Table of Contents

        Introduction............................................................................................ 1

        A Quick Overview of This Book................................................. 2

        A Word About Security............................................................ 3

        Technical Requirements for Using Google Docs......................... 4

  1    Getting Started with Google Docs............................................................. 7

        A Google Account: Your Passport to All Things Google.............. 8

            Signing up and Signing in................................................ 8

            What Can I Do with a Google Account?........................... 10

        Managing Your Google Account............................................. 11

            Changing Your Account Information................................ 11

            Adding and Launching Google Applications..................... 12

        Getting Familiar with the Google Docs Home Page.................. 12

            Organizing Your Documents........................................... 13

            Finding a Document...................................................... 16

        iGoogle, You Google, Everybody Googles............................... 18

            What’s an iGoogle Page?.............................................. 19

            Setting up iGoogle......................................................... 19

            Customizing Your Page................................................. 20

            iGoogle and Google Docs.............................................. 24

  2    Starting Word Processing...................................................................... 29

        Creating Your First Document................................................ 29

            Naming the Document................................................... 30

            Entering Text................................................................ 31

            Saving the Document..................................................... 34

        Introducing Formatting........................................................... 35

            Using the Formatting Toolbar.......................................... 35

            Using Keyboard Shortcuts............................................. 38

        Printing a Document.............................................................. 39

            Inserting Headers and Footers........................................ 39

            Inserting Page Breaks................................................... 40

            Checking Your Spelling.................................................. 40

            Choosing Your Print Settings......................................... 40

            Exporting and Printing the Document.............................. 41

        Deleting a Document............................................................. 44

  3    Formatting Documents.......................................................................... 45

        Formatting a Document......................................................... 45

        Working with Templates......................................................... 47

            Creating a New Document from a Template..................... 47

            Saving a Document as a Template.................................. 50

        Importing and Exporting Documents........................................ 50

            Importing Documents..................................................... 50

            Exporting a Document................................................... 54

        Doing Research.................................................................... 55

            Using a Dictionary, Thesaurus, or Encyclopedia............... 56

            Searching the Web from Your Document......................... 57

        Working Offline..................................................................... 57

            Downloading and Installing Gears................................... 58

            Activating Gears............................................................ 60

            Using Gears to Work Offline........................................... 62

            Tweaking Your Offline Settings....................................... 63

  4    Taking Your Docs to the Next Level: Lists, Tables, and Insertions.............. 65

        Working with Lists................................................................. 65

            Creating a List.............................................................. 66

            Editing a List................................................................ 67

        Adding Tables to a Document................................................. 71

            Creating a Table............................................................ 71

            Editing a Table.............................................................. 72

        Inserting and Editing Images.................................................. 78

            Getting an Image into Your Document............................. 78

            Editing Images.............................................................. 82

            Deleting an Image......................................................... 82

        Working with Hyperlinks and Bookmarks................................. 82

            Inserting a Hyperlink...................................................... 83

            Editing a Hyperlink........................................................ 84

            Inserting a Bookmark..................................................... 85

            Creating a Table of Contents.......................................... 87

            Editing a Table of Contents............................................ 89

  5    Sharing and Collaborating on Documents................................................ 91

        Sharing a Document.............................................................. 92

            Step 1: Choose Sharers and Set Permissions................. 92

            Step 2: Send an Optional Email Invitation........................ 93

            Receiving a Document-Sharing Notification...................... 94

            Changing a Document’s Ownership................................. 95

            Emailing All Viewers/Collaborators.................................. 96

            Removing Sharing......................................................... 98

        Other Ways to Share a Document.......................................... 99

            Emailing a Document.................................................... 99

            Publishing a Document on the Web.............................. 100

        Collaborating on a Document................................................ 105

            Collaboration and Offline Editing.................................... 106

            Using Color-Coded Comments...................................... 106

        Working with a Document’s Revision History.......................... 109

            Viewing Revisions........................................................ 109

            Comparing Versions.................................................... 110

  6    Introducing Spreadsheets..................................................................... 113

        Spreadsheet Basics............................................................ 113

            What Is a Spreadsheet?............................................... 113

            What Can a Cell Contain?............................................ 114

            What Makes a Good Spreadsheet Design?.................... 114

        Creating Your First Google Docs Spreadsheet....................... 117

            Selecting Cells and Entering Data................................. 118

            Saving a Spreadsheet.................................................. 118

        Creating a New Spreadsheet from a Template........................ 119

        Formatting a Spreadsheet.................................................... 120

            Formatting Numbers.................................................... 121

            Formatting Dates and Times......................................... 122

            Formatting Appearance................................................ 122

            Creating Formatting Rules............................................ 125

            Working with Multiple Sheets....................................... 126

        Working with Data............................................................... 127

            Importing Data into Google Docs................................... 127

            Exporting Data from Google Docs................................. 128

            Exporting as an XLS or ODS File.................................. 129

            Entering Data.............................................................. 130

            Clearing Data.............................................................. 133

            Working with Rows and Columns.................................. 133

            Sorting Data................................................................ 136

        Printing and Deleting Spreadsheets....................................... 139

            Printing a Spreadsheet................................................. 139

            Deleting a Spreadsheet................................................ 140

  7    Spreadsheets: Formulas and Charts..................................................... 141

        Working with Spreadsheet Formulas..................................... 141

            What Is a Formula?..................................................... 142

            Creating Formulas: The Basics..................................... 142

            Supercharging Your Formulas with Functions................. 147

        Getting the Big Picture with Charts, Graphics, and Gadgets.... 150

            Kinds of Charts........................................................... 151

            Creating a Chart.......................................................... 154

            Editing a Chart............................................................ 156

            Putting an Image into Your Spreadsheet........................ 159

            Editing an Image......................................................... 160

            Google Docs Spreadsheets and Google Gadgets........... 161

            Editing a Gadget......................................................... 162

  8    Sharing and Collaborating on Spreadsheets........................................... 167

        Sharing Spreadsheets.......................................................... 167

            Publishing a Spreadsheet on the Web........................... 168

            Embedding a Spreadsheet in Your Web Site or Blog...... 170

            Inviting Others to Share a Spreadsheet.......................... 170

        Collaborating on Spreadsheets............................................. 176

            Working Simultaneously.............................................. 176

            Chatting as You Work.................................................. 177

            Commenting on a Spreadsheet..................................... 178

            Receiving Notifications................................................. 180

        Creating a Form to Gather Data............................................ 181

            Creating a New Spreadsheet by Designing a Form......... 181

            Creating a Form for an Existing Spreadsheet................. 184

            Emailing a Form.......................................................... 184

            Embedding a Form in a Web Page or Blog.................... 185

            Editing a Form............................................................ 186

            Editing a Form’s Confirmation Message......................... 187

            Analyzing Form Data................................................... 188

            Disabling or Deleting a Form......................................... 189

        Working with a Spreadsheet’s Revision History...................... 189

  9    Introducing Presentations..................................................................... 191

        What’s a Presentation?........................................................ 191

            Why Use Google Docs for Presentations?..................... 192

            Some Pointers for Designing a Presentation.................. 192

        Your First Presentation........................................................ 193

            Starting from Scratch................................................... 193

            Naming Your Presentation............................................ 194

            Getting an Existing Presentation into Google Docs......... 195

            Adding a New Slide..................................................... 196

            Selecting a Slide and Inserting Text.............................. 197

            Saving a Presentation.................................................. 198

        Giving Your Slides Pizzazz.................................................. 199

            Adding Some Style with a Theme................................. 199

            Giving Your Slides a Custom Background...................... 200

            Formatting Text........................................................... 201

            Adding Images, Shapes, and Videos............................. 204

            Moving and Resizing Elements..................................... 207

            Arranging Elements on a Slide...................................... 207

            Revealing Elements One by One................................... 208

            Deleting an Element.................................................... 209

        Working with Slides............................................................. 209

            Importing Slides.......................................................... 209

            Copying a Slide........................................................... 210

            Moving a Slide............................................................. 211

            Adding Speaker Notes................................................. 211

            Deleting a Slide........................................................... 211

        Working with Presentations.................................................. 212

            Previewing a Presentation............................................ 212

            Exporting a Presentation.............................................. 213

            Printing a Presentation................................................. 213

            Deleting a Presentation................................................ 214

10    The Main Event: Sharing and Viewing Presentations............................... 217

        Sharing a Presentation......................................................... 217

        Collaborating on a Presentation............................................ 218

        Giving a Live Presentation.................................................... 219

            Starting the Show........................................................ 220

            During the Presentation................................................ 220

            Ending a Presentation.................................................. 226

        Publishing a Presentation on the Web................................... 226

            Making a Presentation Public....................................... 226

            Embedding a Presentation in Your Web Page or Blog..... 228

        Working with Revisions........................................................ 230

TOC, 1/16/09, 9780789739360

 

Back Cover

 

Who needs expensive, old-fashioned office software? Now, you can do everything online, free, with Google Docs! Experts Steve and Nancy Holzner offer simple, step-by-step instructions and great insider tips for making the most of Google’s powerful online word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation tools. You’ll get started fast... learn how to create and format professional-quality documents of all kinds... collaborate with colleagues to build better proposals and presentations... use advanced tools like revision history, templates, and charts... discover Google Docs’ latest features and shortcuts... and a whole lot more! No matter what kind of documents you create, this book can help you do the job better, faster, and more efficiently... and you’ll never pay for office software again!

 

You’ll Learn How To

            •           Get your free Google account and set up iGoogle for instant access to your documents

            •           Upload and use the documents you’ve already created with Microsoft Office

            •           Use Google Spreadsheet to create charts to display spreadsheet data

            •           Master Google Docs’ easy, powerful document-editing and formatting tools

            •           Insert images into your documents and presentations

            •           Share documents securely with your colleagues

            •           Back up your documents offline and edit them when you don’t have an Internet connection

 

Steven Holzner, former contributing editor at PC Magazine, is author of 108 computer books
that have sold more than 2.5 million copies. His most recent Pearson book is Facebook Marketing.

Nancy Holzner writes and edits technology books from her home in central New York state.
Her recent publications include books on Intuit QuickBase and Zoho. Nancy has also worked as
a medievalist, a high school teacher, and a corporate trainer.

 

CATEGORY:  Productivity Suites

COVERS: Google Docs

USER LEVEL: Beginning-Intermediate

 

 

Author

Steven Holzner is the award-winning author of many books. His books have sold more than two million copies and have been translated into 18 languages around the world. He’s been a contributing editor at PC Magazine and has been on the faculty of MIT and Cornell University, where he got his PhD.

 

Nancy Holzner writes and edits tech books from her home in central New York state on topics ranging from Google Apps to WAN optimization to Zoho. She is also a novelist (mystery and urban fantasy) and has worked as a medievalist, an English teacher, and a corporate trainer. Nancy holds a PhD from Brown University.