PSGCNJ TECH TIP
What Are Google Docs, How Do I Start One, and How Can I Get Shared Access To Someone Else’s?
Google Docs is a set of web-based applications that can be useful for collaboration work by small teams or data compilation for groups. There are five basic types: Document, Presentation, Spreadsheet, Form, and Folder. The first three are analogous to MS Word, MS PowerPoint, and MS Excel. Forms are a means of compiling web form data input into a spreadsheet. And Folders are just a repository for files you want to share with your collaborators.
To get started with Google Docs, you’ll need a Google ID and password. Many people don’t know if they already have one or don’t know which ID they used for Google since it normally looks like an email address and can be based on any email address (not necessarily a gmail account). The best advice I can give is that the right Google ID will be the one that you can sign into Google with:
https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin
Once you sign in to Google with your ID, you’ll normally stay signed-in (if you checked off that option), which makes using Google Docs as easy as going to:
To start a Google Doc, simply go to that web site address and use the “New” pull down menu to pick the type of document you want to create. (For more details, try the Help link on that page.)
Creators (owners) of a Google Doc can give you access to it. This allows several people to see and even edit the document simultaneously. But for them to give you access to a team document, you’ll have to give them your Google ID (the one you got working above). They’ll open their Doc (e.g., maybe a spreadsheet), click “See Who Has Access …” on the “Share” drop-down menu, and click the Invite People tab where they’ll enter your Google ID, etc. You’ll get an email about it, and after you follow that, the document will in our own http://docs.google.com list, too, and you’ll be able to click into it.
(For obvious reasons, if you give them the wrong email address as your Google ID, you’ll be wasting your time and theirs. So test it yourself, first.)
Professional Service Group of Central New Jersey
at Somerville (PSGCNJ)
75 Veterans Memorial Drive East
Somerville, NJ 08876
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