Posts Tagged ‘Google Docs’

I have to say I’m very into Google Docs at the moment because it is one of the best tools for managing the finer points of any project. When I’m building sites naturally the client will want changes here and there. A  lot of times I might also have an idea about what he said, I may advise him against something and so on. This is very hard to keep track of using emails and very inconvenient creating a document for this and sending it back and forth with edits.

This is why Google Docs (or Adobe Buzzword, or Zoho, or any other such app) is such a great idea. You can share a document and comment away on all the points. There are a few methods you can use to easily keep track of what’s been done, what is in progress and what is still to be done, here’s the method I am just creating myself, maybe you can use some of the tips, and maybe you can help me out how to do this better!

I basically use two methods, color and positioning on the page to manage the tasks. Tasks are in a numbered list throughout the document, I always edit with a nice turqoise color, the other person editing can use a deep red for example, normal task text is black or gray regardless of who created the task. If a task is complete I color it turqoise and move it to the bottom of the document, all done tasks reside here. If all subtasks in a task are complete but I still don’t think all is done I will color all the subtasks, but leave the task itself black.

That’s actually about all there is to it. Using this method you can easily distinguish what needs to be done, you can also see comments right there, and at a glance see the estimated amount of work to be completed. There are various other methods you can use to indicate different things, more colors, bold text. headings and so on. I recommend you keep the document fairly short, or at least very specific to a project, so you can still follow what is happening. You can let done tasks pile up, but if there are too many tasks to complete it might be easier to split them between multiple documents.

Google Docs has implemented a much awaited feature, the full use of CSS in documents. This essentially means that those of you versed in CSS can create great looking documents instead of black, white and grey ones.

Color and some format options were already available of course, but you can now specify borders, you can add divs with styling, create different types of lists in seconds. Since all this is implemented in CSS, you can just specify different classes for different types of content and then encase the specific contents in divs.

This means you will format your document once, which will take you 10 minutes, and after that formatting a whole blog of text will only take about 2 sends. Considering you may want a border, a different font, a different background color and font color, and underline and so on, this is a huge productivity jump.

You can also edit the html, so essentially Google Docs has become a HTML editor with a WYSIWYG option. Tihs is awesome in my opinion, I now have full control over the visuals of my documents, making me much more likely to use Docs instead of Word for example.

Google is implementing Google Gears into Google Docs, a feature long awaited by many in the online community. This means that you will be able to use Google Docs without internet access, and when you do manage to go online your stuff will be synchronized automatically.

Offline access will probably mean that you will loose some features, but no loss of data, and the ability to edit documents online. I don’t really know what features you can use, since I haven’t got the feature yet, but I’m sure that basic text editing will be seamless.

The benefits of Google Gears is great, now you don’t have to worry about getting disconnected or if you’ll be able to work from the train or not. Just go to offline mode, write all you want and when you get wired again docs will sync on its own.

The feature is initially only offered in English, and for now only for text documents, no spreadsheet and presentation mode yet, but I’m sure the time will come. I am eager to try out this new implementation of Google Gears, if you have this feature already, do comment on how it’s working.

If you use Google Docs a lot, I found an extension for you that not only helps you in organization, but also lets you upload and view any document in the blink of an eye. Apart from being beautifully done, you can work with added productivity, since you don’t have to have the Google Docs tab open, or visit the page at all. Just open the sidebar and click on any item you need.

The filtering capabilities are great, you can view files by type, arranging them by time, date and author, and you can of course search your docs. The search also looks inside the content, so you should be able to find anything in seconds.

Another great feature is that the app allows for drag and drop uploading, making the organization of files a breeze, you can back up whole folders this way if you want to.

Overall I love both the look and feel and the usability of this Firefox addon. If you use Google Docs take it for a spin, I’m sure you’ll love it!

Download Google Docs Bar from its website found via Lifehacker