Google Docs Blog: 2015

Five tips for (finally) writing your novel with Docs & NaNoWriMo

October 20, 2015

National Novel Writing Month

Write everywhere - Get the app for Android or iPhone/iPad, and add new paragraphs or make edits anytime an idea strikes—on the bus, while you’re walking the dog, or even those times you’re caught without Wi-Fi, like on a plane. Of course, you can also tinker with your burgeoning masterpiece from any desktop computer by signing in at docs.google.com, so you never have to worry about having the right machine or device with you.

Know your word count - You’ve got one month to make it to 50,000 words, so it’s critical to track your progress as you go. To grab your word count, use the shortcut command + shift + C (mac) / Ctrl + shift +C (pc), finding it in the Tools menu, or by clicking the three grey dots in the Android app. Once you’ve got your tally, update your progress by pasting your wordcount into the NANOWRIMO header menu.

Get & manage feedback - Wrimos, as they're known, like to get feedback from each other as they write, and Docs makes that easy. When you’re ready for input, hit the big blue Share button, set permissions to “Can comment,” and the people you've shared with will be able to add comments or make suggestions that you can choose to accept or reject.

See previous versions - Docs comes with revision history built-in, so you never lose previous version of your novel. Click on “See revision history” in the file menu, and you’ll see all your edits, grouped by date, so you can easily go back in time—or even revert to a previous version that you prefer. If you do invite others to give feedback on your work, click the “See new changes” button at the top for an instant look at any edits they made.

Share your novel - Once you’re finished (congrats, BTW!), you can choose to publicly share your novel for the world to read. Also in the File menu, hit “Publish to the web” and you’ll be able to share the URL of your novel far and wide—on your favorite social networks, in email, or however you’d like.

Meet Susanna, founder & CEO of BridgEd Strategies

October 12, 2015

We want to know how you use Google Docs, too, so share your own examples at +GoogleDocs or @googledocs with the hashtag #mygoogledocs. -Ed.
Hi Susanna! Tell us a little about yourself and what you do. BridgEd StrategiesHow does Google Docs fit into your everyday work at BridgEd?

What are 3 tips you’d give for other organizations who use/would consider using Google Docs?

Google Drive is your most powerful asset for organizing and sharing information. A well-organized Google Drive will make collaboration and communication so much easier. Bonus: the search function means you don’t even have to be that organized.

The “Suggest” feature in Google Docs makes co-writing easy and exciting. I have collaborated on two blog post projects with people I know only through Twitter-- and Google Docs made that process not only possible but easy as well.

I’ve saved a photo of my signature as a .jpg in my Google drive to easily sign Google Docs.

Meet Jarrett, teacher & social entrepreneur

October 7, 2015

Jarrett is a teacher and social entrepreneur based in West Philadelphia who uses Google Docs and Drive to power a student run organization that creates healthy snacks, called Rebel Ventures.
We want to know how you use Google Docs, too, so share your own examples at +GoogleDocs or @googledocs with the hashtag #mygoogledocs. -Ed. Hi Jarrett! Tell us a little about yourself and what you do. How does Google Docs fit into your workday?

What are 3 tips you’d give for other organizations who use/would consider using Google Docs?

Trust your team and let them play. We give our high school students free access to computers as well as their phones during work, trusting that if they are using this technology they are working with Drive and Docs. The apps are simple enough that the students can self direct their activities, and they know to look to their peers and mentors if they need help manipulating a particular doc.

Build and keep building. We usually don’t have any idea what the final form of any of our docs, spreadsheets, presentations, or forms will look like before we start making them. We have a goal in mind, but otherwise just start building from the ground up until we’ve created a tool that is useful. We test the tool and continue building. If more than one person is working on a doc at a time, we make sure they have their own device to access the doc so we don’t stifle creativity, independence, and cooperative communication.

Be organized and be transparent. We do our best to keep our Drive organized through folders, and regularly train our staff on how to navigate the system. We also put everything our staff needs into Drive so there is open access to the information we need to do our jobs.

Meet Bodie, filmmaker & storyteller

September 29, 2015

Bodie is an award winning writer and director of short films and other projects that have aired on MTVu, Logo, and the Sundance Channel, and has collaborated with DJ ShyBoy to create music videos for his debut album Water on Mars. Currently Bodie’s video work can be seen as part of the Los Angeles Public Library’s exhibit, “To Live and Dine in L.A.” exploring food culture and issues of food justice in and around L.A.
We want to know how you use Google Docs, too, so share your own examples at +GoogleDocs or @googledocs with the hashtag #mygoogledocs. -Ed. 1. Hey Bodie! Tell us a little about yourself and what you do. Media Arts + Practiceinstallation-based storytelling2. How does Google Docs fit into your filmmaking and teaching?

Try to think outside of the box - I’ve adapted Sheets to a 3x5” index card technique I learned at UCLA as a way to map out my screenplays, Slides has become a good pre-visualization tool for my video shoots, and Docs can be adapted to use for almost any idea!

Sync to your devices - I use the entire suite on my phone, laptop, and desktop at school. The mobility it allows is incredible and saves me from having to make multiple copies of documents for each device.

Collaborate - the fullest potential of Google Docs is only revealed once you use it to work with others.

Google Keep: save your thoughts from wherever—including iPhones

September 24, 2015

Google Keep

Find what you need, quickly by searching and filtering your notes by color and type like images, audio and text. You can also add labels to help you organize your thoughts.

Set time or location-based reminders so you won’t forget to swing by the dry cleaners or miss an item on your shopping list.

Do more, together by sharing your notes so you can divvy up the packing list and watch as the items get checked off in real time.

Give the new Keep app for iOS a try (it's rolling out today) and capture what’s on your mind!

Google Docs and Classroom: your school year sidekicks

September 2, 2015

Schoolwork, minus the work Writing papers is now a lot easier with the Research tool in Docs for Android. You can search Google without leaving Docs, and once you find the quotes, facts or images you’re looking for, you can add them to your document with just a couple taps. That means less time switching between apps, and more time perfecting your thesis statement. Voice typingDocs Do more, togetherDocsSee new changes

Forms helps you get a lot of information easily and in one place—so when you want to vote on your class field trip or collect T-shirt sizes for your team, you don’t have to sort through dozens of emails. With the new Forms, you can survey with style—choose one of the colorful new themes or customize your form with your own photo or logo, and we’ll choose the right color palette to match. Easily insert images, GIFs or videos and pick from a selection of question formats. Then send out your survey and watch as the responses roll in!

Your best work, your best you
Creating presentations, crafting newsletters and managing your team’s budget is hard enough without having to worry about making everything look good. With the new collection of templates in Docs, Sheets and Slides, you can focus on your content while we make sure it gets the expert polish it deserves. Choose from a wide variety of reports, portfolios, resumes and other pre-made templates designed to make your work that much better, and your life that much easier.

With Explore in Sheets, you can now spend less time trying to decipher your data, and more time making a point. Explore creates charts and insights automatically, so you can visualize trends and understand your data in seconds on the web or on your Android. It’s like having an expert analyst right by your side.

Mission control, for teachers and students

A year ago, we launched Classroom to save teachers and students time and make it easier to keep classwork organized. Today we’re launching a Share to Classroom Chrome extension to make it easy for teachers to share a website with the entire class at the same time—no matter what kind of laptop students have. Now the whole class can head to a web page together, without losing precious minutes and focus to typos.

Rock this school year with Google Docs and Classroom. Your first assignment? Try these new features, which are rolling out today.

Posted by Ritcha Ranjan, Product Manager

Meet Ben, President of Delta Upsilon WSU

August 25, 2015

Meet Ben Hundley--a fraternity president who keeps his chapter moving with a little help from Google Docs.
We want to know how you use Google Docs, too, so share your own examples at +GoogleDocs or @googledocs with the hashtag #mygoogledocs. -Ed.

Hi Ben! Tell us a little about yourself and Delta Upsilon WSU.

How does Google Docs fit into your chapter’s day to day? What are 3 tips you’d give to other fraternities & sororities who use/would consider using Google Docs?

Host a training session!! Although Google Docs are easy to navigate, it is still essential to ensure everyone is on the same page.

Don't forget to learn the ins and outs of privacy and sharing documents

EXPERIMENT! Try out features and see if they can be adapted to your chapter's needs.

New (School) Year resolutions with #GoogleEdu

August 25, 2015

Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog

The best of Google, for educationGoogle for Education Google Classroomnew features in Google ClassroomSo what’s your resolution?50+ tips

Resolution 1. Get (and stay) organizedGoogle CalendarGoogle SheetsGoogle groupResolution 2. Get (mentally) fitMade with CodeGoogle Translatemagically translating webpages
Resolution 3. Get some worldly perspectiveGoogle Maps TreksCultural Institute#GoogleEduGoogle+
Posted by Miriam Schneider, Google for Education

Meet Kaitlin, Publicist

August 6, 2015

Meet Kaitlin Kominsky--a publicist from New York who considers Google Docs to be her best kept secret to keeping on top of her busy personal and professional schedules.
We want to know how you use Google Docs, too, so share your own examples at +GoogleDocs or @googledocs with the hashtag #mygoogledocs. -Ed.
Hi Kaitlin. Tell us a little about yourself.M18 PRHow did you first get introduced to Google Docs?I hear that you’ve been using Google Docs for a long time, in a lot of different ways. Tell us more about this.

What are 3 tips you’d give for other people who use/would consider using Google Docs?

Download the app! It’s easy (and free, very important).

Make use of the “Personal Dictionary” tool, it puts Word’s ‘synonyms’ button to shame.

Share with your colleagues, friends and family! The best feature about Google Docs is that it provides a platform to contribute and communicate.

Present to anyone, from wherever you are

August 5, 2015

<Cross-posted from the Google for Work blog>

Google Slides helps you share your big ideas with the world, but sometimes presenting these ideas can be challenging. In June, Slides added support for Chromecast and Airplay, which made it easier to project your slides on the big screen. Now there’s another new way to share your work: easy presenting to Hangouts video calls.Teammates, partners, clients and classmates can see your ideas, even if they’re on the other side of the planet.
As you get ready for the big meeting, all you need is your Android phone or tablet. With one tap of the present button, you’ll see the option to present to a Hangouts video call. Meetings that are scheduled on your calendar will automatically be listed, so you can be up and running in no time.

You’ll also get a handy look at who's on the call before you start presenting. Once you’re ready to rock, you can use your mobile device to advance slides, view speaker notes and stay on track with a built-in timer.

Presenting just got even easier with Google Slides on Android, available starting today and rolling out over the next few days.

Posted by Fenil Shah, Software Engineer, Google Slides

Meet Jessica Scheer: Executive Director

July 29, 2015

Meet Jessica Scheer, an Executive Director at a non-profit, who as a team of one, uses Google Docs to help her keep things running smoothly.
We want to know how you use Google Docs, too, so share your own examples at +GoogleDocs or @googledocs with the hashtag #mygoogledocs. -EdHi Jessica! Tell us a little about yourself and what you do. EB Research Partnership

How does Google Docs fit into your work with EB Research?

What are 3 tips you'd give for other organizations like yours who use/would consider using Google Docs?

Meet Dara Castiglione: Wedding Planner

July 7, 2015

Meet Dara Castiglione, a wedding planner from New Jersey. After reading one of her tweets about Google Docs, we chatted to better understand how she uses the family of products to run her wedding planning business.
We want to know how you use Google Docs, too, so share your own examples at +GoogleDocs or @googledocs with the hashtag #mygoogledocs. -Ed. Hi Dara! Tell us a little about yourself and what you do.

How does Google Docs fit into your wedding planning business? What are three tips you’d give for other wedding planners about using Google Docs?

Meet Marie Forleo: Thought leader, award winning TV show host, and "unshakable optimist"

June 18, 2015

Meet Marie Forleo. Named by Oprah as a thought leader for the next generation and one of Inc.’s 500 fastest growing companies of 2014, Marie's mission is to help people realize their greatest potential and their gifts to change the world. She’s the creator of the award-winning show MarieTV, founder of B-School and has been featured in Inc. Magazine and Entrepreneur Magazine among others. After reading one of her tweets about Google Docs, we chatted to better understand how she uses the family of products to run her business.
We want to know how you use the Google Docs family of products, too, so share your own examples at +GoogleDocs or @googledocs with the hashtag #mygoogledocs. -Ed. Hi Marie. First, tell us about who you are and what you do.

How do you guys use Google Docs? What are three suggestions you’d have for other folks who are using or thinking about using Google Docs to run their business?

Make sure everyone on your team understands Google Docs and is comfortable with how the basics work (sharing, formatting, adding and replying to comments, etc.). A few minutes spent training each other prevents frustration early on and leads to massive gains in productivity down the line.

Be aware of who your documents are shared with. Realize everyone can see comments so be conscious of how you frame feedback to avoid upsets and misunderstandings.

Hot Tip: If you’re collaborating in real time in a super long document, you can quickly and easily “hop to” where a fellow collaborator is writing within the document by clicking on their icon in the upper right corner. It will bring you to exactly where their cursor is. This trick saves us a lot of time and helps us (literally) stay on the same page as each other while working in a virtual environment.

Do you use Google Docs for anything in your personal life or around the house?

Google Sheets: Do more with your data

June 15, 2015

Customized charts, made easier data labels

Your data, your way

Preview formula results—instantly—as you type. This feature is especially useful for catching formula errors quickly and is unique to Sheets.

Filter rows and columns by conditions, including “greater than” and “text contains.” This way you’ll only see the numbers, dates and text you need.

Add calculated fields to pivot tables when you want to apply formulas to pivot table data.

Use the GETPIVOTDATA function to more easily retrieve data from your pivot table.

Collaborate, confidently

Sheets

Show up, don’t set up—Google Slides supports Chromecast and AirPlay

June 11, 2015

Chromecast or AirPlayAndroidiOScan do that, too

Meet Alice Keeler: Google Certified Teacher, Author, and "Queen of Spreadsheets"

June 9, 2015

Alice Keeler is a mother of five children, a Google Certified Teacher, and the author of the book “50 Things You Can Do With Google Classroom.” Recently we sat down with the self-proclaimed “Queen of Spreadsheets” to learn more about how she relies on (and pushes the boundaries of) Google Docs both in the classroom and in her busy everyday life.
We want to know how you use the Google Docs family of products, too, so share your own examples at +GoogleDocs or @googledocs with the hashtag #mygoogledocs. -Ed.

Tell us about yourself, the self proclaimed “Queen of Spreadsheets.” SheetsHow does Google Docs fit into your teaching? Tell us about one unconventional way you’re using Google Docs to teach. spreadsheetWhat are the three best tips you can suggest for teachers that are using Google Docs? You have a big family and a ton of extracurricular activities—do you also use Google Docs to take care of things outside of school? spreadsheetDo you have any handy docs to share?template

Docs and Slides: add images on the go

May 13, 2015

Insert images presentations
Picture perfect mask image

No connection required Google PlayDocsSlides

Google Docs in the wild: Google Slides and Rentity

March 16, 2015

From college kids to billion-dollar companies, lots of people are using Google Docs to be productive, creative, and collaborative. On this blog, we'll be sharing some of their stories, starting with Rentity, a website that helps people find and rent apartments. Rentity recently used a publicly shared Slides presentation to spread the word about their work and collect feedback from investors, potential teammates and clients. Here’s their story, as told through an interview with their founder, Daniel Ahmadizadeh.
We want to know how you use the Google Docs family of products, too, so share your own examples at +GoogleDocs or @googledocs with the hashtag #mygoogledocs. -Ed. Q: Tell us a little bit about Rentity. Q: Why did you decide to share a public Slides presentation? Q: How has the presentation been received and impacted your business?

Better together: Constitute, Google Docs, & the National Constitution Center

February 11, 2015

This post comes to us from Zachary Elkins, Director of the Constitute Project. The Constitute Project was launched in 2013 as a way for constitution-makers, scholars, and everyday people to explore alternative ideas in constitutional design. -Ed. ConstituteComparative Constitutions ProjectGoogle Ideasread, search and compareGoogle Docs

National Constitution Center

constituteproject.org

Updated mobile apps for Docs, Sheets and Slides

January 21, 2015

DocsSheetsSlidesDoing, not just viewing

Keeping your content safe really importanttwo-step verification

Making everything more accessibleTalkBackVoiceOverGoogle PlayDocsSheetsSlidesGoogle+TwitterFacebook

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