In Google Sites you can easily create websites that can be edited collaboratively with other people.

You don’t need to know any type of programming languages to create sites, and you have the ability to choose who has access to them.

They can be very effective for distributing ideas, projects, schedules, announcements, files and more.

You even have control of when your site will be published and available to visitors so you can make sure it is just perfect for launch.

And web pages made in Google Sites are automatically formatted for mobile devices as well as desktop computers.

In the Sites Homepage, you can create new sites, or access sites you have already created.

By default, the layout of the Sites Homepage contains thumbnail icons in a grid layout. You can click this icon to switch to List View. Once in List View, you can click it again to switch back to Grid View.

Each file has a More menu where you can choose to rename the site, move it, or open it in a new tab.

To create a new site click on the Create button to begin.

Clicking the Sort icon will organise your sites by those last opened by you, last modified by you, last modified by anyone, or by title.

The other icon is the File Picker and you can click it to access sites and folders within your Google Drive.

Clicking the Menu icon in the top left corner will open a sidebar menu where you can access links to Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drive.

Use the drop down menu to filter your list of sites to show those owned by anyone, those owned by you or those not owned by you.

You can use the search bar to quickly find a site you have created or one you are a collaborator on.

You can create a new Google site from either your Drive or the Sites homepage.

Once you click on the Create button a new site will be created and opened in the active tab.

Click in the name field, where it says ‘Untitled Site’ and type in a file name. The file name is how your site will be listed in Google Drive and the Sites Homepage.

When you press enter on your keyboard the name will be accepted and copied into the site name.

You can change the site name, however, without affecting the file name. Just click on it and edit it as needed. Once you have created a site, you can begin to add to it. Go to the Edit panel. This is where you will insert items, add and reorder pages, as well as choose and modify themes for your site. Click on Insert to see what types of items can be added to your site. Here you can choose to insert a text box, images, a URL, or a file from your computer. Under Components you can insert elements such as a divider to separate the content on the page. In the “Google Drive” section, you can select files and folders from your Drive or any Shared Drives you are a member of.

Use the Embed section to easily insert YouTube videos, Google Calendars or a Google Map. Under Google Docs you can add Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms and charts to your site.

By clicking on the Pages in the Edit panel you add more pages to your site. When clicking the Add Page icon, you will be asked to provide a name for the new page and then it will be added to your site. You can reorder pages, make them subpages or make them the home page for your site in the panel. As you add pages, they will be listed above the page title. You can change to a navigational menu, rather than the default horizontal navigation, if you wish.

By clicking Themes in the Edit panel, it shows options for changing the overall look and colour combination for your site. In Themes you can choose from a variety of styles which will affect font styles and colours.

In Sites, you can add collaborators so you can build websites together. Click on the Share icon at the top. A window will open where you can add editors, and this is very similar to sharing in Google Docs. Click the Change link to change the overall editing access to your site. If you would like to work with only certain colleagues or groups, you can do that as well. Enter the email addresses of those you want to add as editors in the field under “Invite People”.

As the owner of the Site you can check a box to prevent other editors from publishing your site, changing access to it, or adding more editors.

When you click Done the people whose email address you entered will receive a notification that you have added them as editor and they will be able to begin working with you.

Just as in Google Docs, you can remove collaborators at any time by clicking the Share icon and removing them from the list of editors.

Once you are done creating your Site, you will want to make it so others can come and visit.

But before you publish, you can preview your Site as it will look when it is live. To do this, click the Preview Icon. Your screen will change to reflect how your site will look to those who visit it.

You can use the icons to change the view from how your site will look on a computer and to how it will look on a tablet or mobile device.

Sites will automatically adjust your site so that it works well on different devices.

Click the ‘X’ next to the device icons to exit the Preview Mode.

When you are ready for your site to be open to visitors, you can click the Publish button. Once your site is published, you can un-publish it at any time, There will be a drop down menu next to the Publish button that will have the option to unpublish your site.

This is very valuable if you want to make a lot of changes to the site or if you want to restrict access to visitors, You will be able to republish your site again at any time.

Google Sites is a great tool for bringing together many of the other Google Workspace tools and reaching a wider audience.