Google Sites API Opens Up New Capabilities

There's now a new Google Sites Data API in Labs that allows client applications to access, publish and modify content within a Google Site. With this new API, Google Apps administrators can:

• Retrieve, create, modify, move, and delete pages, comments, attachments and other content.
• Review the revision history across the Site.
• Monitor all, add, modify and delete activity for a Site.
• Upload/download attachments and files.
• Create customized gadgets for your users.

The API also enables the development of new integration tools, like OffiSync.

If You Love Your Site, Set it Free

When managing permissions in Google Sites, you can make others owners, collaborators, or viewers. You now have the ability to remove yourself completely from site permissions. As such, you can fully hand over ownership to others.

Get the scoop here.

Collaboration with Google Sites Just Got Easier

Several recent updates to Google Sites greatly improve their use and value for collaboration.

• The ability to copy an entire site
  
  
• More control over the search box to do things like search across multiple sites
  
  
• The "recent announcement" gadget now allows you to control how much text is shown in the post summary. You can also configure the gadget to show a thumbnail of the first photo in the post
  
  
• The Start Page is now available in all editions of Google

Of these features, the site copy and search improvements offer significant new value.

With the ability to copy sites, it is now possible to create a template site, for customer portals as an example, and copy the site for easy replication. Search gives you the ability to have users search over several related sites, providing easier access to information.

Want the details? Click Here.

Share with Groups!

In a recent enhancement to sharing in Google Apps, you can now share documents for viewing or editing by Group. This feature makes sharing with project teams, customer teams, or large numbers of individuals faster and easier.

Group sharing is works with:

• Docs (documents, spreadsheets, and presentations)
• Sites
• Video

To learn how, Click Here.

To learn more about how to improvide sharing and collaboration, Click Here.

Set your Sites on better Gadget and LInk Integration

To expand the potential of Google Sites for internal and secure customer portal, Google has improved how gadgets and links are managed.

You can now

• Paste embeddings that use object, embed, or iframe tags; they will be auto-wrapped in a gadget
  
• Add custom links in your sidebar navigation, using manual mode
  
• More easily paste HTML from external sources

Click here to learn more ...

Recent Google Site Upgrades, Part 3

Since our last round of postings about Google Site upgrades, Google has added several features. Here is a summarized list:

• You can add customized maps into your Google sites, including place marks, defined zoom level, and advanced map features
  
• Layouts and Themes (more info)

• 26 new themes are available

  7 new layouts

• Automatic Navigation (more info)

• Auto-generate your navigation links based on the site's structure

  Sub page listing gadget will create index pages

  Easier management of all uploaded attachments

These features are available in all editions, helping improve your ability to use Google Sites for collaboration.

Recent Google Sites Upgrades, Part 2

As part of the recent upgrades to Google Sites, Google added the following capabilities:

• The editing toolbar has been updated to more closely resemble Google Docs.
• The rendering infrastructure has been modified to improve performance.
• Related Colors and Fonts settings have been grouped. A "From theme" option to each variable to make it easier to revert to a previous theme.
• Sidebar gadgets and page canvas gadgets can now be independently styled via colors and fonts.
• Users can now configure a "site language" which allows for a uniform language experience for site viewers.

Click Here to learn more ...

Recent Google Sites Upgrades, Part 1

Google Sites provide a convenient means of collaboration within your company or securely with others. Recent upgrades improve the look and feel of sites and the user experience.

Navigation Widget Updates

• Organize the navigation widget into a hierarchical tree structure
• Highlight the current page
• Subgroup pages into categories
  

Site Settings

• Site settings area uses vertical navigation for a cleaner look and feel
• You can no configure a "site language"

Click Here to learn more ...

Use Analytics to Monitor Gmail Usage

If you have a Google Analytics account and use Google Apps Premier or Education edition, you can now monitor Gmail usage. This capability expands your ability to use analytics to monitor usage of Google Sites and Google Docs.

Learn more ...

For organizations that integrate Google Analytics in their web site, SEO, and email marketing efforts (using systems like ten24), this is an opportunity to expand the analysis in several ways:

• Track usage of embedded Forms and other Google Apps components embedded in the public web site.
• Track usage of related content and services, such as secure customer portals created with Google Sites.

In short, this further enhances your ability to understand your customers.

New Google Site Features - Premier Edition Only!

Google has announced three new features in Google Sites that will make gadgets more useful for Google Apps Premier Edition customers:

Start Page Template

• As a site owner, you can let users personalize areas of a site, such as an internal sales portal. This lets users select gadgets and other information for their start page that is most useful to them.

Private Gadgets

• IT admins can upload Gadgets that only members of your domain can see and add to their Google Sites.

Encryption

• If a Google Site is encrypted, then your gadget data will be encrypted from the source code to the browser.

Cloud Computing = Innovation Without a Budget

So you think your budget is tight? Just image being an innovative educator in the San Diego Unified School District.

In his blog, Doug's Dirt, Doug McIntosh explains the problem and his solution (hint: it includes Google Apps).

Next, look at the Google Apps in the Classroom, a Google Site he created that tells other teachers how to use the tools themselves.

Imagine if the move to Google Apps was a district-wide initiative, creating a communication and collaboration environment among faculty, administrators, resources, and staff .... not just in the classroom.