Google Sites update

Google Sites for shared content

Ok, so a while back I wrote a post on Wetpaint and their rich media content "social website" and I continue to be amazed at the variety of options available there.

However, the other day I needed a quick site to use for tracking open items, to do lists, quote requests, quote responses, technical documents, etc. for a customer. As a creature of habit and given my constant use of Google docs I thought I'd dig a little deeper into Google Sites. After taking some time to familiarize myself with some of the page edit and sub-page options I found that Google Sites was a GREAT way to do what I needed. For one particular site (I have since set up at least a dozen) my menu hierarchy now has ten top layers and some pages are up to 3 and 4 layers deep. I set this particular site up to track all open activity items for a customer as well as creating an archive site for issue resolution, open issue tracking, technical document repository, service requests, quote requests (and responses) and the like. Since it's a web-based service (yeah, another one of my Software-as-a-Service rants) it's accessible from anywhere via web browser. Also, to share access to the site it's easiest that everyone have a gmail account (who the heck doesn't by now), that way you can link to shared Google docs, spreadsheets, presentations and the like.

As an example, when you click on "Create new page" the options are: Webpage, Dashboard, Announcements, File Cabinet and List. The list type is interesting in that you can pick from three pre-defined templates (editable) or chose custom and then define column headings and types (checkbox, date, dropdown, text or URL). Each column is then sortable as well. I chose to create "home" pages at the top level and then create cascading levels of repository pages under each heading. The site map link in the upper left hand corner of the site gives a complete hierarchical view of all of the pages, so it's easy to find everything once you create it. I even created a "quick contacts" list, sort of a mini contact list with phone, email, etc. so everyone could have a central place to update their respective information.

Of course the "site" is search-able as well, so don't fret if you can't find something quickly. While the templates for the sites give you some basic backgrounds, don't expect the "rich media" options you get from Wetpaint - at this point so far with my experience, Google Sites is more about functionality than beauty. Given what I'm using it for, that's fine but I could see where embedding podcasts, Youtube "how to" videos, and the like can't be too far off.

I have a few of you that have said you are now looking into Google Sites as an alternative to using Microsoft Sharepoint internally. I can see some limitations on that as a long term option, but if you're talking about an alternative to Sharepoint Services, then you might be satisfied. The primary issue at this point is the lack of detailed, extensible security. If you share the Site, then shared users have access to all content on the Site. You have a choice between collaborators and viewers, but that's it; so I could see using it for information that needs to be share with a whole team, but knowing that all information is visible to every member could cause problems. You could use document passwording and encryption to strengthen the security at the document level, but the document itself would still be available for download.

So, while not a panacea as a team website it only took me about 30 minutes to build the whole environment and upload all of the necessary documentation to get the information centralized and shared. So far, well worth the effort. As always, give it a try and let me know what you think!!