Docs

Overview

Google Docs is an online word processing program that allows users to create documents effortlessly in minutes and which is integrated with the Google Drive app as the central storage system. Like all Google applications, the easiest way to open the App is through the Google home page (www.google.com). In the top right hand corner, there will be an icon that I refer to as the Google waffle because it has three rows of three cubes resembling a waffle. This is a quick way to access any native Google app. It does not work for apps that are not created by Google.

Opening Google Docs

Clicking on the Google waffle, opens up a list of Google Apps that are available on your user account. If the app that you are looking for does not show up, it is possible that it is on a secondary page. Click on More at the bottom of the selection. Additional apps will display.

It is possible to rearrange the order of the Apps in a fashion that is more convenient for your usage. Simply drag the icon (click and hold on it with your mouse/trackpad) and move it to the desired spot. It is possible to move apps from the lower section to the upper section.

Open Google Docs by clicking on the icon. Another way to navigate to Google Docs is by typing the website in directly (docs.google.com). It is also possible to bookmark the Docs homepage as a shortcut.

Google Docs Start Screen

The Docs start screen will resemble the photo above (Google has modified this visually recently). On the left hand corner, there are three horizontal bars. Clicking this will allow you to quickly navigate to other Google Apps such as sheets, slides and forms. Next to that is the Docs search bar which allows you to quickly find a previously created document simply by typing in the name or a keyword that might be contained in the document. On the right hand side of the screen is the Google Waffle similar to the Google home page. Two icons over from that is your Google Account avatar identifying the account that is being used. Below that are a variety of templates that can be used to create documents for various purposes. Clicking on the up and down arrows next to Template Gallery opens up additional templates. To create a blank document from scratch, click on the Blank document that has the '+' symbol on it. Below this section are a list of recent documents that have been opened (not shown). This list can be further filtered by owner or by action last performed and files can be portrayed in a list or a grid view.

Start by opening a new document.

Docs Tool Bar

The Google Docs app features both a menu bar as well as a toolbar. I will briefly describe the various tools in the toolbar. The items in the menu bar will be covered in a later section. The tool bar is meant to allow access to frequently used tools whereas the menu bar is meant for more complex tasks.

Above the tool bar is the Chat button. This only appears if the document is being accessed by someone else. In this example, the avatar of the user that is online is shown. Clicking the Chat button opens up a Chat Box in which participants can type notes to each other. These notes do not affect the slide presentation but serve as a way to communicate to one another. Next to the chat button are two important features of all Google apps - the Comments button and the Share button. The comments button is typically used as a collaborative tool when there are multiple authors of a document. It allows a user to communicate an idea to other collaborators located in a different location. It can also be used as a chat box to communicate ideas. The share button is an easy way to invite others to collaborate on a document. Go to the Share section to learn more about how to use this feature that is common to all Google apps.

To find out what a particular tool does, you can always hover the mouse cursor over the icon - after a while, a ToolTip will appear with the name of the tool. From left to right, the tools are: print, undo, redo, paint format, zoom, styles, font, text size, bold, italics, underline, font colour, insert link, add comment, justification (left, centre, right, justify), line spacing, numbered list, bulleted list, decrease or increase indent, and clear formatting. There is also a pull down menu that allows the user to switch between Editing mode (edit document directly), Suggesting mode (edits become comments), or Viewing mode (a preview of the final product).

Docs Menu Bar

The menu bar sits above the tool bar and consists of eight different menus that when clicked will open up further actions. A ninth item is the help menu which allows users to find solutions to different issues or to quickly search for a feature. Instead of needing to know which menu bar contains the feature, simply type in the name of the feature in the menu search bar (under help). The eight menus are File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools, Table and Add-Ons. A more thorough description of each menu is listed below.

File Menu

The first item in the Menu Bar is the File menu. All of the items in this section relate to document access through the Google Drive.

The first command is Share which allows multiple users to collaborate on a document either asynchronously or synchronously. If users are synchronously editing a document, you will see their account name appear at the top of the screen in a certain colour. You may also see a coloured cursor that corresponds to their account name appear somewhere in the document and text may appear. This is because Google Docs constantly updates itself and therefore it truly is a collaborative experience even though users may not be in the same location. See Sharing section to learn more.

The next set of commands relates to working on a document in which the user elects to either create a new document, open an existing document or create a copy of a document.

The next section groups functions related to file exporting and includes options to download the document, email it as an attachment or to preview all of the different versions of the document regardless of whether they were made by you or by a collaborator. Users are able to create a Version History by naming it. This allows them to see all of the changes that have been made in the document's lifetime and possibly restore changes that were made and would otherwise have been lost.

The next section has to do with file management including the ability to rename the document, move the document to a different location within Google Drive, or delete the document.. The file can be downloaded in a variety of different file formats including a Word document (.docx), an OpenDocument format (.odt), Rich Text Format (.rtf), PDF, plain text (.txt), a web page (.html) or an ePUB file.

The next section relates to making the file accessible to others where it can be published to the web as a link or embedded within a site using an embed code or emailed to collaborators.

The final section is a collection of general document tools such as displaying basic information about the document, changing the language for spell checking purposes, page settings and printing the document.

Edit Menu

The next section in the Menu Bar are the Editing commands. In this section, one finds all of the basic commands used regularly in editing a document such as undo, redo, cut, copy, paste, and find. Most users might not go into this section too often since the shortcuts are fairly universal.

View Menu

The view menu provides options relating to the display of the word processor and the document. The Mode option (also present on the tool bar) allows the user to shift between editing, suggesting and viewing mode.

The next section allows the user to manipulate some display tools such as a ruler at the top of the document (for showing indents), a tool that displays the outline of the document (based on headings), and displaying an equation toolbar (for writing math equations).

The last section allows toggling of the Full Screen which removes both the Menu Bar and the Tool Bar. Pressing the ESC key restores them.

Insert Menu

The Insert Menu allows users to import objects such as images, links, equations, drawings, charts, and tables into the document. These objects may originate from multiple locations such as from the computer, on the internet, from Google Drive, Google Photos, a web address, or using the camera on the computer. The equation tool is a series of graphical symbols that the user can click and insert into the document. The drawing tool opens up a pop-up window that allows users to create a drawing using basic tools such as Word Art, lines, shapes, and such. For more sophisticated drawings, it would be better to use a dedicated drawing program and import the drawing into Docs.

The insert menu is also where you would go to add a header or a footnote, special characters, page numbering or a horizontal line. Other tools include bookmarking, or the inclusion of a Table of Contents.

Format Menu

The format menu is concerned with all things related to formatting the text and the document. This includes making text bold, italicized, underlined, adding a strikethrough, superscript or subscripts.

Further customization can be made to text, paragraph styles, alignment, spacing, columns and bulleting or numbering as well as headers and borders.

In the lower section, if tables or image exist, further formatting can be made to those objects.

In addition to text and image formatting, users can also edit borders and lines.

Many of these formatting tools are also found on the tool bar which is likely an easier way to access these tools. There are also standardized keyboard shortcuts for many of these tools as well which more advanced users will opt to use instead of going through the menu.

Tools Menu

The Tools Menu in all likelihood contains the most distinguishing differences between Google Docs and other word processing programs such as Microsoft Word or Pages by Apple. Many of these tools can not be accessed from the tool bar (but have keyboard shortcuts). The various tools are as follows:

Spelling: the equivalent of spell checking. Google Docs will find all instances of what it considers misspelled words and offer suggestions. At this point, users can a) change the word to that which is suggested (clicking the arrow next to the 'change' button will allow users to select change all instances of the word in the document). b) ignore the suggested spelling (clicking the arrow next to the 'ignore' button will allow users to select ignore all instances of the word in the document). c) add the "misspelled" word to the dictionary so that any future instances of this word will not be considered misspelt (clicking the 'add to dictionary' button will allow the user to access their personal dictionary of words that have been manually added).
Word Count: this tool tells you the number of pages, words, characters and characters excluding spaces in the document
Review suggested edits: Suggested edits are made by collaborators who may not want to change the text directly but make suggestions instead for review later. Selecting this tool allows others to review suggested edits that others have made.
Explore: Selecting this tool opens up a sidebar next to the document. Certain key phrases or words will be identified and users can choose to 'explore' these topics further by clicking on them which in turn creates a web search using that word. Users can explore web sites that come up as a result of that search, choose images related to that word, or search for related documents in their Google Drive based on that search word.
Dictionary: when a single word is highlighter or when the cursor is positioned within a word and this tool is activated, Google will present a definition of the word in a side bar.
Translate document: This tool translates the entire document into another language. The document is saved as a copy in Google Drive. An unbelievable number of languages are available.
Voice Typing: this tool allows users to dictate. Use of this tool requires a microphone and permission to access it. A red microphone icon will appear on the left side of the screen. This indicates that Google is actively listening - anything that is said will be translated into text. To ask Google to stop listening, click on the microphone. The icon will turn from black to red. Pausing/turning off the microphone allows the user to think of what they want to say next. Refer to the dictation section for tips on using voice typing.
Script Editor: used for editing or writing code
Preferences: customizing features that personalize the way that Docs works for you
Accessibility Settings: a new feature within Docs, this provides additional access to those who have visual impairments and allows text to speech functionality and braille support. There is also support for third party screen magnifier software (Mac and ChromeOS only).

Add-Ons Menu

Add-ons are additional tools that have been created by third party developers to make Google Docs even more functional. These tools offer functionality beyond what is provided within the app. Most add-ons are free and cover a diverse range of topics. Click on Get add-ons to search the selection. Add-ons can be removed by clicking on Manage add-ons.

Once add-ons have been loaded to Google Docs, they are listed in the menu and can be accessed by clicking on them.

Here is a list of useful Add-ons for Google Docs.

Google Sites

Report abuse