Best Practices for Using Google Docs:

Post date: Oct 18, 2011 8:48:46 PM

Google Docs offers an incredible opportunity for not only creating documents that reside in the “cloud” and are, therefore, accessible from any computer, but also collaboration.

If you are creating a document, spreadsheet or presentation that you wish to collaborate with colleagues; or, have students collaborate on a project, then creating a Google Doc is a great choice.

If you are creating a simple document, spreadsheet or presentation that will be a work in progress or is for your information only, then creating a Google Doc is a great choice.

If you have created a Google Doc but are now ready to “publish” it, then it is a good idea to download it into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or OpenOffice. These software suites provide many more editing and printing options than Google Docs.

If you have uploaded a Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or OpenOffice document to Google Docs (and have NOT converted it to a Google Doc format), then it is best practice to download it to the original software in which it was created.

If you have uploaded a Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or OpenOffice document to Google Docs and HAVE converted it to a Google Doc format, then you will lose some of the formatting and style options you originally may have included. If you are simply uploading a document to store it in the “cloud”, then it is best not to convert it to a Google Doc format. If you converted it because you wanted the ability to collaborate, then it is still a good idea to download it into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or OpenOffice when you are ready to “publish.”

If you choose to simply view a document that was uploaded to Google Docs but it was not converted, then you will see a “sneak peek” of the document by clicking on the “View” option. You will get a much better quality if you download it to the original software in which it was created.

When uploading a document that you do NOT want to convert, be sure that the correct extension is included in the document name (i.e. .doc, .xls, .ppt) so that when it is downloaded, it will open in the correct software.