Introduction
Google Sites is a simple way to create a web page without the hassle of HTML code or Cascading Style Sheets as displayed in Dreamweaver. Google’s template is not for creating web pages that need a slick display. Rather, Google’s basic setup allows for a page that can help a user display important information to thousands of people at the click of a button. A user can have a web page that includes news, calendars, countdowns, mailing list sign-ups, etc. Best of all, its FREE and simple to maintain.
Initial Setup
In order to create a site through Google, users must create a Google Account. It’s FREE and very easy to setup.
- Go to www.google.com
- Click Sign In
- Click Create an Account Now
If you use G-mail, Google Docs, Picasa, etc., you already have a Google Account!
Once the account is created, sign into Google with a User Name and Password.
While signed in, on the bar at the top of your screen, click on the tablabeledSites.
Creating A Site
While at the Google Sites main page click on the Create new site button. This will allow the user to do the following:
- Name the Site
- Pick a Site Theme – Simply click on the plus on the left of Choose a theme, and select one of the many options
- Click on the plus side to the left of More Options in order to insert a site description, site categories, and set the privacy options
Click the Create Site button and just like that, the new site has been created! The user should now be at their new site “Home” page.
Basic Googles Site Features
Now that the site is set up. here are a few important features of the Google Sites Template:
Navigation/ “Side” Bar- Provides a list of links to the pages that can be accessed within the site
Page Display- The central part of the site that displays information from individual pages on the site
Page Toolbar- Located above the Page Display; allows the user to Edit Site Settings, Create a New Page, Edit a Page, etc.
Site Search- Located in the top right corner of the screen; allows user to search keywords throughout the site
Page Toolbar
To the top right of the page you will see several icons:
Site Settings
The Site Settings tab is located at the right end of the page toolbar under the More tab. This is a great starting point because within this link the user can control who has access to their site, the overall appearance of their site, and the general settings of their site (site name, landing page, etc.)
Creating a New PageGoogle kindly starts the user off with a “Home” page and a “Sitemap.” However, it is obvious that more pages are needed to make this site usable. To add more pages to the site, simply click on Create a New Page in the Page Toolbar (to the right of the pencil icon). From here the user can enter multiple page settings including:
- Page Name
- Type of Page – Web Page,Announcements, File Cabinet and List
- Page Location (Putting the page at the “top level” makes the page its own individual link, while putting it under another page makes it a sub-page)
Lastly, click Create Page
Edit Page To edit the content within a particular page, simply click on the link of the page in the Navigation Bar and then click the Edit Page button in the Page Toolbar (shaped like a pencil). From the Edit Page screen, the user can edit the font, content, insert tables, insert pictures, etc.
Adding Media Google makes it easy to insert media and gadgets into your site. Simply create a web page and then click the insert tab. From here you can add youtube videos, spreadsheets, games and more. More information on the various types of media will follow.
If you selected:
Google Calendar
- Google Sites asks for the URL address of the Google Calendar or the email you want Google to obtain the calendar from
- If it lists the calendar you want, simply click on the calendar (normally your email address) and click select.
If your calendar is not listed:
- To obtain the URL, open up a new tab and go to www.google.com, click on the More link and find Google Calendar
- Create a new calendar for the subject of the Google Site using the My Calendar tab on the left side of the page
- With the new calendar up on the screen, click the Settings link in the My Calendar
- Next, click the link of the name of the new calendar that appears on screen and scroll down to “Calendar Address”
- Click the blue HTML button and the calendar URL will appear – Copy and Paste into the site
Spreadsheet Form
- The Spreadsheet Form runs through Google Documents and acts as a very easy way to create a mailing list or a questionnaire for your Google Site
- Information inserted in the form on the site is put into an organized spreadsheet, complements of Google
- To access Google Documents, click the Documents link at the top of the main google.com page
- From here, click the New tab and scroll down to Form
- The main spreadsheet form editing page will now appear- Title the form and add all desired questions
YouTube Video
- Simply look up a video on YouTube and copy the link into the HTML field shown below
More Actions
The More Actions tab in the Page Toolbar holds many important editing options for a page as well. The three most important options in the More Options tab are the following:
- Page Settings- The page is created, but its not showing up in the Navigation Bar? Here the user can check off the box that indicates “Show this is ‘Navigation’ in the sidebar.” Now the page is easily accessible for site visitors
- Print- Easily print the content from an individual page, rather than having the site template on the printout
- Delete- If the page is no longer useful to the site, use the delete option to erase the page permanently