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30DC Preseason Lesson 11: Google Docs
By Dee-Dee M | July 7, 2009
Another great Google tool is Google Docs which provides an online office productivity suite for your browser. It may not be as comprehensive as Microsoft Office or Adobe Master Collection however it does allow you to create documents for free without the hefty price tag of the “others”.
PLUS… the documents can be shared online and be used and edited by anyone you choose. The perfect solution for group and team project collaboration especially if you don’t live in the same town or even the same country!
I have used Google docs for a while now to share documents and spreadsheets as its so much easier than zipping and emailing a document every time you make a change so everyone get has the most current version. I have even published documents like this one (2008 30DC); a spreadsheet of last years’ challenge for my friends in the 30 Day Challenge Forum to help them out.
To read about what Google Docs has to offer go to What’s New in Google Docs
In today’s lesson Eugene from Market Samurai takes us through the basics of creating, publishing, and sharing a Google Document
Using Google Docs - 14:25 min video
To start using Google Docs go to www.docs.google.com and sign in with your Google account.
On the Documents page you will first see a list of any documents you have created and documents you have shared (if you have done so).
It is very easy to create a new document… just click on new and you will be given a choice of
- Document: Like a MS Word document
- Presentation: Like a MS Powerpoint presentation
- Spreadsheet: Like a MS Excel spreadsheet
- Form: Like a MS Access Form
- Folder: To organize your documents
Once you have created and saved your document you can now share as a “view only” or invite others to “collaborate”, which means they can edit and add to the document and Google Docs will track any changes made through the revision history in the tools menu.
Now if you have read my previous post about The 30 Day Challenge now on Facebook you will see that I mentioned that the 30DC Facebook application has a Checklist feature. If you go to the Checklist for today’s lesson you will see this:
It provides a good opportunity to practice what you have learned today. I am including in this post my practice documents.
Text Document with Picture: Practice Document
Saved PDF: Practice Document PDF
Practice Presentation: For some reason my presentation doesn’t embed which would’ve been nice but it is viewable on Google Docs
Well that’s about all for today’s lesson which brings us half way through Preseason. The Challenge begins in earnest on 01 August 2009 which is a little over 3 weeks away so it’s not too late to start preseason now and be all caught up before the thirty day challenge starts.
Topics: Pre-season 2009 |