Google Drive Blog
The latest news and updates from the Google Drive team.
Changes are afoot
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Posted by: Ken Norton, Product Manager, Google Docs & Spreadsheets
Tomorrow we're going to release a new version of
Docs & Spreadsheets,
so keep your eyes peeled. We wanted to give you a bit of advance notice since things will look different when you log in.
People have really come to rely on Docs & Spreadsheets since we launched last October, and lots of you have offered suggestions for ways we could improve the experience for both new and power users. Tomorrow's update is a direct response to this feedback, and includes new ways to keep your docs organized, and find your old docs too.
We can hardly wait to show you, and we hope you'll like what you see. If you have questions or feedback, it's always welcome in our
help group
.
See shared docs & spreadsheets before logging in
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Posted by: Jonathan Rochelle, Product Manager
When someone invites you to a view or edit a shared document or spreadsheet, you expect to be able to see it without having to jump over any walls (like a sign-in page or registration). We know this because you told us.
So now, if you invite someone who doesn't have a Google Account (or who does, but isn't logged in) to share a document or spreadsheet, he or she will be able to immediately view it. To edit, however, it's still necessary to first sign in or to create a Google account. Syd & Regina
explained this in our Group
.
To enable this feature, check the option on the "Share" tab called "Invitations may be used by anyone" - which will also allow people to forward your invitation email to others, so those people may gain access. You can always uncheck the box to limit access to those people you specifically invite. (They'll still need to be logged in to their Google account to create and edit documents and spreadsheets.)
Integrating visual tools with spreadsheet data
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Posted by: Jonathan Rochelle, Product Manager
If you are looking for new ways to visualize data from your spreadsheets, or if you're looking for methods to integrate your own products or programming ideas with collaborative spreadsheet data - please check out
this blog post
on our
Google Data APIs blog
. It describes how two particular companies integrated
Google Docs & Spreadsheets
as data sources into their data visualization tools.
The more the merrier
Friday, May 4, 2007
Posted by: Michelle Lee, Docs & Spreadsheets User Experience Designer
Last week, I volunteered at the public library with my buddy Clark. We were cataloging donated books, so I shared a spreadsheet with him at clark.kent@notsuper.com. Little did I know, he was already into Docs & Spreadsheets, but typically used his other email address, superman@collaborativehero.com, to log in. Luckily, with the
new invitation system
, it worked seamlessly. He could see the book sale spreadsheet right next to the documents he'd already been working with.
Many of you shared your concerns about the old invitation system: needing to invite people on a mailing list, or having problems inviting users who had multiple addresses and multiple Google Accounts. So we've simplified our invitations to work better in those cases. Now, if you set the "Invitations may be used by anyone" option, the people you invite can get into the doc from whichever Google account they prefer - even if they aren't trying to hide a secret identity ;)
Meet the Help Group
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Posted by: Syd and Regina, Google Docs & Spreadsheets Guides
If you're here, you probably know a little something about Google Docs & Spreadsheets, or at the very least you're eager to learn. Either way, we cordially invite you to a great place to get the lowdown: our
Google Docs & Spreadsheets Help Group
. It's a mouthful, we know, but once you get past the lengthy name, the concept is simple. It's a forum where the knowledgeable and the curious meet to discuss Docs & Spreadsheets. From complex questions to new features to bug fixes, people post questions and respond with answers on an innumerable array of topics.
In addition to learning from and sharing with other users, you'll meet us, Syd and Regina, your friendly D&S Guides (look for the cool Guide logo
signifying our posts). We're Google employees with a passion for GD&S, and we monitor the group, answer questions, announce new features, and follow up on problems and bug reports.
So come
join the fun
! No RSVP needed...
How to make a pie
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Posted by: Yoah Bar-David, Software Engineer, Google Tel-Aviv
I have a friend who is a great chef and owns a restaurant. A while ago he called and asked me in his mild French accent "how to make a pie." I can cook, and I do it quite often. My family loves the food I make, but I have never been asked before for a recipe by a professional chef, and I felt really flattered. I started telling him about my great apple pie, a recipe I learned from my mom, and he started laughing, saying "no, no, no, no." He wanted to know about
spreadsheet
pies.
A few months ago I told him how useful it could be to manage his restaurant's financials with Google spreadsheets. He would be able to access his data from home, from work, or while on one of his many trips. My pitch worked, and he started using
Google Docs & Spreadsheets
. Now he is asking me how to add charts to his spreadsheet, and he is not the only one -- many people have asked us about this. So today we are unveiling a quick, simple way to add charts to your spreadsheets: select the cells you want to use for the chart data, click the new chart icon in the toolbar, and, in the popup dialog, select your chart type and customize it.
Here are a few more of the new spreadsheet features:
Named ranges: you can define a name for a range of cells, and use this name in formulas to refer to cells, for example write =sum(expenses) instead of =sum(c12:e17). This helps make calculation logic clearer to write and understand. Check it out under the "Formulas" tab.
Cell comments: Attach comments to individual cells, great for additional information or for collaboration on a single cell.
Bi-directional text: The ability to properly view and edit text in right-to-left languages like Hebrew. This is very important for our local community here in Israel.
A quick way to duplicate a sheet.
A new right-click option to search the web for the text in a cell.
So do have fun with this release, and keep
sending us ideas and suggestions
.
Word Search 2.0 for Kindergartners
Monday, March 26, 2007
Posted by: Jonathan Rochelle, Product Manager - Google Docs & Spreadsheets
My six-year-old came home from school the other day asking me all kinds of questions about this word search puzzle he got from his teacher. It had a theme based on one of our favorite authors (
Dr. Seuss
) and had that tell-tale grainy look of something that has been photo-copied over and over (for several years no doubt) -- and he loved it!
Like most kindergartners on a mission, he is relentless in his pursuit of information: "How did she make this?", "How did she get the words and letters in there?", "I can tell it was done on a computer, Daddy - do we have the program that makes these?" -- and it didn't stop there.
"Google Spreadsheets!" I said with honest enthusiasm. "Are you kidding?" he said, with a hopeful grin. So we quickly pulled up his
Google Docs & Spreadsheets
account (yes, he has one - on his own domain under
Google Apps!
) and we created a spreadsheet... It was a simple grid of squares. We filled in each box with a single letter until all the words he wanted were there - actually, just check it out yourself, below!
(yes! you can
embed a published spreadsheet
in a blog entry!)
We printed a bunch of copies for him and his friends and even created and printed a teacher's version (with all the hidden words highlighted in yellow). It was perfect!
Now I just have to teach him the API so he can auto-generate the word search puzzle! Nah... I'll wait until he's in the first grade - he needs a break ;)
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