Google Sites Basics

wazmac QuickStart
Getting Started with Google Sites

Please note - this guide has not been updated for a while. Google keep promising to
revamp their Sites app, so I am waiting for the new interface to be available before
updating the document. For now, if the Sites interface has changed a little I hope it isnt too
difficult to match these notes with Googles menus!
Background
This document provides a brief getting started guide to creating a
basic class web site using Google Sites.
Google Sites is free to anyone who has a Google account. It is
also a part of the Google Apps for Education suite of applications.
If you do not already have a Google account go to https://
accounts.google.com/SignUp and create a new (free) account.
Planning
Before launching into the creation of a new web site for your class, you should plan
what the structure of the site will look like. You can change your site completely after
you create it, but to get started we need to at least have an idea of the basic layout.
A quick mud-map sketch might be a good starting point....
This structure is likely to be a little different for everyone of course, but the basic idea is
that the site becomes a gateway to online resources that you might use in class.
1. Creating your site

1.1.
Open a web browser and go to http://sites.google.com/
1.2.
Click on the Create button at the left of the window.
1.3.
Accept the default Blank template option.
1.4.
Give your site a name.

Consideration of this name is important - not only will this name be the title of
the Home page, it will be used to construct the final part of the address for the
whole site.
wazmac QuickStart: Getting Started with Google Sites!
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1.5.
A web-friendly address will be automatically generated from the name that you
choose for the Home page.
This address, for obvious reasons, must be unique.

If you are using a Google Apps account within an individual school domain,
creating a unique address will be reasonably straightforward (and may be
required to comply with a school naming protocol). This uniqueness will be
restricted to your particular school domain.
If you are using a generic free Google account, or your Google Apps domain is
part of a larger organisational District or State domain structure, you may have
to juggle the title a little to find a unique address that is still reflective of the
name of the class - your chosen site name will be competing with every other
site within the larger organisation structure - or every Google site in the world
in the case of a free Google account.
1.6.
For the purposes of simplicity, we will leave everything else at the default
settings for now. Click on the Create button at the top of the screen.
1.7.
After a short delay you will see the Home page of your site.
1.8.
What is the address of your new site?

By default, all sites that you create with a free Google account are publicly
available on the web.
By default, all sites that you create with a Google Apps account are viewable
only by people in your organisation.
To see your sites address, and alter these viewing permissions, click on the
More button at the top right of the window.
Page 3 of 10
1.9.
Select Sharing and Permissions, under Site Actions in the More menu.
1.10.
You will see the address of your site, and an option to change permissions
relating to who can access the site.
1.11.
Google Accounts and Google Apps users will see some slightly different
options after this, but the basic idea is the same.
Google account
Google Apps
You will also see a button to Enable Page Permissions (top right of
permissions window) which you will be able to use later to restrict access to
some pages in your site.
Page 4 of 10
2. Adding pages to your site

So far, our new web site has only one page - the Home page.
Our initial mud-map suggested that we needed four pages, as well as the introductory
Home page - Online Resources, Research Links, Projects, and Photos.
Lets create these additional pages....
2.1.
Click on the New Page button at the top right of the window.
2.2.
Give the new page a name - this is the name that will appear in the navigation
area for this page within your site.
Accept the default settings for the Template (Web Page) and Location (Top
Level) and click on the Create button at the top of the page.
2.3.
Enter some temporary text on the page.
2.4.
Click on the Save button at the top right of the page.
Page 5 of 10
2.5.
Repeat this process to continue adding additional pages to your site.

Each page that you create will be added to the sidebar of the site, in alphabetical
order. (You can choose to customise this order later, if required.)
2.6.
If you want to edit any of the pages after saving them, click on the page in the
sidebar, then click on the Edit button at the top of the page.
2.7.
Lets remove the Sitemap entry from the sidebar.....

2.7.1.
Go to the More button (top right of window) and choose Edit site
layout, under Site Actions.
2.7.2.
Roll your mouse over the sidebar to see some extra options appear.
Click within the sidebar to see the Sidebar options window.
Click the Close button (top right) to close the layout editor window.
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3. Adding content to the site pages

Now that we have created a framework of pages for our site, we can add some content
to each page.
3.1.
Click on the name of a page in the sidebar to take you to that page.
3.2.
Click on the Edit button at the top of the page.
3.3.
Add some text to the page.
3.4.
The Insert menu provides options for add a variety of other items to the page.
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3.5.
Use the Insert menu to add an image to the page.
Be sure to have saved the image at a suitable size, and in an appropriate format
(eg jpg). The text entered in the Alt text field will be displayed when visitors to
your site roll their mouse over the image, and will assist people with a vision
disability.
3.6.
You can highlight text and use the Insert > Link option to link the text to an
external webpage....
3.6.1.
Highlight the text that will become a link.
3.6.2.
Go to the Insert menu and choose Link.
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3.7.
3.6.3.
Click on Web Address, and type (or paste) the address of the page
which will be linked.
3.6.4.
Choosing to open an external link in a new window (or tab) can make it
easier for students to return to the class web site.
3.6.5.
Click on the OK button to confirm the link.
3.6.6.
Click on the Save (top right) button to save your changes.
Explore the other items in the Toolbar and the Insert, Table and Layout menus
that provide further options to edit the page.
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4. Changing your sites theme

When we first created our new site we accepted the default settings, including the
default theme.
We can easily change the appearance of your site by changing the theme.....
4.1.
Click on the More menu (top right) and select Manage Site.
4.2.
Choose Themes from the bottom of the sidebar menu.
4.3.
You will see a choice of alternative themes.
4.4.
Select a theme and click on the Preview button to see how your site will look if
you apply that theme.
Once you have selected a suitable theme click the Save button.
Page 10 of 10

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wazmac QuickStart

Getting Started with Google Sites

1. Creating your site

Open a web browser and go to http://sites.google.com/

Click on the Create button at the left of the window.

Accept the default Blank template option.

Give your site a name.

wazmac QuickStart: Getting Started with Google Sites!

This address, for obvious reasons, must be unique.

What is the address of your new site?

wazmac QuickStart: Getting Started with Google Sites!

wazmac QuickStart: Getting Started with Google Sites!

2. Adding pages to your site

Enter some temporary text on the page.

Click on the Save button at the top right of the page.

wazmac QuickStart: Getting Started with Google Sites!

Repeat this process to continue adding additional pages to your site.

Lets remove the Sitemap entry from the sidebar.....

wazmac QuickStart: Getting Started with Google Sites!

3. Adding content to the site pages

Click on the Edit button at the top of the page.

Add some text to the page.

wazmac QuickStart: Getting Started with Google Sites!

Use the Insert menu to add an image to the page.

Highlight the text that will become a link.

Go to the Insert menu and choose Link.

wazmac QuickStart: Getting Started with Google Sites!

Click on the OK button to confirm the link.

Click on the Save (top right) button to save your changes.

wazmac QuickStart: Getting Started with Google Sites!

4. Changing your sites theme

Choose Themes from the bottom of the sidebar menu.

You will see a choice of alternative themes.

wazmac QuickStart: Getting Started with Google Sites!

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