Create your own teacher or class website using … | W A T e c h D e p t . Create your own teacher or class website using Google Sites To create a site in Google Sites, you must first

1 | W A T e c h D e p t .

Create your own teacher or class website using Google Sites

To create a site in Google Sites, you must first login to your school Google Apps account.

1. In the top-right corner of any apps, you can click on the App Launcher icon to view your enabled services.

2. Click Sites.

In addition to the links at the top left of any Google Apps page, you can also access Google Sites through a custom URL for

your school. While you are logged in to your school domain, typehttp://www.google.com/sites into your browser address bar.

Create a name for the site

Once you have logged in to Google Sites on your school Apps account, you can create a new site. You can design your own

site, or you can choose a site template to help you get started. Some common site templates are highlighted on the site

creation page, or you can click Browse the gallery for more to see more template options.

To create a new site:

1. Click on the button located in your Google Sites directory.

2. Select Blank template if you would like to design your own site from scratch, or click the Browse the gallery link to

choose from a variety of site templates.

3. Type your site name—this will also auto-populate your site URL to besites.google.com/a/yourschool.edu/your-site-

name (where yourschool.edu is your school Apps domain).

4. If you would like to change your site URL, you can change what appears after yourschool.edu. Just type the new name

for your site in the box following yourschool.edu.

https://www.google.com/sites


Note: Choose your site URL with care. If you change the site name later, your site URL will not change. The URL you choose

cannot be changed after you create your site or be used again if the site is deleted.

When selecting a URL for your site, keep the following in mind:

Your site name (and URL) cannot conflict with an existing site name

Site URLs can only use these characters: A-Z, a-z, 0-9

Beneath the site URL, there are also two additional sections, Choose a theme and More Options.

Select a design for your site in the Choose a theme section

Add a description and category for your site and select the sharing access level in the More Options section

Make a site easier to find with site categories and descriptions

When creating your site, you can also add site categories and a site description in the More Options section.

Categories allow you to group related sites and make them accessible together within the popular categories list for your

school Apps domain. Categories are deemed popular when they contain more than five sites. Categories can have multiple

words such as 'math department' or 'student projects.'

For example, if you used a 'math department' category for your site, and all other math teachers used that category, then

someone at your school could browse the 'math department' category to view all 'math department' sites. Or you could use a

'athletics' category that identifies the sites that have information related about school sports teams.

Note: The site category setting does not affect search results.

A site description can be added to identify the purpose of your site. This will appear next to your site name in the list of sites at

your school's domain.

Both the category and site description settings are not required and can be modified after the site is created.

When in the site creation process, you can add the site category and description in the More Options section beneath the site

name and URL:

1. Click on the More Options section on the Create a new site page.


Type in the names of the categories for your site in the Site Categories box, separated by commas (e.g., math

department, ms. smith)

2. Type in a short description of your site in the Site Description box (e.g., Ms. Smith's math class site with homework

assignments, class schedule, parent newsletter, and class materials).

Use a theme design for a site

Whether you are building an intranet, a project wiki, a classroom site, or a public website, we know it is important for your site

to look good. Google Sites has over 50 themes to make it easier to get started with a great looking site. Themes are pre-

packaged combinations of site layouts, colors and images that are available in Google Sites.

Once you chose a theme, you can still change specific values such as background colors and images via the Themes, Colors

and Fonts section.

When in the site creation process, you can choose a theme for your site. If you do not choose a Theme, your Site will default

to the Sky theme.

1. Click the drop-down arrow next to Select a theme to expand the page and show all available themes.


2. Select the theme you would like to use by clicking the thumbnail. The thumbnail will turn red to indicate your selection.

3. If you have already filled out the site name, URL, categories, and description, click Create Site.

Create a new page

When you create a new page in Google Sites, you are given the option to choose from several page types. The following

sections will review the different types of pages you can create.

Individuals with editing access (as a collaborator or an owner of the site) also have the ability toSubscribe to page changes.

The notifications of page changes vary depending on the page type.

Types of page templates

There are several different page templates to choose from when you create your Google Site.

Web Page

A Web Page is an unstructured page that will allow you to add text, images, videos, calendars, tables, gadgets, and more.

Announcement page

An Announcement page is a page which makes it easy for an individual or group to post chronological information like news,

status updates, or notable events. It can be used to post organizational news, post project updates, announce new releases,


post interesting links from around the web, as a simple blog, and more. Each post is like a mini-webpage - you can format the

text, include pictures, links, and gadgets. You can also edit and update these posts at any time.

File Cabinet page

A File Cabinet page type allows you to upload and manage documents from your hard drive onto your site and organize them

into folders. This can be used to organize common documents in one place.

List page

A List page allows you to easily track lists of information. You can choose from a list of templates or configure your own

custom columns. Items can be easily added, updated, and removed.

Start Page

On the Start Page, you can add content, including text, images, and gadgets, in a locked area, which users cannot modify.

You can also choose a theme and other design elements for the page. At any time, you can update the locked area and page

design, and all users' Start Pages will be updated with the changes.

Below the locked area on the Start Page, users can add gadgets of their choice from the public directory to personalize the

page.

Change a page type template

A site owner or collaborator can change the page template at any time. This means that you could change one of your pages

from a List page type template to a Web page type template

To change a page type template:

1. In your site, make sure you are not editing a page (if you see the Save and Cancel button, you are in editing mode). If in

editing mode, click Save or Cancel to exit.

2. Click on the More button.

3. Select Page settings.

4. Click the Change link next to the page template type.

5. Select the new page template type and click the Change button.


Choose a page layout

Google Sites offers nine different types of layouts for standard webpages. The nine layouts fall into one of three categories:

simple columns, columns with a header and footer, and sidebar page.

These layouts can be applied to the four types of page templates (webpage type, list, announcement and file cabinet).

To change the layout of your page:

1. On the page, make sure you are editing a page (if you see the Save and Cancel button, you are in editing mode). If you

are not in editing mode, click the Edit page button.

2. Click on the Layout menu.

3. Select the desired layout from the drop-down menu.

Google Sites will then apply the new layout to your page and adjust your content accordingly. Your content will not be

removed, but it may be shuffled as a result of the new layout.


Edit page settings

You can make several changes to individual pages in your site including:

Show/hide the page title: Make the page title visible at the top of the main content area

Show/hide links to subpages: Pages that are children of the current page in the site hierarchy

Allow attachments or comments: Allow site editors or site owners to add attachments or comments to the page

Include in sidebar navigation gadgets: Have the page appear in a sidebar navigation gadget

Change the page URL: Change the final item in the URL that is associated with this page (e.g. for

sites.google.com/a/myschool.edu/mysite/mypage you can changemypage)

Change the page template: Change the page type or page template applied to the page

To access Page settings:

1. On your page, make sure you are not editing a page (if you see the Save and Cancel button, you are in editing mode). If

in editing mode, click Save or Cancel to exit.

2. Click the More menu and select Page settings from the drop-down menu.

3. From here, you can make changes to the page settings as described above.

4. Click Save when done.

Note: Any changes made to the page settings will apply only to that particular page.


Share a site

To share a Google Site with others:

1. Click the button on the top-right corner of your browser window.

2. Add, edit, or remove individuals or groups from your site.

3. Select whether you want your entire school domain to edit or view your site by selectingChange… and modifying the

settings of your site.

Note: Only the owner of a site can change sharing permissions; there can be multiple owners of a Google Site within the

same domain.

Change the theme of a site

To change the theme if you have already created your site:

1. In your site, make sure you are not editing a page. If you see the Save and Cancel button, you are in editing mode. If in



3. Choose Manage Site from the drop-down menu.


4. In the left hand side near the bottom of the page, click Themes, Colors and Fonts.

5. Click Preview to see a preview of the new settings.

6. To select a theme, click on the theme name, then click Save.

7. If you would like to go back to your site, click the Return to Site link at the top left of the page, or else you can continue

to make changes to the settings of your site.

Change colors and fonts in a site

You can also change the colors and fonts in a site by selecting individual page elements of the site. See the image below for

your options. One example is changing colors to match your school logo.

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To modify the content of any of the above areas within your site:




3. Choose Edit site layout.

4. Hover then click on the site element you wish to edit.

To modify the colors and fonts of any of the above areas within your site:




3. Choose Manage Site.

4. Select Themes, Colors and Fonts on the left.

5. You can now select any one of the page elements you would like to change within any of the site areas - entire page,

site header, content area, content area gadgets, sidebar gadgets, and horizontal navigation.

For any type of color setting, you have three options in most cases: use the color preselected by your theme

choice, none, and a custom color

For a font selection, you have seven options

6. When you are finished making changes, click Save.

11 | W A T e c h D e p t .

7. If you would like to go back to your site, click the Return to Site link at the top left of the page, or else you can continue

to make changes to the settings of your site.

Provide your site’s URL to Mr. De Dios

Once you’re finished creating your site, provide your URL (web address) to Mr. De Dios so he can add a link to your SLC

profile.

Delete a site

You can delete a site you have created in Google Sites on your school domain. A site can only be deleted by a site owner or

by a Google Apps administration.

This can be useful if you learn that a user at your school domain has created a site or page that violates your school's policies.

Any domain administrator of the school Apps account can go in and delete the site, or even just edit a page in the site, to

remove the problematic content.

To delete a site:

1. Click the More drop-down menu and select Manage Site.

2. Click General.

3. Click Delete this site. A confirmation box appears.

4. Click the Delete this site link to confirm that you want to delete the site permanently.

Restore a site

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If an owner of a site accidentally deletes a site, it will be immediately removed from view but they may recover it by visiting its

URL within 30 days or by viewing it at the bottom of his/her site list. Once 30 days have elapsed however, it will not be

possible to recover the site.

Turn on mobile accessibility

To ensure your Google Site is optimized for tablet and mobile use:


2. Choose Manage Site.

3. Choose General.

4. In the Mobile section, check off the box.

Documents

Create your own teacher or class website using … | W A T e c h D e p t . Create your own teacher or class website using Google Sites To create a site in Google Sites, you must first