Google Docs - what is it? Cloud Office Guide Google Docs Features

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GoogleDoc online. How to create Google Docs

Hello blog readers. Andrey Khvostov is in touch. For successful management, it is necessary to use online information transfer services.

And if you are leading or participating in a training, taking a course, then it is convenient to share information, reports on the work done in the Google Docs service or, as the name of the service is shortened - Google Doc. About who invented these services, read the article about the founder of Google.

Cloud storage information based on Google Docs

The basis of "cloud" technologies is the ability to store and process information using server tools, and calculations can be seen inside the browser window.

One of the most popular such services is Google Docs. . It allows you to create and edit documents.

This is a kind of office in the network. At the same time, users can create a Word document online, it is also possible to change documents online, to collaborate with different users online.

This is a program that runs inside a web browser and does not require installation on a personal computer.

Creationdocuments on the Internet

With the help of Google Doc, it is possible to create a document word online, basic office documents in the usual way or using a template, to carry out all the operations known from the Word program.

including use bulleted lists, sort data by columns, create tables, insert images, write comments, use formulas, different fonts and everything related to office documents.

Google Docs online allows users to work with all popular file formats. In addition, this application also supports standard MS Office formats.

  • Desktop in Google Doc is similar to Word

Similar to Word toolbar icons. File sharing and collaboration with different users on the network is available.

  • Definitiondocument access rights
  • A jointchange documents with other people online

You can view and edit documents at the same time as others. At the same time, your work will be safe, and your data will be securely stored.

  • Online- the office is accessible from any part of the planet

You just need to have access to the Internet. You can access your documents whenever and wherever you want, because Google Docs is available online, that is, anytime and anywhere you have Internet access.

  • Yourdata is safe and work is saved

You can store your data online and it will be automatically saved so you don't have to worry about your computer crashing. hard drive or power outage.

  • Preservationand export copies

You can save documents to your PC in different formats.

  • Organizationtheir documents

You can easily find your documents and organize them into folders. You can create as many folders as you want, as well as your own Google docs, the entrance to which will be available only to you. You can also share documents with others.

  • Publicationyour work as a web page
  • Accessfor yourself or everyone

It is possible to publish your document with access to the whole world, only to some users and only to yourself. (Removal from publication is possible at any time).

  • transferyour blog documents

After creating a document, you can post it on your blog. And that's not all the useful features of Google Doc.

Beginto Work withGoogledocs

First, register to use Google services.

GoogleDox registration

To access the service, you must first register. We open Google and select “Login” at the top, another page will open, in it you will need to click on the “Create” link.

You will see a registration form.
Here you need to carefully fill in the proposed fields, save your registration data in a safe place.

Googledox input

So, we already know what Google documents are, you can enter them by entering the address of the Google page in the address bar of your browser and clicking “Login”.

In order to log in, you must enter your account information that you provided during registration.

You can log in to Google Doc by clicking the "Services" button. A tab will open where we click "Disk".

Disk opens. There we click the “Create” button. And in the tab that opens, select Google Docs.

howcreate a document in google docs.Creationnew online text document

To create an online text document, you need to go to the main Google page, which is located on www.google.ru, and in the upper right you need to click the box Services / More / Other Google services.

In the tab that opens, select the "Home and Office" section. Select "Documents" there. You will see your Google Docs page.
Naturally, if you have just created your account, there will be no documents on it. Therefore, a new document should be created. Click the plus icon, the button of which is located at the bottom right.

A new text document will open and you can create it. It is created in the same way as in the offline Microsoft office that is familiar to us.

We enter the text, we use all the same methods of copying and pasting, they are available from the "Edit" menu, you can also use familiar key combinations, such as: Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V.

To format the typed text, you can use the google docs online interface.

Besides this service has the ability to check spelling. To start them, you do not need to do anything, this function is immediately active.

All incorrect words are underlined with a red dotted line. In order to see possible words for replacement, you need to open the context menu of the word underlined with a dotted line and select the one you need.

Automatic text translation

It is also interesting to have automatic translation of the created document. To run it, you need to select "Tools" in the menu, and "Translate Document".

A dialog box called "Document Translation" will open, in which you must enter the name of the document to be translated, and select the desired translation. Of course, one should not expect high results from this translation.

So, you can return your document to some of the states during the creation process. You can view the history of your changes in File / View Change History.

One of the important advantages of such services is that you can work together on the same document. You can allow other authors to view and modify your documents.

To provide general access or give access only to certain persons to the file that is being edited, you must click on "Grant access", this button is located at the top right.

A dialog box called "Sharing Settings" will open, using its controls you can set the access rights to the document you want to edit.

Can send created document as an attachment to an e-mail. Click "File" from the menu and then "Attach to Email".

You will see a dialog box called "Sending a message", in which you will have to write the recipients' e-mail addresses and text.

In addition, you can upload your document created on your PC to the provider's server. Of course, later it will be possible to change it using this system online.

Downloading a Document to Google Doc

To download a document created on your PC, go to the personal http docs google com page and click "Download", this button is located at the top left of the page.

Another menu will open, in it you need to click "Files". Next, you will see a dialog box, in which you select the file to download.

In the next window, you need to check the box "Convert documents, presentations, and so on to Google Docs format." This is necessary so that you can then make corrections and changes to your file.

You can see all created and uploaded files in your Google Docs. To organize, delete, rename files, you need to use commands from the context menu.

It is also possible to download google docs documents to a computer.
Of course, in addition to the fact that you use the files that were created using the service online, you can download your Google Docs to your local PC in order to subsequently edit them in google docs offline mode.

Why do you need to use the "File" / "Download as" command.

That's all about Google Docs text documents for now. If you need Additional Information, then you can get it from the help section. Help can be accessed using the "Help" command.

TableGoogle Docs

Let's start by learning the basic principles of how Google Sheets works.
To create a new table, you need to click on the main page of Google Docs "Create", then another menu will appear, from it you need to select "Table".

You will immediately open a tab in the browser, it contains an empty table.

As in MS Excel, to start entering a formula, you must enter the assignment operator (sign "="). To specify links to the contents of other cells, you can use the mouse by clicking on the required cell.

To create the required formula, you need to use the calculation operators: (+), (-) and the like. When you have finished entering the formula, press the "Enter" key.

PDFfileonline via google doc

Also, this "cloud" service provides the ability to create pdf document online. This is probably the most simple and fast way creating such a document.

As usual, select “documents” in the window on the right, click “Create” in the window at the top left and proceed to create the document. Insert pictures, write text.

Select "Print" and print as PDF and click on the small "Print" button located on the right. Choose a location to save the document and give it a name.

All Google Documents to create, as you can see, is very easy, and most importantly convenient.

Analog google docs

Not so long ago this year, Mail.ru launched a beta version of a new online editor text documents, which operates on the basis of the Cloud Mail.ru file storage service. Who knows, perhaps such a solution is a good analogue of google docs.

Google Docs. Video

Watch the video of my infobusiness partner on working with Google Docs.

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Many users think that in Google Doc you can only type simple texts. This is not true.

It provides many features that help you work with documents no less efficiently than in Microsoft Office.

The service provides 1 Gb for free storage of imported files, as well as unlimited space for documents.

Working with Google Doc is possible without an Internet connection. The files are also available in offline, after connecting to the network, they are automatically updated on the server.

Offline access is possible through the Google Chrome browser.

To verify offline access, you must click the gear icon in the upper right corner of the page and open Settings.

Note! The advantage of Google Doc is the full compatibility of all documents created in it, which cannot be said about Microsoft Office.

If you created a document in the office from Microsoft and sent it by mail to another user for revision, it is not a fact that he will have a suitable version of the program.

Google Doc allows you to work with all popular file formats.

To open access to editing or reading a document to other users, you need to select the file and click "Open access to the object."

Google Doc

The free online Google Docs application is designed to create and edit text files. The toolbar is similar to Word in many ways.

To create an online text document, go to the Google Drive website, click "Create" and select "Document".

A new text document will open where you can enter text and use familiar copy and paste methods.

Note! The service provides an opportunity. Wrong words are underlined with a red dotted line. To see the proposed replacement words, open the context menu of the underlined word and select the one you need.

Key features:

  • Ability to download a document from Word;
  • Implementation a large number formatting options;
  • Granting rights to view and edit files to other users;
  • Saving the history of document changes;
  • Ability to save Google Docs as Word file, HTML, RTF, PDF, OpenOffice, ZIP;
  • Sending a document to e-mail.

Google Spreadsheets

Most users work with text documents, but when you need to process a huge amount of data, google dox tables come to the rescue.

They firmly hold positions among business software, as they allow you to perform tasks related to various calculations without programming.

For those who use Microsoft Excel, Google spreadsheets will not cause difficulties.

In terms of functionality, they are slightly inferior to Excel, while remaining an equally effective tool that allows you to simplify and automate calculations.

To create a table in Google Docs, go to the site, click "Create" and select "Table". new document will be created.

Default spreadsheet document always contains one sheet. To add a new one, click "+" on the bottom bar.

You can enter words and numbers into Google Spreadsheet cells, as well as insert images.

Headings summarizing indicators and other important information can be highlighted in bold, color or any other expressive means.

Formatting tools are duplicated in the "Format" menu and on the toolbar.

Borders are assigned using the "Borders" button on the toolbar.

Key features:

  • Import Excel files, CSV, TXT, ODS to google doc spreadsheet;
  • Convenient formula editor for calculating and formatting data;
  • Editing the table together with other users;
  • Adding graphs and charts;
  • Ability to embed tables in a website.

Google presentations

Presentation - ideal remedy to present any information. Typically, a presentation is shown to an audience using a projector or displayed on user monitors.

When creating Google Slides from scratch, the online editor always adds 1 title slide. The user can specify a title and subtitle.

The new slide is added after the selected frame (with a blue border around it).

When multiple slides are selected, the insert will appear after the last one selected. To add a new frame, click the New Slide button.

If you use the small arrow to the right of the button, you can select the type of slide.

You can insert any Google documents into a Google presentation, as well as publish the finished work on the Internet for the general public.

In the settings form, enter the size of the slides you need, the transition time between slides, and also specify how the show will start - automatically or at your command.

Key features:

  • Creating and editing presentations;
  • Collaborate on a presentation with friends or colleagues;
  • Ability to import PPTX and PPS files;
  • Saving presentations in PDF, JPG, PPT, SVG formats;
  • Adding graphics and videos;
  • Possibility of publishing on the website.

How to Create a Google Drive Survey Form

You can create a survey using Google Forms. At the end of the work, it can be sent to mailing list subscribers or embedded in a website page.

At the same time, you will receive statistics on answers in a convenient form.

To create a Google Dox survey, click the "Create" button and select "Form". In the dialog that opens, specify the title of the form and the theme.

Click OK to start adding questions.

The Submit button causes the form to be submitted. In the window that appears, you will see a link.

It can be sent by e-mail, distributed in social networks or share with users whose opinion you want to know.

Google Docs: Introduction

You urgently need to edit a document, and you are sitting at someone else's computer... or maybe Office has stopped working on your computer... But there is a way out! These are online offices that require only the Internet and a browser to work with!

Hello, friends! This article will show you how to use the service. Google docs online newbie? How can a beginner prepare a report online in Google Docs?

How to make a report through Google Docs online

This article is written for beginners who want to make money through the Internet, want to make a blog themselves, learn how to make money on affiliate programs want to build their infobusiness. To achieve your goals, you need to learn, which many beginners do. I myself took various courses and trainings, this was written in articles on the blog "" and "". In the learning process, it is often necessary to prepare reports on the performance of various tasks and present them to teachers and coaches.

It is convenient for teachers and students to work online when it is provided Feedback when they sort out the mistakes of one of the students, the rest listen and shake their heads. As a rule, the free online service Google Docs - Google Docs - is used to work with documents. The Google docs service has a package in its arsenal office programs, which is enough for the job.

As it turned out, 95 - 97% of beginners do not know what it is and how to work with this service. Instead of taking courses, they are forced to look for materials on the Internet to work with the online service Google Docs (Google Docs). There are such materials on the Internet, but they are usually heavily overloaded with unnecessary material.

Therefore, it was decided to write a training article on working online with the Google Docs service (Google Docs) for beginners and give information to a minimum in it. Based on this article, it will be possible to simply and quickly make a report without being distracted by studying unnecessary information, and later gradually master the rest of the functions of the Google Docs service (Google Docs Online).

It is impossible to cover all the features and functions of the Google Docs online service (Google Docs) in one article, this will require a full-fledged video course, therefore, as mentioned above, we will consider the minimum information that is needed to create a report and send it to specific people. So, for starters, let's do a short theoretical review of the Google Docs online service.

Over the past ten years, we have become accustomed to working with documents in various computer programs- Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other programs. It is difficult to imagine that today people write a draft on paper, and then type the corrected text, for example, into Word. To work with documents, office programs are used, such as Microsoft Office in various configurations.

Office programs are installed on a computer, and you can work in them without the Internet - work offline. Often there is a need for collective work on documents, reading, editing, commenting. At enterprises and organizations, this is solved simply, computers are combined into a network. And how to work with a document for people who live in different cities, in different countries?

This issue has been resolved by many Internet services through the use of cloud technologies for processing and storing information. If in a simple way, then the work is performed on the server of the service, and the information is stored there. No files are processed on your computer, these files are not stored on your hard drive. With the help of such services, dozens and hundreds of people from all over the world can work with a document at the same time - this is a very convenient tool. That is, this is an office suite for work, but it is not installed on the computer, but on the service server.

One of these advanced and popular online services is Google Docs (Google Documents), with its help you can create, edit various documents, hundreds of people can work with these documents at the same time. You can create documents similar to Word documents, Excel, graphic files, various presentations.

I hope this is clear? Now let's move on to practical work for the preparation of the report. To get started in online service Google Docs, we need to have mail from Google - gmail. If you do not have such mail, then you need to start it, it is done simply, and we will not consider this issue here. Now that there is mail, we log in and go to the Google page. In the upper left corner, you can click "Applications", or in the upper right corner, click "Services" (see screenshot).

In the window that opens, click on "Google Drive" (Disk), see the screenshot.

Now we have been redirected to the page for working with documents. You will be empty there, I have already created some documents (see screenshot).


Screen 3.

In this article, we will consider working with two documents:

  1. "Document" is an analogue of a document made in regular Word.
  2. “Table” is an analogue of regular Excel, where data can be entered into a table, or some calculations can be made.

To create a document, you must click the "Create" button (see screenshot 3), select in the drop-down menu and click on "Document" (screen 4).


Screen 4.

A new window of our future document opens (screen 5),


Screen 5.

As you can see, the Control Panel is very similar to the Word Control Panel. Now we need to give a name to our document, for this we click at the top of the page “New Document”. A small window pops up, in the field we prescribe the name of the new document and click "OK".

I will not dwell on the control panel, it is almost the same as Word (see screenshot 5). On the left there are arrows "Back" and "Forward", "Print". Next, we can choose the font, its size, bold, italic, font color. To place text on the page, you must click "Advanced" and select desired function(see screenshot 5).

An important difference from Word is that you do not need to save anything here. If you want to fix something, feel free to fix it, this option will forever remain in the memory of the service, you just close the window and continue working with other documents. By the way, all corrections also remain in memory and you can always return to them.

Suppose our document is ready, now it is necessary to make the access setting, for this we press the button in the upper right corner "Access settings" (see screen 5). In the window that opens, click the "Enable access by link" button (screen 7).


Screen 7.

You can also choose a mode - editing, commenting, reading. After clicking on the “Enable access by link” button, a new window pops up, call the pop-up window and select, for example, “Everyone who has the link can view” (screen 8) and click “Finish”.


Screen 8.

Now, if you hover the mouse over the "Access Settings" button, an inscription on a black background is displayed - to whom the created document will be available (see screenshot 9).


Screen 9.

Now you need to copy the link and send it to the addressee, everyone who has a link to the document will be able to view it. This completes the work with the document, it will not be difficult to figure out the rest of the options. You can also watch the video:

Since the article turned out to be quite large, I will end here. Working with tables, creating folders, important features of working with online google we will consider the document in the second part of the article. Subscribe to blog updates and you will be aware of the publication of new materials. The second part of the article can be viewed.

Sincerely, Ivan Kunpan.

It seems to many that in the online text editor Google Docs you can only type simple texts, it is simply not suitable for anything else. In fact, this is far from the case. In the bowels of this web application lies a lot useful features, which will help you work no worse than in some kind of Microsoft Office.

1. Enable offline access

Google Docs can work offline. At the same time, you can create new and continue to edit existing documents. At next connection to the Internet, all changes will be synchronized. To activate this feature, go to the site Google Drive and go to the settings menu, which appears after pressing the gear button.

2. Collaboration

The Google Docs editor provides us with everything we need to collaborate on documents. You can easily share text, and you can fine-tune file permissions. So, you can allow only viewing, viewing and commenting, or even give full editing access. In the latter case, all the changes made by your employees will be reflected in real time, and you will work on the text together in the literal sense of the word.

3. Publish Documents

Finished documents can be shown not only to a limited circle of employees, but also published on the Web. To do this, click File - Publish online. Get a link to a web page or a code to embed a document into your site.

4. Look for mistakes

Checking errors in the Google Docs editor is not difficult at all. Just find it in the menu Instruments command Spell check, and a small panel will appear in front of you, sequentially displaying each error found and suggesting ways to fix it.

5. Insert links

Google's online editor contains a handy tool for inserting links. As soon as you select a word in the text and click on the insert link button, a pop-up window will appear suggesting the most likely relevant links. As a rule, this is an article from Wikipedia and the first few links from a Google search for a given word.

6. Use your styles

If the built-in text formatting styles do not suit you, then you can easily set your own. To do this, type the text in the desired font, and then in the style selection menu, select the command Update style according to selection.

7. Personal dictionary

If the editor constantly underlines a word for you as incorrect, but you know for sure that this is not the case, then simply add it to the custom dictionary. To do this, select it in the text, and then select in context menu command Add to custom dictionary.

8. Web Clipboard

Google office suite has a very interesting feature called "Web Clipboard". This function allows you to copy several passages of text, pictures, tables at once and then paste them into any Google document. Thus, this is such a dimensionless clipboard that is available from any computer and operates within office Google programs. It can be accessed from the menu Edit - Web Clipboard.

9. Advanced search

The advanced search tool in Google Docs is a special panel used to search various information while working on the document. To call it, you can use a special item in the menu Instruments or hotkey combination Ctrl+Alt+R. You can learn more about this function from.

10. Additions

The functionality of Google Docs can be extended with special add-ons. They are both from third-party developers and from the Google. Usually they serve to add support for new formats, convert files and more conveniently use the editor for various purposes. You can get acquainted with some of the useful additions.

11. Insert pictures by drag and drop from your desktop or another site

Not everyone knows, but you can insert pictures into a Google Docs document by simply dragging them from your desktop or file manager. And if you need to insert a picture from another web page, then just drag and drop it to the right place in the text, and it will automatically appear in your document.

12. Translate documents

If you are working with documents foreign language, then Google Docs has a built-in translator. It's on the menu Tools - Translate document.

13. Navigating complex documents

If you have opened a complex large document, then displaying the table of contents of the text will help you easily navigate its structure. You can find this function in the menu Add-ons - Table of contents - Show in sidebar.

14. Turn on full screen mode

Many people like special text editors, which contain a minimum of distracting elements and occupy the entire screen of the monitor. This helps you work more productively and focus only on the text. You can activate a similar mode in Google Docs. To do this, open the menu View and uncheck the box Show ruler. Then select command Compact controls or Full Screen.

15. Use a template gallery

Don't forget that the Google office suite has a pretty good template gallery. It is located at this address, and it contains many useful templates that can make your work easier.

16. Automatic content insertion

If you want to insert a table of contents into your document, you don't have to do it manually. Easy to find on the menu Insert paragraph Table of contents, and the editor will do everything for you.

17. Use bookmarks in your document

Sometimes it happens that you need to give a link not to the entire document, which can be quite voluminous, but to a separate paragraph. In this case, bookmarks will come to our aid. Position the cursor at the desired location in the text, and then select from the menu Insert paragraph Bookmark.

Online editors, although not a complete replacement for desktop office suites, however, they have their undoubted advantages, among which is the possibility of working together with documents. No less important are the "cloud" properties of online offices and related services, which allows them to be used to store files and workflow.

AT this review 5 online office packages will be considered in detail according to the following criteria:

  • Interface: convenience, design, response speed, observed failures during operation.
  • Word Processor Toolkit: presence of all necessary tools for working with text, inserting tables, images and other elements; toolbar functionality, menu composition.
  • office applications: since it is impossible to consider all the components of office suites within the framework of one article, key attention will be paid to the word processor as part of the office, other applications will be discussed briefly. Table editors may be covered in a separate review, since this is also a fairly broad topic for research and comparison.
  • Supported formats: Import/Export options.
  • Collaboration: tools for setting access rights, categorization.
  • File storage: Disk space provided (primarily in free version, if available), synchronization with PC; limits on the size of documents for storage/loading, file sharing functions.
  • mobile version: The presence of a mobile web version, as well as applications for various devices.
  • Rates: tariff plans, the availability of a free version.

Reviewers:

  1. Google Docs
  2. Zoho Docs (Zoho Office Suite)
  3. Microsoft Office Web Apps
  4. Teamlab Office
  5. Thinkfree Online

Google Docs

Service Google Docs, or Google Docs, appeared as a result of the merger of two components - Writely (word processor) and Google Spreadsheets (working with spreadsheets), created by Upstartle and 2Web Technologies, respectively. Both products were taken over by Google and integrated with Google Accounts in 2006. In 2012, the online office was assigned to Google Drive, supplemented by this moment with other applications.

Interface

The design of office applications Google Docs is made in the style typical for other Google services - Gmail, Calendar, etc. Therefore, with a global design update carried out by Google, it is not so rare that changes affect all Docs applications.

Most of the functional elements have gray, white and blue tones. No color icons, strict style. In principle, such a departure to minimalism is also characteristic of Microsoft, as will be seen in the case of a set of Office applications web apps.

The toolbar is located in one row, above is the menu, buttons for commenting and granting access. Unnecessary panels can be hidden at any time, leaving only the toolbar visible. It is also easy to remove the ruler and / or the formula bar through the "View" menu section. Thus, editing in the browser becomes more comfortable by expanding the workspace and focusing on the most necessary tools.

In general, editing documents occurs without slowdowns. Unstable work can be observed when opening several dozen documents - but in this case everything depends on the browser resources. Among the shortcomings, failures should be noted, which, although rare, still occur on Google servers- at such moments it is impossible to edit the document.

Writely Toolkit

The main operations are placed on the toolbar, auxiliary commands are placed in the menu bar. For some reason, the developers considered that inserting objects (tables, figures, special characters, etc.) is not needed on the panel for quick access, so this group is also moved to the menu. Generally speaking, many menu and panel commands are duplicated.

Basic options are available for fonts: selection of paragraph style (with preview), typeface (limited to a set of 8 fonts), outline style (among which there is no strikethrough, although it is found in the Sheets component). Alignment, indents, spacing settings are also available.

Curiously, additional fonts can be embedded in a document. and in addition, an extended list of default fonts is provided. So, if you change the document language to English, the result will surprise you. Why the developers have hidden the option to add a custom font to Russian-language documents is not clear.

You can add bookmarks to your document internal links(anchors), table of contents. Pretty much everything you need to create structure and layout word processor implemented. Noticed that you can't add digital signature for protection or a watermark. In the latter case there is alternative way using a custom css style, but this, of course, is not very convenient and obvious.

Spell check available: you can add new terms to the dictionary, the context menu offers correction options. However, you cannot manually specify the language for checking the text, the only workaround is to change it in the document settings ("File → Language ...").

Hotkeys can be found in the memo (Ctrl + /), by hovering over the command icon, or through the menu.

office applications

Google Drive includes applications for working with text documents (the Writely component, or Docs), tables (Sheets), presentations (Slides), forms (Forms), drawings (Drawings). According to , there are only three main components - Documents, Spreadsheets and Slides. Any of them can be accessed at start page Google drive.

Sheets

The Sheets (or Spreadsheets) processor allows you to work with spreadsheets, functions, and perform calculations. There are several notable features in this online version compared to any offline spreadsheet processor - say, MS Excel. Firstly, it is possible to connect Google Apps Script scripts (a kind of alternative to VBA scripts), which opens up the widest possibilities for creating applications, automation, etc.

Secondly - integration with forms for collecting data in tables. Forms is not mentioned in the Google help as a component of documents, but it is an important part of office applications. Forms interact closely with Sheets tables. Using the application, you can create questionnaires, voting, data collection forms, which can be conveniently viewed in the form of tables in the future. At the same time, to build polls, etc., you can use text fields, radio buttons and other interactive elements.

The list of functions compared to MS Excel is limited and available only in English implementation. However, it is not difficult to get used to it, especially since you need to understand: this is not a tracing paper of formulas from an offline office package. For a list, see List of Google Sheets features. You may notice that Sheets has its own functions: for example, to import data from HTML and XML, Google features and etc.

Working with cells is standard: sorting, filtering, creating ranges, conditional formatting. At the same time, no freezes were noticed, although there are pauses when capturing large ranges. Some familiar commands are missing. For example, for a simple task like finding duplicates, you have to use Apps Script or other workarounds.

In Sheets, you can build simple pivot tables. There are tools for constructing diagrams: linear, combined, bar, pie, histograms, etc. There are also less common types of them - organizational, geographical. Perhaps the only thing missing is (available as a gadget, and not in the best implementation).

Slides (Presentations)

The slide application is designed to create presentations for export to PDF, PPTX, or to view directly in a browser. Transition effects, animation, templates are supported. You can add videos, charts from related Docs applications, WordArt objects, and more to your presentation.

There are some features of Slides that should be listed for later comparison with other services. Firstly, multi-selection of slides, and in addition to standard operations with the clipboard, you can massively make changes - change transitions, change the structure of layouts. Second, insert notes. As the comparison of cloud offices shows, this possibility is far from obvious and conveniently implemented everywhere. Thirdly, a fairly simple, not overloaded interface.

Drawings

The Drawings application (in the Russian version it sounds more blurry - “Google Drawings”) allows you to create drawings using lines, shapes, text. Work is simplified by guides, snapping to a grid and automatic distribution.

The service can be used both for creating sketches, simple design, and for creating graphs and charts. Forte Drawings - the ability to collaborate on a document. Without this, perhaps, the value of the program would have decreased, because graphic editors of this kind - in abundance.

Collaboration

One of the main cloud benefits of Google Docs is the convenience of document collaboration and role sharing. We can briefly list several important functions.

All changes in the process of working with the document are displayed in real time as cursors of different colors in those positions where editing takes place (in the case of the Writely component). In Sheets and Slides, the corresponding cell/slide is highlighted.

Chat is available in the sidebar, so you can have a discussion in the document, this option was not found in the Drive interface. Commenting on text, cells and slides is also available.

Access rights are fairly easy to manage. You can share a document, as well as add a user and specify their access level (editor, owner, comment, read).

Contacts can be easily combined into groups, which makes the distribution of rights more efficient, especially when working in a team.

Collections used to be available in Google Docs, but after being "rebranded" to Google Drive, they have been replaced by folders. And if before that it was possible to add a file to several collections, now this possibility is missing. It can be assumed that this was done due to the impossibility of synchronizing collections and folders in local storage. In addition, when using folders, there are no difficulties with access rights for user groups. On the other hand, with tags (as, for example, in Zoho Docs) in Google Docs, it would be much more convenient to clean up.

Supported document formats

Documentation

Two ISO document standards are supported - OpenDocument (open/export) and Office Open XML (open only), plus proprietary formats. As a result, the import / export list in the Docs word processor looks like this: Word, ODF, RTF, PDF, HTML and ZIP. When uploading documents to the service, the files can be converted from MS Office into a format for further editing by means of the service.

tables

Import: XLS, CSV, TXT and ODS
Export: XLS, CSV, TXT, ODS, PDF and HTML

Presentations

Import: PPT and PPS
Export: PDF, PPT and TXT

Images

Export: PNG, JPEG, SVG and PDF

In addition to the specified list, there is also a separate list of formats supported by the Google Drive universal viewer, which is also available for mobile devices(see below).

File storage

The "Save" button on the toolbar in Google apps There are no documents, all changes are saved automatically. Documents keep records previous versions with the possibility of opening them in preview mode or downloading to a computer.

As already mentioned, the file storage is Google Drive. 5 GB storage is free. Maximum size documents can be 1,024,000 characters, or 1 MB for text files uploaded to Google for editing. For tables, the limit is 400,000 cells, for presentations it is 50 MB, which is approximately 200 slides.

Rates

Google Drive is free, rates with increased disk space indicated. There are discounts for educational and non-profit organizations. You can also use Docs as part of the Google Apps cloud services suite.

[+] Free and no significant restrictions
[+] Convenient, non-distracting design
[+] Thoughtful teamwork in the cloud
[+] Integration with Google services
[+] Regular updates
[+] Template Gallery
[-] Occasionally there are malfunctions
[-] No possibility to personalize the workspace (branding)


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