might want to insert comments on the text document and view the revision history of both.