Google Master Series 3 –
Working with Google Sites
Google Master Series 3 – Participants lecture handouts v4
Last updated 23-Jan-12
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Table of contents
Situation .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Session objectives .................................................................................................................................. 3
Check knowledge and understanding ..................................................................................................... 4
Know your content .................................................................................................................................. 7
Getting started with Google Sites ........................................................................................................... 7
Attribute 1: Verify Site settings ................................................................................................................ 7
Attribute 2: Understanding ‘My sites in monash.edu’ .............................................................................. 7
Attribute 3: Creating a site....................................................................................................................... 9
Attribute 4: Creating the home page ..................................................................................................... 10
Attribute 5: Creating 2nd level sub-pages .............................................................................................. 11
Attribute 6: Creating 3rd, 4th (and so on) level sub-pages ..................................................................... 11
Attribute 7: Changing the Navigation layout.......................................................................................... 12
Attribute 8: Moving a page to another location ..................................................................................... 12
Attribute 9: Add content to the Home page ........................................................................................... 13
Attribute 10: Changing the layout of any page and embedding calendar, maps or docs ..................... 13
Attribute 11: Site or page change subscriptions ................................................................................... 13
Attribute 12: Setting a landing page ...................................................................................................... 14
Attribute 13: Deleting a page................................................................................................................. 14
Attribute 14: Changing the page template ............................................................................................ 14
Attribute 15: Managing access levels ................................................................................................... 15
Attribute 16: Managing page-level permissions .................................................................................... 15
Attribute 17: Changing the theme of the site......................................................................................... 16
Google Master Series 3 – Participants lecture handouts v4
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Situation
Sites can be quite helpful for making information accessible to staff/students quickly and easily. Note,
it is not intended to replace your data/information storage repository, such as the V drive. Instead, it
can be used as a collaborative tool to assist in knowledge sharing and presentation to an audience
(public or private).
Sites assist in bringing together tools for sharing information, allows members to post to discussion
forums and add material/files to the site. You can use sites for project management, collaborating with
virtual teams across different site locations, record your team’s activities, minute taking, etc. It is more
advanced than Docs, as it allows users to post questions/comments as well. In this way, it helps
manage remote/virtual teams as well.
Quick facts:
No HTML/programming knowledge required
Customise to give it your look and feel
Use existing or pre-built templates
Upload files and add comments
Embed gadgets, such as Calendars, maps, documents, spreadsheets, clocks, etc
Work collaboratively and share content
Easy access management
Session objectives
This session will consist of demonstrations to assist your understanding. It is not intended to
constitute training but to show you what is possible.
This session will run for 75 minutes, followed by 15 minutes of question time.
From this session you will:
Have an understanding of how to create a Google Site using a basic template
Know how to create pages and sub-pages of different types
Embed gadgets
Know how to add files/comments to the Site content
Learn about the navigation bar
Subscribing to page and site change notifications
Learn about access control and page level permissions
See how to change the layout and theme of a site
Caveat
The information contained in this session is accurate at the time it was written and reviewed. Google
is continually updating and enhancing the functionality of its products, so it is possible that some
things may have changed/improved since the last review (conducted in Jan 2012).
Working practice with Sites:
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Google sites are best suited for internal work groups.
Access to the site is by invitation only, unless it has been opened to the University at large.
A private Google site is cannot be searched.
If it is decided later the site needs to be accessed by all of Monash then it probably should
have been created in the Intranet.
Therefore to decide between a Google Site or an Intranet/Public web site ensure that you
clearly know the purpose of the site and the audience.
It is not possible to move a Google site to the Intranet or Public domain. There is no migration
strategy. It can only be done manually by cutting & pasting content.
Check knowledge and understanding
Most of us would have browsed a website on the internet or the intranet at some point in our lives –
whether it was to attain information, provide feedback or place an order.
1. What are the basic features on a website?
Tabs
Navigation bar
Links/URL
Pages/sub-pages
Themes/layout/style/colours
Gadgets, images
Information availability
Contact/Owner information
Links to other sites
2. Has anyone tried uploading material/files/pictures to a website before?
Adding pictures to facebook/twitter
Posting comments on a discussion forum
Subscribed to RSS feeds or email notifications
Contributed to team Wiki
Anyone completed online surveys at a website?
3. What is the Site storage space within the Monash domain?
Monash domain has 100Gb of site storage allocated to it, with no per-user limits assigned.
Ref: http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=90917
4. Some file types are not supported in Google Sites:
Eg. Ade, bat, com, cmd, vb, vbs, etc
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Ref: http://www.google.com/support/sites/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=153986
5. Can you link to files that are in your Docs?
Yes, Sites allows members to link to Google docs they have access to and embed them into
pages or link out to the doc itself. Similarly, it allows members to embed calendars that they
have access to.
6. Do users need to know a programming language to work with Google Sites?
There is no requirement for users to know a programming language as such to work with
Google Sites.
7. Who is the owner and what are the other access levels available?
The creator of the site is made the default owner. However, if you create a site and
for some reason choose to delete your account, then you can nominate others to be
owners of the site and they can continue to administer the site. In this way, you can
have many ‘owners’ for a site.
There are 3 different access controls available – Owners, View and Edit access. The
owner of the site can change the access privilege at anytime.
You can invite any number of people to share your site with, but Google will only send
50 invitations per day, until all invites have been sent out.
8. How many types of pages are there in Sites?
Web page: Simplest kind of page, where you can write content, embed gadgets and
arrange the layout as you like
Announcement pages: Easy for users to post chronological information like news,
updates blog, links, etc
File cabinet pages: Allows you to manage documents from your hard drive and
organise them into folders. Used to organise common documents in one place.
List pages: Provides lists of information that you can configure from templates.
Start pages: A special page where each viewer can add their own personalised set of
gadgets. Page collaborators (owners and editors) can still put content on the page
that everyone will see, but below that, is the content that will be different for every
viewer.
Ref: http://www.google.com/support/pages/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=98216
9. Can we create a custom-built page template for use in sites?
Yes, custom page templates can be built for use within a site by Owners or Editors. This can
be helpful if you are trying to ensure a particular layout for your site.
10. Can some page types be restricted from use so members do not use it for page
creation?
Site owners have the ability to ensure that some page types are not available for creating a
sub-page. This can be helpful if you are trying to ensure that there is a particular layout for
your site.
11. What are the differences between themes, templates and styles?
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Theme: It is the way the site is presented. For example, an ecologist theme can be
green, with a landscape as background, with different layouts, effects, shapes,
colours, and so on.
Template (also known as layout): The way the things are sorted in the site. For
example: the login box is at the right, but the template can be edited to show the login
box at the left.
Style: Colours, effects and shapes of a template. For example, you can round the
corners of the login box and make it red.
12. Information on editing pages:
Add links to a page:
i. Links help users navigate easily within your site. You can choose to link to a
page on another site, an existing page on your own site or a new page on
your site.
Ref: http://www.google.com/support/pages/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=90538
Links to files or text within site:
i.
Helps users navigate easily to different areas of your site
Ref: http://www.google.com/support/pages/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=93718
Add links to subpages:
i.
This helps organise the page structure on any page, by showing links to any
sub-pages.
Ref: http://www.google.com/support/pages/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=98227
Comments and attachments:
i.
Allows visitors to your site upload content or leave discussions posts and
even add attachments.
Ref: http://www.google.com/support/pages/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=98225
Deleting a page:
i.
Once deleted, all sub-pages, content and attachments will be removed. You
have 30 days to recover any deleted page, which then automatically restores
the sub-pages and attachments.
Ref: http://www.google.com/support/sites/bin/answer.py?answer=90551&cbid=je5sl25ppqej&src=cb&lev=%20index
13. If I like a site, can I copy it to my own site and work on it?
Yes. However, to copy an existing site to another URL, the owner of the existing site will need
to copy the site to the new location for you or you will need the owner of the existing site to
assign you owner access (so that you can do this yourself)
Ref: http://www.google.com/support/sites/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1238500
14. Can I delete my site?
Only owners have the ability to delete sites. Once a site is deleted, it may be recovered by
clicking on the site name in the ‘Deleted Sites’ area of the ‘My sites in monash.edu’ section,
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within 30 days of first deleting it. Once 30 days have elapsed, it will not be possible to recover
the site under any circumstances and it will be permanently deleted.
Know your content
To develop the best design for your site, it is good practice to know what content you want to place on
your site in the first place. Even having a rough draft is quite handy as you can then begin drafting the
main layers of your site and then update the sub-pages as your content grows.
Getting started with Google Sites
Attribute 1: Verify Site settings
1. Log into your email account and select Sites.
2. Select the gear icon from the top-right corner of the page.
> User Settings
a. Language should be ‘English UK’
b. Time Zone should be ‘GMT + 11:00 Eastern Australia Time – Melbourne’
c.
Leave ‘Email Notifications’ as unchecked.
d. Its good practice to continue updating your interface as Google releases new features
or changes. As such, select the new look in the ‘User Interface’ section.
Attribute 2: Understanding ‘My sites in monash.edu’
Note: These example sites can change at any time, as the owners of these sites manage the
permissions for them. As such, you may not see them in your list or may find that the layout has
changed.
Steps
Feature
Highlights
1
Notice the concept test site
a) Site names display in alphabetical order
b) Refer to sharing settings – shared with everyone
in monash.edu. Note, there’s no description
provided for this site.
c) For some users this site may not appear in their
‘My sites in monash.edu’. They will however be
able to search for it using a keyword of the site’s
name, as the owner has shared the site with
everyone in monash.edu.
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Note:
a) The reason why some users may not see some
Sites appear in their list, despite being able to
view/edit it is that the owner of the site would not
have shared the site specifically with the user.
b) Only sites that have been specifically shared with
individual user email addresses will be listed in
the ‘My sites in monash.edu’ list.
c) Sites shared with Google groups will not appear
in the list. However, members can search for the
site using a keyword or directly via the site link
and will be able to find the site.
d) Sites shared with MDS teams that have been
sync’d with Google or ordinary mailing lists, will
neither appear in the list nor in keyword searches.
Members of the MDS teams will need to click on
the Site link directly, to access it.
e) Some users will also find that different browsers
may or may not display site categories. For eg,
Chrome and IE 8 allow you to see site categories,
however Firefox 6 and above do not display them.
2
Notice the Maths 101 site
a) Refer to sharing settings – shared with everyone
in monash.edu and also has a description
b) Making it easy for users to understand the
content of the site
3
Notice the yellow tag next to some
site names
a) Refer to Maths 101 site
b) Note masterclass written in yellow. This is the
site category
4
Select Browse Sites
a) Contains site categories
b) This information is added by site creators at the
time of creating a site. It can also be added after
the site has been created
c) Numbers in brackets indicate the number of sites
in that category. However, you may not be able to
see all the sites, as some sites may be ‘private’
d) Locate the project management category with
21 sites in it.
i.
Some users may find this number to vary,
depending on the sites they may have
access to. This may also happen if the
site is ‘private’.
e) Go to top of page and select PMO site and
browse the site. Notice the different layouts sites
can have, pages, sub-pages, embedded gadgets,
etc
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Note:
Ensure that all content added to the site (gadgets,
docs, calendars, etc) should be shared with all
viewers. Otherwise users may not be able to see
such content.
5
Notice the Workshop site
Notice how it does not have any category or
description. It only specifies that it is shared with
some users.
Attribute 3: Creating a site
1. You can create a site by clicking on the button Create.
2. A site name:
a) Auto-populates the location URL
b) Has some character limitations (Can use: -, A-Z, a-z, 0-9)
Ref: http://www.google.com/support/sites/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=90453
3. Applying a theme to the site:
Its good practice to hold off on applying a theme to a site until after the site is ready to be
published. Once the site is built, owners can try the various themes then as well.
4. Understanding site categories
a) Categories allow you to group related sites and make them accessible on popular
categories lists, which are automatically created. Categories are only visible to Google
Apps account holders, not regular Gmail users
b) This is the same yellow category listed against the site names under My sites in
monash.edu
c) A site category can be added, once the site has been created as well.
5. Site description
a) This helps others understand what the site will be about
b)
Notice the description text listed against the site names under My sites in monash.edu
c) Site description can be added after the site has been created as well
6. Collaborating options
1. It’s good practice to keep your site private until you finish building it. You can then share it
with an appropriate audience or open it to the Monash domain at large.
NOTE: Once created, the site URL becomes active and no one can use the same URL again. As
such, once a site is deleted, it won’t release the name or the URL that you used to make it. You will
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need to give a new name for your site or append something in the end of the original name to use a
similar sounding site name. As such choose your site name carefully.
Attribute 4: Creating the home page
Steps
Tasks
Actions
1
Add an image to
the home page
(optional)
1. Go to More >Manage site>Site layout
2. In the Header section, under Height, select change logo.
3. If you would like to add a logo from your local hard drive, then locate
an image file from your hard drive
Note:
a) The new image file now displays in the image box and the radio
button Custom logo is automatically selected.
b) When adding an image as a URL, wait to see the preview. If the
preview does not come, then the image is not a valid image.
Ref:
http://www.google.com/support/sites/bin/answer.py?&answer=92123
4. Select Ok
5. You can now preview the changes made to your home page by
selecting the Preview button.
Note: A new window pops up with recently made changes to
provide a preview of how the site now looks.
6. Close the preview window and select Save.
Note: A highlighted text always appears at the top of the page,
when any changes made are saved.
7. To go back to the site, select the <sitename> under Manage site.
2
Update the
following
(optional)
The display
name of the
Site
Add a
category to
1. Go to More >Manage site>General
2. Under Site name, change the name of the site
3. Under Site Category, enter
Note: Category listed here appears in the Browse sites within
monash.edu section
4. Under Site Description, add the text
Note: Description listed here appears in the Browse sites within
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the site
Provide a
Site
Description
for your site
monash.edu section
5. Select Save at the top of the screen and <sitename>.
Attribute 5: Creating 2nd level sub-pages
1. To create a page, select Create from the top-right corner of the site home page
2. You can then select one of five page type templates and give the page a name
Ref: http://www.google.com/support/sites/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=96768
3. The page name gets added to the URL to create a new page, which users can visit directly as
well
4. Each page on the site can be edited
Ref: http://www.google.com/support/sites/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=90542
5. Owners and editors of the site can remove the ability for members to add comments or
attachments to pages
6. To keep abreast of changes being made to the site, Owners can subscribe to Site/Page changes,
as this will allow them to keep a tab of changes that others make.
Note: These notifications are sent via email and are not always in a friendly/useful format.
7. Owners can also choose not to be notified of changes made by themselves.
8. The Start Page type allows individual users to add gadgets to the web page. These gadgets will
only be visible to the user who places them here. They will not be visible to anyone else.
Note: Even users who have been provided with ‘View’ access, will be able to add a gadget to this
page.
9. Despite creating the sub-pages at different intervals, Google Sites formats them automatically and
alphabetically under the home page.
Ref: http://www.google.com/support/sites/bin/topic.py?hl=en&topic=15021
Attribute 6: Creating 3rd, 4th (and so on) level sub-pages
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1. To create further level sub-pages, select the parent level page in the left-hand navigation bar,
where you would like to create the new sub-page under.
2. Select Create from the top-right corner of the site home page
3. You can then select one of five page type templates and give the page a name
4. The page name gets added to the URL to create a new page, which users can visit directly as
well
5. All other attributes are similar to creating a 2nd level sub-page
Ref: http://www.google.com/support/sites/bin/topic.py?hl=en&topic=15021
Attribute 7: Changing the Navigation layout
1. By default, the side navigation bar only shows 2 levels by default. Any other sub-pages that
have been created will not be visible here.
2. However, this display can be changed to show 3 levels Or all levels
3. To do this, go to More >Manage site>Site layout>Edit Navigation
Ref: http://www.google.com/support/sites/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=183720
4. Navigation bar can also be placed on the top (horizontally) and links can be moved up and
down or to the side, as Sites always makes them appear alphabetically.
Note: This view is only available to Site owners. This is the general layout of your site. Notice
the header, sidebar and page content area – that resembles how your page looks like
Ref: http://www.google.com/support/sites/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=187377
5. Once you make changes to a site, you can always preview these changes, before saving
them to ensure they are in line with your layout design.
Attribute 8: Moving a page to another location
1. Select the page you would like to move elsewhere from the left-hand navigation bar
2. Select More >Move page
3. A site map opens, which allows you to navigate through to the page where you would like to
move the existing page to. Click on the + next to Home and select the new location
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Attribute 9: Add content to the Home page
1. Place your cursor on the Home link in the left-side navigation bar
2. Select the Edit page icon (from the top-right corner of the page)
3. Edit the fields accordingly. You will also be able to add content to the main content window
4. Once changes are made, select Save
Attribute 10: Changing the layout of any page and embedding calendar,
maps or docs
1. Select the page you would like to change the layout for from the left-hand navigation bar
2. Select the Edit page icon (from the top-right corner of the page)
3. Go to Layout. Select the new layout of the page.
4.
To embed a calendar, map or doc, go to Insert. Select calendar/map/ doc, etc for embedding
and locate the files
Ref: http://www.google.com/support/sites/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=90569
Ref: http://www.google.com/support/sites/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=157219
Attribute 11: Site or page change subscriptions
1. Site owners and editors can sign up to be notified by email whenever a site or page changes
2. For this go to More >Subscribe to site changes or Subscribe to page changes
3. Once you’ve subscribed, you’ll receive an email each time the site of page is updated, someone
makes a comment or adds an attachment.
4. To unsubscribe from these change notifications, go to More >Unsubscribe from site changes or
Unsubscribe from page changes
Ref: http://www.google.com/support/sites/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=90597
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Attribute 12: Setting a landing page
1. A landing page is a single web page that appears in response to selecting the URL of a site.
2. This can be the home page or any other page in the site.
Ref: http://www.google.com/support/sites/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=96774
Attribute 13: Deleting a page
1. Select the page you would like to delete from the left-hand navigation bar
2. Go to More >Delete page
3. When you delete a page, all content from the sub-pages automatically get deleted
4. You cannot however, delete a page that has been designated as a landing page:
5. You will have 30 days to recover the deleted page. You can do this by going to More>Manage
site>Deleted items. Select the appropriate page and click on Recover. This will automatically
restore all sub-pages and attachments.
Ref: http://www.google.com/support/sites/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=96774
Attribute 14: Changing the page template
1. Select the page you would like to change.
2. Go to More >Change page template
3. You can now select one of the five template options.
Note:
a) If you select the check-box for Apply default content from template, then it will overwrite all
existing content (including sub-pages) that is built on the page. This is a useful tip when you
would like to start afresh on your page.
b) If you do not select the check-box for Apply default content from template and still make
changes to the page template, then the previous content of the page does not get deleted
and the contents convert into a similar format to the page type chosen, except for ‘Start
Page’, as it attaches gadgets to the page instead.
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Attribute 15: Managing access levels
1. Only owners can configure Site sharing settings or access levels for other users/members.
2. For this, go to More >Site permissions
3. Users with ‘Can View’ access can look at the site, users with ‘Can edit’ can change the look
and content of the site and users who have ‘Is owner’ can change the look and feel of the site
as well as make administrative changes, such as deleting the site or adding new owners.
4. Similarly, if you would like to remove someone’s access, just locate the person and click on ‘x’
next to their level of access.
5. If you want everyone to be able to view your site without signing in to a Google account, then
you can set your site as public.
Ref: http://sites.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=98182
6. Sites can also be shared with a group of people via Google Groups. However, the members
will not be able to see the site name in their My sites in monash.edu. They will however, be
able to search for the site using a keyword of the site name.
Ref: http://sites.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=174623
Attribute 16: Managing page-level permissions
Page level permissions allows owners to set different levels of access for a given page. For eg, you
can set some users to be editors, while others only have view access. This feature can also allow you
to have private team areas. You can hide areas of the site for all but a specific group of people where
you could share private team information.
Note: Page level permission settings work on an inheritance model. Each page by default inherits the
settings of the page above it. Therefore, the best way to configure your site is to set everybody you
want to have access to the site as a viewer at the site level and promote individual users at the page
level.
Ref: https://sites.google.com/support/bin/static.py?page=guide.cs&guide=1387383&topic=1387643
To turn on page level permissions:
1. Go to More >Sharing and Permissions
2. Click on Enable page-level permissions from the top-right corner of the page
3. In the dialog box, click on Turn on page-level permissions
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Once you have turned on page-level permissions and added users to your site, you can control their
permissions for each page (if need be):
1. You will have three options to update permissions for this page:
a. Use the same permissions and members as Welcome to Sites’ Workshop
i. This setting will ensure that the selected page mirrors its parent page. Users
who can edit or view the parent page, will be able to edit or view the selected
page.
b. Start with the list below and include any future changes to Welcome to Sites’
Workshop
i. Here, the selected page will start with a list of people you specify and will
include any changes made to the parent page. The only exception is that if
you exclude someone from being able to see this page, they will not be able
to see it, even if the parent page gives them view/edit access.
c. Start with the list below but ignore any future changes to Welcome to Sites’
Workshop
i. This setting will disconnect the selected page from the rest of your site. For
eg, if you add additional users to your site, you will have to go to the page as
well and add them to see it.
Attribute 17: Changing the theme of the site
1. To change the theme of the site, you need to have site ownership access
2. Go to More >Manage site>Themes
3. You can preview any of the themes before you apply them to your site.
4. You can change the colours and fonts of the Site as well by navigating to Colours and Fonts
from the side navigation bar.
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