tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6046894466924457852024-03-12T19:53:23.274-07:00Google Sites BlogNews and notes from the Google Sites team.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604689446692445785.post-12023610971258834452009-04-03T13:04:00.000-07:002020-07-16T13:54:37.104-07:00The Google Sites blog is movingStarting today, the Google Sites team will be posting our updates on the Google Apps Blog, at <a href="http://googleapps.blogspot.com/">http://googleapps.blogspot.com</a>, so please check this new location for news about Google Sites. You can also get content from the Google Apps Blog as <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=GoogleAppsBlog&loc=en_US">email updates</a> or subscribe to the <a href="http://fusion.google.com/add?source=atgs&feedurl=http%3A//feeds2.feedburner.com/GoogleAppsBlog">RSS feed</a>.<br /><br />As we strive to create easier and more integrated experiences for our users to move between different Google applications, we think that in addition to providing application-specific updates, it is also important to communicate the bigger picture of how we are making applications work better together. Google Sites already has features built in from other Google applications, like when you insert Picasa web albums, YouTube videos, gadgets, and Google Docs into web pages, and we believe that improvements in these related services will be useful to Google Sites users. Through the Google Apps blog, we can give you all the news we normally would about Google Sites as well as related tips and updates from other Google applications that would also be helpful to you.<br /><br />This will be our last post on this blog, but we have plenty of cool things in store for Google Sites, so be sure to get the latest news at the <a href="http://googleapps.blogspot.com/">Google Apps blog</a>.<br /><br />Scott Johnston, Senior Product ManagerGoogle Sites Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10893503576290120363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604689446692445785.post-61791481061000402622009-03-20T11:15:00.000-07:002020-07-16T13:54:37.121-07:00Doing more with gadgetsGadgets allow you to easily add dynamic content to your Google Sites web pages, and are available from the “Insert” menu when you are editing a page. Some of the more basic gadgets, like the “Recent posts” or “Recent files” gadgets give you a quick view from a central location of content being updated on other pages. Gadgets can be tools like a clock or to-do list, informative like recent news headlines or stock quotes, or even fun games or a virtual aquarium. Clicking on the “More…” option in the “Insert” menu brings up a directory of gadgets that you can check out and try on your pages. If you want to get started building your own gadgets, check out the<a href="http://code.google.com/apis/gadgets/"> Gadget Developers Guide</a>.<br /><br />We have also made some improvements to the way gadgets work for users of the Premier Edition of Google Apps:<br /><ul><li>Gadgets can be made to be private to a specific domain.</li><li>Gadgets will match the security and encryption level of the site.</li><li>There is a new start page template that lets each user personalize the gadgets that are display specifically for them.</li></ul>Please check out our post on the <a href="http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2009/03/go-go-gadgetsin-google-sites.html">Google Enterprise blog</a> for more information on these updates.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/ScO_quvaedI/AAAAAAAAACU/7EglUWNIZQk/s1600-h/sites+gadget+menu.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 261px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/ScO_quvaedI/AAAAAAAAACU/7EglUWNIZQk/s400/sites+gadget+menu.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315302726049626578" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Posted by Jeffrey Harris, Associate Product ManagerGoogle Sites Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10893503576290120363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604689446692445785.post-83592921362571137882009-02-03T09:30:00.000-08:002020-07-16T13:54:37.131-07:00Check out the improved Sites Help Forum<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SYeAzPcivNI/AAAAAAAAACM/VbBm9sNhc5Q/s1600-h/Picture+2.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 207px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SYeAzPcivNI/AAAAAAAAACM/VbBm9sNhc5Q/s400/Picture+2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298345104432610514" border="0" /></a>We hope that by now you've found the <a href="http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/sites?hl=en">Google Sites Help Forum</a> to be the best place to ask questions and share tips with other Sites users. We've been listening to your feedback about features you'd like to see in the forum, and we're excited to announce that we've upgraded the English Sites Help Forum.<br /><br />Now you can more easily find the information you need by searching across the Google Sites <a href="http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/sites?hl=en">Help Forum</a>, <a href="http://sites.google.com/support/">Help Center</a>, and <a href="http://googlesitesblog.blogspot.com/">blog</a>. We have the same categories as the Help Center, so you can transition from one category to the other. We even have some extra things we hope you'll really like. There is a system of levels to reward your contributions to the Forum, and the ability to add a picture next to your name in the profiles. You can also subscribe to the Forum (or to individual discussions) by RSS feed, post a question and receive your answer by email, and even vote on which response best answers the question and mark a best answer to a question you asked.<br /><br />We hope you'll come take a look, and we hope you'll stay a while, sign into your Google Account, and ask and answer questions.<br /><br />Posted by Michael Perry, Google Sites Support LeadGoogle Sites Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10893503576290120363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604689446692445785.post-63185598266621003512008-12-11T09:13:00.000-08:002020-07-16T13:54:37.123-07:00Sharing the holiday spirit on Google Sites<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SUFN--iQDEI/AAAAAAAAACE/EF9Lo-NqfWA/s1600-h/xmas_ribbon_final.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 206px; height: 233px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SUFN--iQDEI/AAAAAAAAACE/EF9Lo-NqfWA/s400/xmas_ribbon_final.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278585982588816450" border="0" /></a><br />Whether you are sharing best wishes and memories with friends and family or organizing winter activities, Google Sites can help you enjoy your holidays more. We love seeing how people are using Google Sites over the holidays, and wanted to share a few fun things we noticed.<br /><br />If you are looking to spruce up your site or blog with some holiday imagery, take a look at <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/karlaslayouts/Home/holidays/christmas">karlaslayouts</a>. Or perhaps you’d like to bring friends together for ice skating or sledding like the <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/flccsleddingandskatingclub/">FCCC club site</a> does. Going to a cool (no pun intended) winter festival? Share your experience online like this site does for the <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/exploringnorthernchina/Home/harbin-international-ice-and-snow-sculpture-festival">Harbin international ice and snow sculpture festival</a>.<br /><br />There are many ways to get into the holiday spirit, and we liked the tips from the <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/sweetautumnproject/sweet-autumn-charities/easy-ways-to-give-back">Sweet Autumn project</a> on ways to give back during the holidays. If singing is your thing, the <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/tcccyg/Home/christmas-carols">TCCC Youth Group site</a> has lyrics and videos of popular Christmas carols. And don’t forget all the great holiday foods out there, like the <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/dessertshomemade/holiday">deserts</a> and fun treats in <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/holidayseasongiftbaskets/Home">Christmas gift baskets</a> on these sites.<br /><br />We hope all our users have a great holiday season, and if you haven’t finished your holiday shopping yet, make sure to check out these <a href="http://www.google.com/holidayshopping#utm_source=us-en-et-sblog&utm_medium=et&utm_campaign=holiday08">popular gift ideas and special discounts</a> from Google Product Search and Google Checkout.<br /><br />Posted by: Brian Hutchins, Marketing ManagerGoogle Sites Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10893503576290120363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604689446692445785.post-46210630124674972582008-11-25T12:20:00.000-08:002020-07-16T13:54:37.115-07:00Migrate your JotSpot wiki to Google SitesI'm excited to announce an easy migration option from JotSpot wikis to Google Sites. Users new to Google Sites can look forward to better performance and improved ease of use. Sites is tightly integrated with products like Google Docs, has much better wysiwyg editing tools, and is <a title="available in 38 languages" href="http://googlesitesblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/sites-goes-international.html" id="gevj">available in 38 languages</a>. JotSpot customers should have received an email last week about this migration, and can read more about it here:<br /><br /><a href="http://sites.google.com/site/jotmigration">http://sites.google.com/site/jotmigration</a><br /><br />The migration is an opt-in process which is initiated by the JotSpot wiki administrator. Wiki owners not wishing to migrate to Sites can export their data for import into another system. The JotSpot data center will be shut down on January 15th, 2009.<br /><br />Posted by Michael Nestler, Software EngineerGoogle Sites Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10893503576290120363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604689446692445785.post-37408382339984679402008-10-22T09:15:00.000-07:002020-07-16T13:54:37.114-07:00Sites goes internationalToday we added support for 37 more languages. Google Sites will use your browser settings to determine the language to display, and if you would like to override this setting, go to the "User settings" page linked from your "My sites" page.<br /><br />In addition to the new languages, we have made a few improvements to the service. We moved the toolbar for creating and editing pages to the top of the page to make it easier to differentiate site content from application functionality, and we shifted site settings into this navigation bar. The list page now offers a default sort option via the "customize list" dialog, and the recent list items gadget has more sort options. We also added the ability to opt out of change notifications for changes you make on the "User settings" page.<br /><br />We feel it is important to thank all of you for using Google Sites. In the first four months since our <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/google-sites-now-open-to-everyone.html" title="full launch">full launch</a>, over one million Sites were created, and we look forward to the millions more to come.<br /><br />Here are the 38 languages we are supporting with this release: Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, English (UK), Filipino, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese<br /><br /><span class="post-author">Posted by: Michael Cheng, Software Engineer</span>Google Sites Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10893503576290120363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604689446692445785.post-20490593915493164162008-10-03T15:03:00.000-07:002020-07-16T13:54:37.110-07:00September search improvementsHere are a few of the changes we made to Google Sites in September.<br /><br /><b>Stemming and Synonyms in search<br /></b><br />Search is near and dear to our hearts (for obvious reasons), so we recently added <a title="stemming" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stemming" id="go22">stemming</a> and synonym support to Google sites search. Stemming helps improve search results by expanding the results of a query to include other popular forms of the words searched. For example, if you search for "car racing" we would also return documents related to "car race." Taking into account synonyms also helps make it easy to find information on your site, like if you search for "auto insurance" we would also return results for "car insurance."<br /><br /><b>Search in "my sites"<br /></b><br />Your "my sites" list includes all the sites where you are explicitly named as an owner, collaborator, or viewer. Previously the search box on this page searched public sites from everyone using Google Sites (or all sites within the domain for Google Apps users), but we have added an option in a drop down list next to the search box for times you may just want to search sites in which you are a participant.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SOt8PMr27jI/AAAAAAAAABU/q3Dlq8acbXk/s1600-h/search-my-sites.png"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SOt8PMr27jI/AAAAAAAAABU/q3Dlq8acbXk/s400/search-my-sites.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254429990802878002" border="0" /></a><br /><screenshot><br /><b>Searching site names<br /><br /></b>When you search from the "my sites" page we now include site names and descriptions in that search. At the top of your search results, links are highlighted for sites with matching site names or site descriptions. As before, results below this "one-box" are for pages or attachments with content that matched your search.<br /><br /></screenshot><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SOt_tu-glgI/AAAAAAAAABc/OcaNPmrWkd8/s1600-h/search-one-box.png"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SOt_tu-glgI/AAAAAAAAABc/OcaNPmrWkd8/s400/search-one-box.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254433813938869762" border="0" /></a><br /><screenshot><screenshot><br /><b>Finding that page you want to link to<br /></b><br />Linking between pages is a critical part of building and maintaining a wiki or website. We recently redesigned our link picker to make it easier to find a page. By default we return the most recent pages you updated or created. You will be amazed with how often this returns the page you want. There is a second tab that lists the most recent site changes. If the page you are looking for wasn't recently changed, there is a new quick search that helps you find the page you are hunting for.<br /><br />While we were at it, we also added an option to open the link in a new window.<span class="writely-comment" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 215);" id="writely-comment-id-dgq6gfk8"><br /><br /></span><screenshot></screenshot></screenshot></screenshot><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SOt6kEy6bkI/AAAAAAAAABM/3xfE3zHJzbA/s1600-h/new-link-picker-2.png"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SOt6kEy6bkI/AAAAAAAAABM/3xfE3zHJzbA/s400/new-link-picker-2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254428150438981186" border="0" /></a><br /><screenshot><screenshot><screenshot><br /><b>Description meta tag</b><br /><br />Your site description is now automatically included as a description meta-tag. For public sites, the text from a description meta-tag may be used by some search engines in the search result snippets. Having a good description for your site can make it easier for people to understand what your site if it appears in search results.<br /><br />Posted by: Michael Tildahl, Software Engineer<br /></screenshot></screenshot></screenshot>Google Sites Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10893503576290120363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604689446692445785.post-75008360810395561302008-08-26T17:50:00.000-07:002020-07-16T13:54:37.128-07:00No publishing requiredWe recently made it easier to share embedded spreadsheets in Sites. Previously your spreadsheet had to be published to the world (or at least the domain) to be embedded, which gave less control over who could see and edit the document. Being able to control collaborators and viewers in Google spreadsheets can be very handy, so it was important for us to allow these settings to work in embedded spreadsheets on Google Sites.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Bzy_VJYdAOE/SLSoEgwQN3I/AAAAAAAAABU/e_DhC4fjVZE/s1600-h/unpublished-spreadsheets.png"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Bzy_VJYdAOE/SLSoEgwQN3I/AAAAAAAAABU/e_DhC4fjVZE/s400/unpublished-spreadsheets.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238997062003996530" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span class="post-author">Posted by Scott Johnston,</span> Sr. Product ManagerUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604689446692445785.post-66219113243891206982008-08-06T16:51:00.000-07:002020-07-16T13:54:37.126-07:00Google Sites on more domainsNow everyone can use Google Sites on their own domains, using their own URLs. In July we added this popular request for <a title="customizing Google Sites to Google Apps domains" href="http://googlesitesblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/google-sites-on-your-domain.html" id="dw3r">custom domains for sites created in Google Apps</a>, and today we extended the ability to change site URLs for for all users of Google Sites.<br /><br />To ensure that only proper domain owners can make this change, you must be the owner or administrator of the domain and have access to change the domain CNAME records. More details on <a title="how to set this up" href="http://sites.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=99450&topic=15219" id="xv6i">how to set this up</a> are in our help center.<br /><br />Posted by Di Wang, software engineerGoogle Sites Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10893503576290120363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604689446692445785.post-30408681059001422562008-08-05T16:56:00.000-07:002020-07-16T13:54:37.112-07:00Anonymous referrers for private sitesWe have had some questions in our discussion group about why some outgoing links are sent through an extra redirect before getting to their destination URL, and we wanted to explain the benefits of this feature for private sites.<br /><br />Normally if you have a link on your website to another website, and someone clicks on that link, the URL of your page with that link is passed to that site as referral information (and visible to administrators of that site). For example, let's say the Google Sites help page (http://sites.google.com/support/) has a link to http://www.example.com/foo. When a user clicks on that link, the owners of www.example.com will be able to see that the user came from http://sites.google.com/support/. This is great information for site owners, and works well for public sites.<br /> <br /> While this isn't a problem for public sites, it can be an issue for private intranets. Let's say instead of our help site, the link to example.com was from your private intranet, http://sites.google.com/site/intranet/super-secret-project-name. You probably wouldn't want that link visible to the administrators of example.com, so for Google Sites that are set as private, we automatically perform what is called "referrer scrubbing" by sending outbound links through an anonymous redirector. The result is that anonymous information, not the URL of your intranet, is passed as referral information. We assume your private site is private for a reason and this includes your URLs as well as your content. <br /><br />Just one of the many features in Google Sites which allow you to focus on your content, not your infrastructure. <br /><br />Posted by: Scott Johnston, Sr. Product Manager<br /><br /><span class="post-author"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604689446692445785.post-53576375602037521402008-07-25T09:59:00.000-07:002020-07-16T13:54:37.117-07:00More layout control and better integration with Google Docs and Webmaster ToolsWe know our users like to be able to customize their websites and wikis to their own style, and with our recent release we have added more flexibility and control over the layout of Google Sites. Now you can change the width of your sidebar and header (previously the height of the header was defined by the logo) or turn off the sidebar and header entirely. You now have control over the width of your site, which previously was always 100% of the browser width. You can also set the width of text boxes if you do not want your content to fill the whole space of the page by default.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SJHykr2uFZI/AAAAAAAAAA0/K-1UHBbl-do/s1600-h/change-layout.png"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SJHykr2uFZI/AAAAAAAAAA0/K-1UHBbl-do/s400/change-layout.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229227354415306130" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Also in the latest release is tighter integration with Google Docs and Webmaster Tools. When you want to embed one of your Google Docs documents, spreadsheets or presentations, you can now conveniently select it from a list rather than pasting the URL into the document. With Google Webmaster tools, it is easier to see how Google indexes your content and if you enable the integration, you can also auto-generate a sitemap to submit to Google. (<a href="http://sites.google.com/support/bin/topic.py?topic=15324">Learn more</a>.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SJHzZPQfLJI/AAAAAAAAAA8/Yssx284HQQI/s1600-h/insert-preso.png"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SJHzZPQfLJI/AAAAAAAAAA8/Yssx284HQQI/s400/insert-preso.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229228257271819410" border="0" /></a><br /><br />There are several other small improvements in Google Sites that you may notice. Site editors can preview their site as it would look to a regular viewer. To do so just select, "More actions -> Preview as viewer." In addition, if you don't want viewers to have visibility into site activity, simply remove the element from the sidebar and the link will also be removed from the footer.<br /><br />Posted by Adam Howell, Software engineerGoogle Sites Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10893503576290120363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604689446692445785.post-87008894871016457952008-07-10T12:12:00.000-07:002020-07-16T13:54:37.133-07:00Google Sites on your domainThe most popular request we have had since our launch has been the ability to change site URLs, and we are excited to announce our first set of features in this area. Now Google Apps domain administrators can map public sites hosted on Google Sites to their own domains. Sites can be mapped individually to a specific URL, like http://<span style="font-style: italic;">www.example.com</span>, and as a group under a specific URL, like <span style="font-style: italic;">http://sites.example.com/[name of site]</span>.<br /><p class="MsoNormal" id="r72b0" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;">Map a site to a specific URL</span><br /><br />The standard URL of a site in Google Apps currently looks like <span style="font-style: italic;">http://sites.google.com/a/example.com/site-name</span>, but now you can let users access your site at a URL on your domain that is easier to remember. The new location can be your domain home page or any sub-domain in your domain (e.g. <span style="font-style: italic;">http://www.example.com, http://info.example.com, http://wiki.example.com, etc.</span>), and can be set up on the “Web Addresses” tab of the Sites service settings in your Google Apps control panel.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Bzy_VJYdAOE/SHZn-CG81iI/AAAAAAAAAAk/T-nKUOKnCn0/s1600-h/web-addresses.png"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Bzy_VJYdAOE/SHZn-CG81iI/AAAAAAAAAAk/T-nKUOKnCn0/s400/web-addresses.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221475133398242850" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" id="r72b0" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Bzy_VJYdAOE/SHZhCJUjHJI/AAAAAAAAAAU/OhnrqP7yZAI/s1600-h/add-mapping.png"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Bzy_VJYdAOE/SHZhCJUjHJI/AAAAAAAAAAU/OhnrqP7yZAI/s400/add-mapping.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221467507472407698" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Change the root URL for all sites</span></span><br /><br />If you have several sites, you can also make them automatically accessible at a designated URL on your domain. For example, instead of being at <span style="font-style: italic;">http://sites.google.com/a/example.com/site-name</span>, the administrator can make them available at <span style="font-style: italic;">http://sites.example.com/site-name</span> or at any other sub-domain.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" id="r72b0" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" id="r72b0" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Bzy_VJYdAOE/SHZhLsF2bkI/AAAAAAAAAAc/EXHMpx_mJ0M/s1600-h/root-url-mapping.png"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Bzy_VJYdAOE/SHZhLsF2bkI/AAAAAAAAAAc/EXHMpx_mJ0M/s400/root-url-mapping.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221467671424822850" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Remember these new features are currently only available for public sites in Google Apps (mapped URLs to private sites will redirect to the standard URL). Stay tuned for more exciting domain mapping news for private sites and sites created under http://sites.google.com/site.</p><p class="MsoNormal" id="r72b0" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" id="r72b0" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">For more details on this topic and specific setup instructions, <a href="http://sites.google.com/support/bin/topic.py?topic=15219">see our online help center</a>.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" id="r72b0" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" id="r72b0" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">While writing this post I learned about <a href="http://www.rfc.net/rfc2606.html">RFC 2606</a>, which designates example.com as a domain that can be used for, well, examples. Doesn't that make a lot of sense? I sure thought so.</p><p class="MsoNormal" id="r72b0" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" id="r72b0" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Posted by Di Wang, Software Engineer<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604689446692445785.post-56209500866310787382008-06-19T08:56:00.000-07:002020-07-16T13:54:37.119-07:00New feature review: auto-save, linking, page names, and landing pageIn our most recent release we have added several new improvements to Google Sites. We pay attention to our Sites discussion group and try to prioritize ideas that make the most sense or that people are most passionate about. To that end, here is a rundown of some of the most recently added features.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Auto-save in edit mode</span><br /><br />Ever been dealt the crushing blow of losing unsaved work? Like when your computer crashes 5 seconds before you were going to hit submit on your masterful rant about, let's say, the most recent addition to the Indiana Jones series? You can now breathe easier when authoring pages in Google Sites, because we've got your back. Once you start editing a page, Google Sites will automatically save your edits after a few seconds and a message that your draft has been saved will be displayed on the far right hand side of the editor.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SFqDIIRQ2rI/AAAAAAAAAAM/tdY4amBBQBE/s1600-h/1autosave.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SFqDIIRQ2rI/AAAAAAAAAAM/tdY4amBBQBE/s400/1autosave.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213623694316853938" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Page names & URLs</span><br /><br />It used to be that you had one shot to choose the URL of any newly created page, which was automatically generated based on the page name entered. So if your page name was "The Magnificent Seven", the end of your URL would look something like "/the-magnificent-seven". Now you can change the page URL at any time by going to the "More Actions menu -> Page Settings", and changing the "Page URL" field at the bottom. So say you want a more abbreviated version, and you change it to "mag7". Once you click "Save", the page refreshes with the new URL, and you're done. The beauty of this is that any inbound links from other pages to the original page will automatically be updated to the new "mag7" page name and will not break.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SFqDpC45cSI/AAAAAAAAAAU/wJ2XKQaPNk0/s1600-h/2pagenames.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SFqDpC45cSI/AAAAAAAAAAU/wJ2XKQaPNk0/s400/2pagenames.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213624259808162082" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Support for links in List pages</span><br /><br />A popular question from our users was "How do I create a link in my list?". And so the "URL" column type was born. Using the same Link picker that is used in the page editor, you can now enter URLs to external websites or existing pages within your site. In the example, I used the Link picker (by clicking the "or, select existing page" link) to select the existing Magnificent Seven page from earlier.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SFqD-lwZZ6I/AAAAAAAAAAc/HPuYB9iBYEg/s1600-h/3listlinks.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SFqD-lwZZ6I/AAAAAAAAAAc/HPuYB9iBYEg/s400/3listlinks.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213624629945001890" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Creating new pages in the Link picker dialog</span><br /><br />Say you want to add links to other pages without first having to create the pages - basically, you want to start from the top down instead of bottom up. In traditional wiki parlance, this is called forward linking, and there's usually a special syntax that you need to use. Google Sites has taken a different approach than the typical wiki mechanisms -- we've integrated the flows of linking to pages and creating pages into a single process. As you're editing a page, start by clicking the "Link" button to launch the link picker dialog. Then, look for the "Create new page" button at the bottom. When you click it, you can create a new page on the spot, without leaving the current page. Type in a name for the new page, hit "Create page", and you'll be sent right back to the original link picker dialog with the new page selected for you. Just hit "OK" and you're done -- in one fell swoop you've created a new page and linked to it without ever leaving the warm comforts of the Link dialog.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SFqEMe3hCmI/AAAAAAAAAAk/c_ZUEERZ-kQ/s1600-h/4newlinks.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SFqEMe3hCmI/AAAAAAAAAAk/c_ZUEERZ-kQ/s400/4newlinks.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213624868613982818" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Custom site landing page configuration</span><br /><br />In Google Sites it used to be that every time you logged in to your site, you would be automatically sent to your "Home" page at /Home. In the interest of giving site owners more control over their site, we now allow site owners to configure which page is shown as the landing page. Head on over to "Site Settings" -> "Other Stuff" to check it out.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SFqEYqOkBKI/AAAAAAAAAAs/thsEkntoAbk/s1600-h/5landingpage.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DSjqg256_kU/SFqEYqOkBKI/AAAAAAAAAAs/thsEkntoAbk/s400/5landingpage.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213625077821867170" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Posted by Reuben Antman, Software EngineerGoogle Sites Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10893503576290120363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604689446692445785.post-64057874098684497352008-05-30T17:15:00.000-07:002020-07-16T13:54:37.125-07:00Analytics integrated into Google SitesWouldn’t it be great to know how many people visit your site, what content is most popular, and if searches are getting people to the right places? <a href="http://www.google.com/analytics/index.html">Google Analytics</a> is a free online service with stats, graphs, and reports that answer these questions and a number of other things you might like to know about how people use your site. Analytics offers sophisticated analytical tools that are simple and secure to use, and appeals to a wide range of users.<br /><br />Up until recently, Google Analytics wasn’t integrated with Google Sites, but now it is easy to get started (no coding required) with three steps:<br /><br />1. If you don’t have Google Analytics already, <a href="http://www.google.com/analytics/indexu.html">sign up</a> for a free account<br />2. Login to Google Analytics and find your tracking ID<br />3. Login to Google sites to enable Google Analytics and enter your tracking ID in your Google Sites settings<br /><br />If you have any questions, check out our help center article on <a href="http://sites.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=97459&topic=14656">configuring Google Sites to use Google Analytics</a><br /><br />You only have to set this up once to apply to all the existing and future pages in your Google Sites website. It works if your site is public or private. If you would also like to <a href="http://sites.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=95142&topic=14656">track search results</a> on your site (good for knowing what people are looking for and whether they are finding it), this feature can also be enabled.<br /><br />Once you are set up, all you need to do is login to Google Analytics to check reports and see how people are using your site. Here are some of the <a href="http://www.google.com/analytics/feature_benefits.html">cool things</a> you can do.<br /><br />Posted by Jeanie Komarek, Software EngineerGoogle Sites Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10893503576290120363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604689446692445785.post-16617337577303263582008-05-29T09:25:00.000-07:002020-07-16T13:54:37.108-07:00Play groups, families, and more<div><p>During a recent mother's day trip I realized how valuable Google Sites could be for parents and families, so as part of our latest launch I decided to create a couple of new example websites: a family site and a playgroup site.</p><div><p><a href="http://sites.google.com/a/jotspot.com/sample-family/Home"><strong>Family website</strong> </a></p><br /><a href="http://sites.google.com/a/jotspot.com/sample-family/Home"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205122688947972114" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; float: right;" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8626xcG6Kfw/SDxPgfcR6BI/AAAAAAAAAJk/FqmQ99LNd6A/s400/FamilySite.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><p>Many families, like mine, are scattered across the US or even the world. Our family used to rely mostly on email to keep in touch and send out photos (pleases grandma, scale the photos down before sending them). Now we use Google Sites as a single place for sharing family events (never miss another birthday!), photos, recipes and news. Here are some things I like most:<p/><br /><div><ul><li><strong>Calendar</strong> – Anyone can see and add birthdays, graduations, upcoming trips and more. It is easy, so I am no longer a bottleneck for keeping everyone updated.<strong></strong></li><li><strong>Photos</strong> – We are always snapping photos when we are out, and it is fun to share slideshows of these by embedding Picasa Web Albums in our website.<strong></strong></li><li><strong>Recipes</strong> – Using the “list” page type, I put all our family recipes in one place, so I can quickly search for any recipe. Now I don’t have to look all over the place for family favorites (like my mom's famous Chicken Lasagna).<br /></li></ul><div><p><strong><a href="http://sites.google.com/a/jotspot.com/sample-playgroup/Home">Play group website</a></strong><br /><a href="http://sites.google.com/a/jotspot.com/sample-playgroup/Home"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205121469177260034" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; float: right;" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8626xcG6Kfw/SDxOZfcR6AI/AAAAAAAAAJc/pMw8TAPNrPQ/s400/letsplay.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />When I became a mom my social life expanded to include other parents who had children of similar ages. Having had more than a few frustrating experiences organizing events via email, I decided to set up a play group website on Google Sites. It is very convenient that anyone in our group can add an event, upload photos of our past play dates, and update important information about their child (allergies, favorite foods, adorable videos). Here is some of the cool stuff about the play group site: </p><ul><li><strong>Home</strong> – The hub of all the action, the home page gives a quick overview of upcoming events, general announcements, a slideshow of our last activity (Swimming!), and some other fun gadgets (like top selling baby items).<br /></li><li><strong>Players!</strong> – All the members are listed in one place, and all the kids have their own detailed pages that parents can customize as they like.<br /></li><li><strong>Toddler friendly places</strong> – Combining a Google spreadsheet form with a Google maps gadget, the group can add and see good places for little kids.</li></ul><p>These example websites were easy to set up (just added content), and they show just a couple of the many possibilities for a wide variety of groups and clubs to make their own sites on Google Sites.</p><p>Posted by Mandy Sladden, Lead Designer </p></div></div></div></div>Google Sites Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10893503576290120363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604689446692445785.post-77930115993865671972008-05-21T22:15:00.000-07:002020-07-16T13:54:37.129-07:00Welcome to the Google Sites BlogWelcome to our new blog, where you can get the latest on Google Sites' new features, product updates, special announcements, and more.<br /><br />For those of you unfamiliar with Google Sites, here's a quick intro. It started out as JotSpot, was acquired by Google, and a few months ago was re-launched as <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/bringing-it-all-together.html">part of Google Apps</a> for businesses, schools, and organizations with their own domains. Now we've opened up Google Sites to everyone, and made it easy for anyone to get started with their own group website. For a three-minute tutorial on how it works, watch this:<br /><br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fD-4FRTzxkI&hl=en"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fD-4FRTzxkI&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />We're excited about what we have planned for Google Sites, and hope that this blog will be helpful to you. To get updates whenever we post here, just <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/GoogleSitesBlog">subscribe</a> to our feed. Our <a id="qgdq" title="Google Sites group" href="http://groups.google.com/group/sites-help" goog_docs_charindex="2969">Google Sites Group</a> is another useful resource, where you can ask questions, leave suggestions, and share experiences.<br /><br />Thanks for visiting, and I encourage you to get started with your own website, if you haven’t already.<br /><br /><span class="post-author">Posted by Scott Johnston, Senior Product Manager</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com