Do People Know What Time I Uploaded to Google Drive

At Mojo, we rely on collaboration tools and productivity apps to get more done throughout the day. We use a diversity of apps like Basecamp, Pivotal,Slack, andDropboxto communicate and share files, notes, and tasks. But what most collaborative document editing? We've got y'all covered with this detailed how-to.

We utilize Google Workspace (formerly GSuite, aka Google Apps) and one of our favorite apps is Google Docs. Every bit part of the apps suite, Google Docs is a word processing app for teams and it allows you to create and manage documents online very easily.

So why would yous want to apply Google Docs?

Elementary:collaboration. I'm sure you've experienced the clunky, frustrating procedure of editing a Word certificate via e-mail betwixt one or more people. Track changes, forward the file in an email, accept changes, revise, email back ... etc. Who has the almost recent version? Where is the most recent version? In my experience, it is the reverse of a streamlined process.

Google Docs eliminates these frustrations, and adds some really cool collaborative features that Word just doesn't have, like real-time commenting – but we'll get to that in a minute.

But, we know from experience that not everyone is on board this railroad train. Working in a Google Doc is notwithstanding unfamiliar to many people.

One issue nosotros stitch against is knowing how to invite someone to edit a Google Doc, and making sure that the person we're asking knows how to edit it. It'south happened a few times – nosotros senda Google Doc to someone (accessed past a link) only to have them save it or paste it into a Give-and-take document and ship it back to us with their changes. This defeats the purpose of certificate collaboration, just information technology happens considering the recipient is only not familiar with how a Google Doctor operates.

In this post, we'll hash out how to create a document, how to invite someone to edit a Google Doc, and all of the steps in betwixt.

How to Create a Google Doc

To create a document, you lot start become to your Google Drive interface. Drive is where all of your G Suite documents are stored. Once yous are logged in with your Google account (either via Gmail or your Google Apps for business account) y'all tin get to your apps in a few ways, but one easy style is to find this icon at to the summit of your screen.

Click "Drive" and you'll meet a list of all of your current documents. If yous have not created whatever, the screen volition have no documents.

To create a new doc, click on the "Create" button and you'll see some options:

Bulldoze has familiar file management tools, like add a new folder or upload an entire folder. From here, you can create a new certificate. You can also create a new spreadsheet (Sheets, like to Excel) or presentation (Slides, like to PowerPoint), but we'll stick with a standard document for at present.

Once you create a new document, you'll see a blank page with a standard set of word processing tools at the top.

The first thing you'll desire to do is proper name your doc. Practice this by clicking the words "Untitled document" at the superlative and giving it a new proper name. Note that it automatically saves as you go.

Now yous are ready to write! Yous tin can care for this just like a regular Word document. Blazon and format away.

Additionally, your certificate is stored in the cloud, which means you lot don't have to worry almost saving it to your computer or losing it. It auto-saves continuously, so all you lot need to practice to get back to it is open your web browser, go to your Google Drive, and click on it. Easy!

Collaboration

Now that y'all have created a doc, it's fourth dimension to run into where Google Docs really shines. Let's set upward a scenario that might be familiar to y'all. You are working on a certificate that requires feedback and input from others in your office. So yous put together a report as a Word document and email information technology to a group of four other people with the note: "Please give me your changes." Each person and then makes notes and changes in the doc and emails it dorsum. Now you lot have five different versions that you need to consolidate back into one. Ugh!

A Google Doc eliminates this headache. All you would need to do is "share" the doctor with your co-workers and ask them to brand their changes straight in the aforementioned document. Y'all are now working onone document as opposed to 5 different docs.

To do this, click on the "Share" button in the upper right.

You will come across the share screen, which presents many options. We'll go through a couple of our most frequently used share options.

1. Share With People Outside Your Company

Go shareable link: Here is a fox that will save you a TON of time, non to mention tears and headaches. If you need to share this doc with someone outside of your company, who may or may not even have a Google account, this is the place to go. Click on "get shareable link."

Adjacent, y'all'll want to select "Anyone with the link" and below you lot can select the access level (can view, edit, etc).

Now, click Save. You've made the document attainable to anyone who has this particular link.

Now, copy the link and can transport an e-mail to the person or group you desire to collaborate with. This feature comes in actually handy when you lot know someone doesn't necessarily use Google Apps or they're unfamiliar with signing in to access a Google Doc.

two. Express Sharing for Higher Security

The above example would let anyone to access a certificate, provided they have the link. If you desire to share a document with simply a particular person and you desire to guarantee no one else can admission it, use this method. Merely call up, yous may have problem on the other cease if the person y'all're inviting doesn't have a Google business relationship attached to the email you're sending to.

Make certain link sharing is set to "Off" and ship to item e-mail addresses. Y'all tin can still control access levels hither, as well as ship an invite and personal message directly to the individuals. Click "Transport" and they volition get an email notification.

Note that if you start typing an e-mail address that is already in your contacts list, it will motorcar-complete with their full name, so yous can just select them from a listing as you can meet above. Otherwise y'all can just type in their entire email address. Separate multiple email addresses with a comma.

Also annotation that by default yous are inviting people to edit the doc, although y'all can alter access to view only. If Edit is selected, this means that the people yous invite will exist able to make changes. However, don't worry ... you can always disengage their changes (more on that after).

So what happens now? Well, the people y'all invited volition now go an email with a link to the doctor.

Real Time Collaboration in Google Docs

Now they can simply click on the link to get to the doc and edit it directly online. So, what does real time collaboration in Google Docs mean?

Here's the absurd part: they can brand all the changes they want at the same time , and every version is tracked and saved automatically. Additionally, you tin compare and roll back to any before version you want. People can besides add comments to the doc as a way of offer feedback without actually editing information technology.

While people are editing the dr., you tin can run into information technology in existent fourth dimension. You will exist able to see who is viewing information technology based on their icon in the upper correct, and you can see who is making what changes in real time. Here you lot can see Amy is editing, and in the second paradigm below Amy has left, but at present Abby is in the document. If they were all three in in that location at the aforementioned fourth dimension, all iii icons would announced.

How to Revert and See Revision History

If you lot desire to see the entire revision history of the doc, go to the "File" menu and choose "See revision history."

Then, yous will be able to track every modify. You volition see a listing of all the unlike versions along with time stamps and who fabricated the changes.

Clicking on a version will testify that version of the document to you. If you want to roll back to a previous version, y'all can choose to "restore" that version.

This is my favorite part about Google Docs: real-time collaboration and the flexibility to revert dorsum to whatever version of the certificate at any time.

Equally yous can run across, using a Google Medico for collaborative editing is a very efficient process. It ways that everyone is only editing one document; everyone always sees the latest version; and all changes and comments are tracked and saved. Additionally, it tin can be edited from tablets and mobile devices for even more flexibility.

Save In Different Formats

You or your boyfriend editors may download a re-create of the doctor in another format, similar Word or PDF, at any time. Go to File and select "Download every bit" to export the md in some other format.

Ways to Interact with Google Docs

You are probably getting an idea of all of the ways y'all can utilise this tool, simply I want to share a few specific employ cases from our experience. Yous can share docs within your ain organization (via Google Apps) or you lot can share docs with people outside your organization, every bit well.

Some ways to utilize this amazing tool include:

• Gathering Feedback: Typhoon a memo or policy in your office that needs group feedback
• Meeting Agendas: Create your calendar and share the link in a Calendar invite for upcoming meeting
• Meeting Minutes: Have notes during a meeting and share doc with attendees
• Sales Squad Data: Share a Google Spreadsheet with your sales team and ask them to go on it upwards to date with stats
• Team Content Collaboration: Get-go with an outline, assemble feedback from team, and keep evolving the slice yous're writing.
• Board or Committee Planning: Grouping piece of work when serving on boards and committees

The possibilities are endless. Whatever time you need to collaborate on a document with someone else, information technology'due south a practiced possibility that Google Dr. is the tool you need. Some other advantages include:

• Compatibility: Information technology works on Mac, PC, iPad, mobile, and with no software required
• Cloud Storage: Your certificate is stored in the cloud, so it'due south accessible anywhere and won't get lost.
• Saves Time: Much more streamlined, since at that place is no need to email attachments back and forth

At SpinWeb, we find that Google Docs is a great place to keep "in-progress" stuff. We don't treat it as a permanent home for a doc; rather, we utilise it as a stream of working docs that may eventually be exported to a more than permanent home, similar Dropbox. It's a slap-up identify to collaborate and create without committing to saving a agglomeration of files on your computer.

I hope this has given you a good primer on the advantages of collaborating with Google Docs.

Image Credit: dennizn/Shutterstock.com

Steph leads our client delivery squad and is obsessed with delivering quality work, creating an efficiency machine, and mastering the tools and disciplines to achieve success for our heroes. At home, she loves listening to true law-breaking podcasts, playing with her daughters and two pugs, and singing in a local rock ring with her hubby.

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Source: https://www.mojomedialabs.com/blog/your-guide-to-collaborative-document-editing-with-google-docs

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