GWA Business Enhance Productivity M1 Student Guide(2) (1)

Enhance Productivity

Student Guide

Module 1: Tour Gmail and Google Apps 1 Enhance Productivity

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Printed: October 2012

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Enhance ProductivityModule 1: Tour Gmail and Google Apps

Student Guide



Contents

Course Introduction

Course Description

Google Web Academy Online Professionals Track

Course Objectives

Course Format

Course Guidelines

Welcome to the Google Web Academy

A Brief History of Google

What Is Search?

What Is Cloud Computing?

Module Introduction

Module Objectives

Tour Itinerary

Stop 1: Google+

Connect with Google+

The Power of Circles

Chat and Hangouts in Google+

Google+ Pages for Business

Stop 2: Gmail

What Is Gmail?

Gmail Versions and Differences

Manage Email

Track Your Contacts

Import Contacts from Outlook


Stop 3: Calendar

What Is Calendar?

Calendar Versions and Differences

Maintain a Schedule

Create a New Calendar

Change Your Density Settings

Holidays

Manage and Email Tasks Lists

Stop 4: Google Drive

What Is Google Drive?

Google Drive Versions and Differences

Manage Files

Collaborate with Colleagues


Stop 5: Google Documents

What Is Google Docs?

Google Docs Versions and Differences

Create Business Documents

Create Presentations

Analyze Data with Spreadsheets

Create Drawings

Lab Activity: Sign Up for Google+

Module Summary


Course Introduction

Course Description

Welcome to Google Web Academy and to the course “Enhance Productivity.”This course explains how to use Gmail and Google Apps to make your business more productive. All these tools are available for free with a Google account.

With Gmail, you can communicate better by email with your business associates. Use Google Calendar to plan and prioritize your time and tasks. With Google Docs, you can create business documents such as letters and reports; build spreadsheets to record and analyze business data; and create and deliver slideshow presentations to audiences at conferences and seminars.

Use Google Drive to safely store your files on the Internet, share files, and collaborate with coworkers. With Google Drive, your files are always accessible if you have an Internet connection. You can work on your files wherever you go.


Google Web Academy Online Professionals Track

This is the first course in the Google Web Academy Online Professionals Track.


Course Objectives


Course Format


Course Guidelines


Welcome to the Google Web Academy

With Google Web Academy, students who are new to online media will become proficient in proven tools and techniques whilst more experienced online marketers will learn new ways to enhance any existing sites and optimise their online campaigns.

Google has collated best practices from around the web about how the internet can help a business, not only by having a presence online but by researching customer behaviour and discovering trends in your industry or region.

The four course program is especially valuable for professionals working for a traditional or digital agency, internal marketing department, business consultants as well as Internet entrepreneurs and anyone looking to embark on an exciting and rewarding career in the big growth area of online.


A Brief History of Google

New search tool named BackRub: January 1996Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Stanford computer science grad students, begin collaborating on a search engine called BackRub.

Google incorporates: September 4, 1998Google files for incorporation in California.

Google AdWords: October 23, 2000Google AdWords launches with 350 customers. The self-service ad program promises online activation with a credit card, keyword targeting, and performance feedback.

Google Toolbar: December 11, 2000Google Toolbar--a browser plug-in that makes it possible to search without visiting the Google home page--is introduced.

Google Image Search: July 28, 2001Image Search launches, offering access to 250 million images.

First Google APIs: April 11, 2002Google releases a set of APIs enabling developers to query more than 2 billion Web documents and program in their favorite environment, including Java, Perl, and Visual Studio.


Google AdSense: March 4, 2003Google announces a new content-targeted advertising service, enabling publishers large and small to access Google’s vast network of advertisers. (Weeks later, on April 23, Google acquires Applied Semantics, whose technology bolsters the service named AdSense.)

Gmail: April 1, 2004No joke: Google launches Gmail on April Fool’s Day. (At the time, you needed an invitation to get an account.)

Google Maps: February 8, 2005Google Maps goes live.

Google Analytics: November 14, 2005Google releases Google Analytics, formerly known as Urchin, for measuring the impact of websites and marketing campaigns.

Google Calendar: April 13, 2006Google Calendar, complete with sharing and group features, launches.

Google Apps for Your Domain: August 28, 2006Apps for Your Domain, a suite of applications designed for organizations of all sizes, and including Gmail and Calendar, is released.

Google Docs and Spreadsheets: October 11, 2006The web-based applications Google Docs and Google Spreadsheets are released. Google Docs is a reworking of Writely (acquired in March).

Presentations in Google Docs: September 17, 2007A new application for making slide presentations is added to Google Docs.

Google Sites: February 28, 2008Google Sites, a revamp of the acquisition JotSpot, debuts. Google Sites enables users to create collaborative websites with embedded videos, documents, and calendars.


What Is Search?

Search is a powerful Google tool that you can use to identify information that is useful to your business. Not only can Search identify information from the worldwide web, but it can also help find information in your Gmail, calendar, and business documents.


What Is Cloud Computing?

When a business uses Google Apps, employees use Gmail and Google Apps for all their computing needs. The files that employees work on are saved automatically on servers that Google maintains on the Internet. Because files are stored on the Internet, employees can access their email, calendar, documents, presentations, and spreadsheets no matter where they are. Employees can work from any location using any device over an Internet connection.

With Google Apps, you can share and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations in real time. Employees don’t have to waste time emailing versions of files back and forth. The latest version of any file they want to work on is available to them as long as they have an Internet connection.

This ability to store, access, and share files over the Internet is called cloud computing.


Module Introduction

Module Objectives


Tour Itinerary

This module provides a quick tour of Google+ Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and Drive. The idea is for you to see the many ways Google Apps can help you and your business be more productive.


Stop 1: Google+


Connect with Google+

Google+ is Google’s social networking service where you can:

● Set up a profile

● Find friends

● Create Circles

● Follow friends

● Share with friends and Circles

The Power of Circles

Circles in Google+ are a great way to share information with the right people. For example, you might have a Circle for sharing with your family, one for your friends, and one for your work colleagues.

Consider using Circles as a way of engaging with customers, rather than sending out a monthly email or newsletter.


Chat and Hangouts in Google+

Chatting in Google+ with your contacts is easy. When you add someone to your Circles, they appear in your chat list. Click their name to invite them to chat.

Hangouts in Google+ let you video chat with up to nine people. You can create a Hangout at any time by clicking Start a Hangout. Invite individual friends or entire Circles, and start hanging out.


Google+ Pages for Business

Google+ for Business is a social media tool that you can use to quickly and easily build an online presence for a business. With Google+ a business can:

● Create a Google+ page to represent itself on the web. It can build a message and a brand that people can discover on Google+ and in their web searches on Google.

● A business can find its audience, fans, and followers on Google+ and create circles to target specific members of this community. A business can add the +1 button to its site and people can share that content with others across the web.

● A business can connect directly with its audience through Hangouts, just like an individual can. A business owner can add posts to engage their followers in a discussion and weigh in with a +1 anywhere on the web.


Stop 2: Gmail


What Is Gmail?

Gmail is Google’s email service, available in free, business, or education versions. Using Gmail, you can send and receive electronic messages with anyone in the world who has an email account.

Individuals typically sign up for the free version and have email IDs that end in a @gmail.com. These emails are in the Gmail domain.

Companies typically sign up for the business version, and have email IDs that end in @company.com. For example, employees of Google have email IDs that end in @google.com. How to sign up for the business version of Gmail is covered in another Google Web Academy course, Deploy Google Apps for a Small or Medium Business.


Gmail Versions and Differences

There are many differences between the free and business versions of Google Apps. For a complete list, visit Google Apps Administration and search for “What’s included in my edition of Gmail.” You should be provided a link that takes you to a page that looks something like this.



Communicate Using Gmail

Email stands for “electronic mail.” Email refers to messages you send back and forth on the Internet. The Google email service is Gmail. Gmail makes it easy for employees to organize and retrieve email messages.


Track Your Contacts

A contact is somebody about whom you keep information. For example, you need contact information about your business associates so you can email and telephone them. Google provides the Contacts list for keeping information about contacts.

You can keep detailed records in the Contacts list about employees, business associates, suppliers, vendors, and every person and company connected to your business.

Using a list of contacts, you can store address information, cell phone information, and just about any kind of information you want.


Import Contacts from Outlook

If you have contacts in Microsoft Outlook, you can bring them into Gmail. By exporting your Outlook contacts to .CSV file, they can easily be imported into Gmail.

To export contacts from Outlook to a .CSV file:

1. In Outlook, on the File menu, click Import and Export.

2. Click Export to a file, and then click Next.

3. Click Comma Separated Value (DOS), and then click Next.

4. In the folder list, click the contacts folder you want to export, and then click Next.

5. Choose a location on your computer to temporarily save the file.

Note: You can delete this file after your contacts are imported into Google Gmail.

6. Type a name for the exported file, and then click OK.

7. Click Next.


8. To add or remove fields to determine the way the contact information is saved in the new imported file, click Map Custom Fields.

Note: The Map Custom Fields button in the Export to a File dialog box might not be available when you try to import data from another program or file. In the The following actions will be performed box, select the Export check box, and then the Map Custom Fields button is available.

9. Click Finish.

To import contacts from a .CSV file to Gmail:

1. Sign in to your Google Gmail account.

2. In the left column, click Gmail, then Contacts.

3. At the top of the screen, select More, then click Import.

4. Under Import Contacts, click Choose File.

5. Navigate to the file you exported from Outlook.

6. Click Choose.

7. Click Import. Your contacts are now available in Gmail.



Stop 3: Calendar


What Is Calendar?

Google Calendar is a scheduling and planning tool you can use to create calendar entries, meeting invitations, appointments, reminders, and to-dos--all to help you stay organized.

Calendar can sync to your mobile device so that you can keep up with your schedule, no matter where you happen to be.


Calendar Versions and Differences

There are free versions of Calendar, and versions that companies receive when they deploy Google Apps for Business.

In the Google Apps for Business versions of Calendar, administrators can make custom settings such as:

● Adding resources like conference rooms and projects that can be “invited” to meetings if they are available.

● Configuring a user’s Free/Busy status to appear to users only inside the company, or to users both inside the company and outside the company.


Maintain a Schedule

Most business owners have a very busy schedule full of meetings, personal appointments, and social events. Using Google Calendar, business owners and employees can efficiently manage their schedules. Google Calendar makes it easy to schedule events and to coordinate your schedule with other people’s schedules.


Create a New Calendar

Employees often keep both a business calendar and a personal calendar. For example, an employee might keep one calendar for their work meetings, and another calendar for a cricket team they belong to.

You can create more than one Google calendar to track your schedule.

To create a new calendar

1. In the panel on the left side of the Calendar window, click the drop-down arrow next to My Calendars.

2. Choose Create New Calendar.

3. Describe the calendar in the Create New Calendar window.

4. Click the Create Calendar button.

To view events on a calendar, click My Calendars in the panel on the left side of the screen, and then click the name of the calendar you want to open.

Click in the mini-calendar to return to the main calendar.


Change Your Density Settings

If you have a full calendar, you can make the calendar buttons and menu controls smaller so that your calendar entries will be larger. This makes them easier for you to read.

To change your density settings

1. Click the Settings button

2. Under Display Density, click Comfortable, Cozy, or Compact.


Holidays

If you work with people in other countries, knowing when they have holidays helps you because:

● You’ll know when they’re out of the office and not accessing email

● You won’t invite them to meetings on days they’ll be out

To add holidays from another country to your calendar:

1. Click the Settings button.

2. Click Settings.

3. Under Calendar Settings at the top of the page, click Calendars.

4. Toward the bottom-right of the page, click Browse Interesting Calendars.

5. Find the country in the list for the holidays you want to add, and click Subscribe for that country.

6. Click Back to Calendar.

Google Calendar displays the holidays for the country you added. In the example above, both


Indian and U.S. holidays are displayed.

Manage and Email Tasks Lists

In Calendar, you can create, assign, and track tasks. Use these techniques to manage tasks in the Tasks list:

● Click the Pop-Out button to open the Tasks list in a window.

● Check a box to indicate that a task is completed.

● On the Actions menu, choose Move Up or Move Down to re-order tasks on the list.

● On the Actions menu, choose Email Task List to email the list.

● Click the Delete Task button to delete a task.


Stop 4: Google Drive


What Is Google Drive?

Google Drive is the place where all of your documents, spreadsheets, and presentations are stored.

To go to Google Drive, sign in to your Google account. On the Google toolbar, click Drive.

In Google Drive, you can do the following:

● Create files.

● Upload files.

● Create folders.

● Move files to different folders.

● Share files.


Google Drive Versions and Differences

The free and Business versions of Drive operate the same way. As discussed previously, there are differences in how the versions can be configured.

Feature Free Version Business Version

Sharing Users can share with anyone Administrator enables sharing outside of company

Ownership Users can transfer ownership of documents to anyone in the same domain (gmail.com)

Administrator enables ability for users to transfer ownership

or

Administrator performs transfer of ownership

Storage Included, individuals can purchase more storage if needed

Included, administrator can purchase more storage for the company if needed

Sync with mobile devices Users can sync their Google docs account to mobile devices

Administrator must enable this option if the business approves


Offline access Users can download and work on documents offline

Administrator must enable this option for users

Manage Files

A couple notes about the Google Drive window:

● File and folder names in bold: File names in bold indicate that changes have been made to files since you last opened them—at least one file in the folder has been edited since the last time you opened the folder. When Sanjay sees bold file and folder names, he knows they have been changed since last time he opened them, and he may need to give the files his attention.

● Change views: Click Switch to Grid or Switch to List to change how files are displayed in the Google Drive window. In Grid view, you see thumbnail versions of the first page or first slide in each file.

The labels on the left side of the Google Drive window are for organizing files in Google Drive. Select one of these labels to locate files:

● My Drive: Lists files and folders you created.

● Shared with Me: Lists files and folders others created and shared with you.

● Starred: Lists files and folders you deem important by clicking and labelling them with the Star icon. You can click the Star icon next to a file or folder name in the file list and see the file or folder by clicking Starred.


● Recent: Lists files you recently worked on.

Collaborate with Colleagues

Thanks to Google Drive, employees can collaborate with one another on documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. More than one person can edit a file at the same time. Using Google Drive, you can:

● Chat with other users: Open a chat window on the right side of the screen to exchange instant messages with other users.

● Comment on a file: Write notes about a file to suggest changes. Comments appear in boxes on the right side of the file, where you can read them easily.

● Track revisions to the file: View the revision history of the file on the right side of the screen. You can also revert to earlier versions of the file.



Many of the productivity features can be accessed from more than on Google App. For example, you can start a Hang Out from Google+ or you can start one from Gmail. Similarly, you can start a chat with a colleague from Gmail, but you can also chat with a colleague in Google Docs when working together on a report.


Stop 5: Google Documents


What Is Google Docs?

Google documents is an online word processor that lets you create and format text documents, and collaborate with other people in real time. To learn more about Google documents, check out the Google documents getting started guide.

Google spreadsheets is an online spreadsheet application that lets you create and format spreadsheets, charts, and gadgets, and simultaneously work with other people. For more information about Google spreadsheets, check out the Google spreadsheets getting started guide.

Google presentations is an online presentations editor that allows you to show off your work in a visual way. For more information about Google presentations, check out the Google presentations getting started guide

Google drawings is an online drawings editor that lets you create anything from a scribble to a flow chart while working collaboratively with other people. For more information about Google drawings, check out the Google drawings getting started guide


Google Docs Versions and Differences

Google Docs, Presentations, Spreadsheets, and Drawings are accessed in Google Drive. There are no differences between the free and Business versions within of Google Docs. However, there are differences in how Drive can be configured.

Feature Free Version Business Version

Sharing Users can share with anyone Administrator enables sharing outside of company

Ownership Users can transfer ownership of documents to anyone in the same domain (gmail.com)

Administrator enables ability for users to transfer ownership

or

Administrator performs transfer of ownership

Storage Included, individuals can purchase more storage if needed

Included, administrator can purchase more storage for the company if needed

Sync with mobile devices Users can sync their Google docs account to mobile devices

Administrator must enable this option if the business approves


Offline access Users can download and work on documents offline

Administrator must enable this option for users

Create Business Documents

With Google Docs, you can create all of the documents your business requires, such as letters, reports, invoices, and so forth. You can polish the look of your documents by adding:

● A table of contents

● Headers and footers

● Numbered lists and bulleted lists

● Four levels of headings

● Styles to achieve a consistent look

Note: This training document that you are viewing was created using Google Docs!


Create Presentations

If you need to display a presentation in a meeting, Google Presentations can help you make a lasting impact. Choose from a variety of themes and templates, and then starting adding your content. You can include images, video, and drawings.

Note: The slides displayed in this course were created using Google Presentations.


Analyze Data with Spreadsheets

You can use Google spreadsheets track sales, purchases, budgets, and other data that is important to your business. You can also use spreadsheets to create forms to include in your website as a way of gathering information When visitors complete these forms, the data is stored in an associated spreadsheet for analysis.


Create Drawings

You can use drawings (shapes and lines) to communicate ideas to your audience in documents, presentations, and spreadsheets:

● In documents and spreadsheets, choose Insert > Drawing to create a drawing. The Insert Drawing box offers tools for drawing lines, shapes, and text boxes and for changing the colors of lines and shapes. Click Save & Close when you’re finished.

● In presentations, the tools for drawing are located on the toolbar. Click the Line or Shape button and start dragging. In presentations, you can enter words on a shape.

To create shapes and lines

● Drawing: Click the Line or Shape button and drag on-screen to create a line, shape, or text box.

● Change color: Click the Fill Color or Line Color button, and then choose a color for lines and shapes.

● Change line thickness: Click the Line Weight button, and then choose a thickness.

● Put an arrow on a line: Click an Arrowhead button, and then choose an arrowhead


style.

Lab Activity: Sign Up for Google+

See the Lab Activities section for instructions for this lab.


Module Summary

In the next module, you will learn how to use Google Drive to store files, manage files, share files with coworkers, and collaborate with others.
