Introduction to Google Sites

Google Sites is a web-page and wiki-creation tool included with Google Apps. Sites are ideal for
committees, workgroups, and project management. This class will teach you how to create,
manage, and update a Google Site.

What can you do with Google Sites?

Build internal project hubs, team sites, public-facing websites, and more—all without designer,
programmer, or IT help.

With the new Google Sites, building websites is easy. Just drag content where you need it.
Create a one-stop destination for all important information, including videos, images,
calendars, presentations, documents, folders, and text. Then, quickly and securely share it with
an entire organization or the world.
Note: You can view the new Sites on most browsers on computers and mobile devices.
However, at this time, you can only edit new Sites content on a computer using Chrome or the
Mozilla Firefox browser.
Index:

1. How to create your site

2. Update and personalize your site
3. Share and collaborate on Sites
4. Preview and publish your site

1
How to create your site
Let’s begin by creating and naming your site.
In this section, you learn how to:

1.1 Create your site

1.2 Name your site
1.3 Select a background image, header type, and theme
1.4 Add, reorder, and nest pages
1.5 Set up site navigation
 1.1
Create your site
Choose an option:

• From the Sites homepage, click Create new site.

• From Google Drive, click New > More > Google Sites.
Note: All Sites files are stored in Drive.

1.2
Name your site
When you create a new site, a file is added to Drive, just like other Drive files. Sites
automatically saves every change you make, but your site isn’t public until you publish it.
Name different parts of your site:
1. Site document name—Enter a unique name to keep track of your site. The site
document name is only visible to you.
2. Site name—The site name appears in the header and in the web or mobile window title
bar after you publish the site. You need to have 2 or more pages in your website for
your site name to appear.
3. Page title—Each page in your site has a title, which appears at the top of the page. The
page title also appears in the navigation menu.
 1.3
Select a background image, header type, and theme
Choose a look for your site. Each theme comes with a preset background, color scheme, and
font selection. You can adjust fonts, colors, and the background later, and you can always
change the theme after the site is created. If you need to make any changes, click Undo or , or,
Redo .

1. Change the background image:

a. Go to Sites and open your site.
b. Hover over the background image and click
Change image.
c. Select an image from the Gallery or choose another image to upload.
d. Click Select.
e. (Optional) To go back to the original background image, click Reset.
2. Change the header type:
a. Hover over the background image and click Header type.
b. Choose an option:
• Large banner
• Banner
• Title only
3. Change the theme and font style:
a. In the top-right corner, click Themes.
b. Select a theme option and choose a color.
c. Click Font style and select a style.
 1.4
Add, reorder, and nest pages
Add pages for more content. Keep related information together by nesting pages. Nested pages
appear as a subtopic of another page.
1. Add pages:
a. In the top-right corner, click Pages > Add page.
b. Name the page and click Done.
2. Reorder or nest pages:
a. Click Pages.
b. Drag a page up or down in the list to reorder it.
c. Drag a page on top of another page to nest it.
d. (Optional) To un-nest a page, drag it to the bottom of the list.
Note: You can only nest a page five levels deep. You can’t nest the page that’s set as the
homepage.
3. Choose page options:
Under Pages, select a page and next to it, click More to:

• Set it as the homepage.

• Duplicate the page.
• Rename the page.
• Create a sub page.
• Remove the page from the site. You can’t remove the page that’s set as your homepage.
• Hide a page or subpage. You can’t hide the page that’s set as your homepage.
 1.5
Set up site navigation
Visitors to your site use the navigation menu to jump to different pages. By default, the
navigation menu is at the top of your site. In the top-right corner, click your homepage to see
the menu.
You can move the navigation menu to the left side if you want, but you need to have one or
more pages on your site to change where it appears.

Change where the navigation menu appears:

1. Hover over the site name and click Navigation Settings.
2. Choose where to place your navigation.
3. To see the menu on the left, click Menu.
4. (Optional) To move the pages in the navigation menu, see Add, reorder, and nest pages.
 2
Update and personalize your site
Next, let’s take a look at how to personalize your website with images and interactive content.
In this section, you learn how to:
2.1 Add content
2.2 Edit text and pages
2.3 Edit images
2.4 Add content from another website
2.5 Move and resize content

2.1
Add content
A. On the right, select the page that you want to add content to.
B. Click Insert. Or, double-click on the page where you want to add content.
C. Choose the content you want to add:
1. Text box—Add titles and text.
2. Embed URL—Add content directly from the web, such as music and videos.
3. Images—Add photos, designs, and other images.
4. Upload—Upload photos, videos, or other documents from your device.
5. Components—Add a (horizontal) divider line to your page.
6. Google Drive—Embed any file or the contents of a folder stored in Drive. If you
make changes to your files in Drive, the same changes automatically show in Sites.
7. Google Embeds—Add YouTube videos (such as product trailers or company ads),
calendars (such as team or event calendars), and maps (such as office locations,
event directions, or custom maps).
8. Google Docs—Add anything from Docs, Slides, Sheets, Forms, or Charts to your site.
Any content you change in the source file will automatically update on your site.
9. Double-click on the page to add content.
 2.2
Edit text and pages
To edit text or page titles, just click the box and enter new text. Or, from the toolbar above the
text box, select another option. Editing options:

Edit sections:
Hover over a section to change it.

• To change the background for each section: Click Style palette and select a style. You
can also select Image to add a background image.
• To move a section: When you insert new content, it’s added to a new or existing
section. To move that section up or down, click Move section and drag the section
where you want it.
• To duplicate a section: Click Duplicate section . You can also copy and paste a
section onto another page in your site.
• To add a footer: Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Add Footer. The footer
will appear on all of the pages in your site. Hover over the footer and click to edit it.
To hide the footer on a page, hover over it and click Hide footer on this page.
 2.3
Edit images
Resize an image:
Select the image and then drag the sides or corners of the image. Hold the Shift key while
dragging to keep the image ratio.
Move an image:
Drag the image to a different part of the section or to a new section. You can place the image
wherever you see a highlighted area.
Note: Currently, you can’t place an image in a text box.

Crop an image:

1. Select the image and then select Crop

2. Slide the dot to zoom in or out.
3. Drag the image to change the visible portion.
4. Click Done
5. (Optional) To uncrop an image, click Uncrop
Replace an image:

1. Select the image.

2. Click More > Replace image > Select image.
3. Choose a new image file and click
Add alt text to an image:
Alt text appears when someone hovers over an image on your site.

1. Select the image and click More > Add alt text.
2. Enter a description and click Apply.

Add a logo
Logos appear in the top navigation bar, next to the site name.

1. Hover over the top of the page header and click Add logo image.
2. Click Upload or Select images image.
3. Select the logo and click Open or
4. (Optional) To change the color of the page header, under Background, click the Down
arrow and select a color.
5. (Optional) To select a theme color based on your logo, in the Edit logo window, select a
theme color.

Note: Logo files can be in .jpg, .png, or .gif format. For best results, the logo height should be at
least 112 px.
 2.4
Add content from another website
You can embed:

• Websites
• Web apps using Google Apps Script or App Maker
• Google Data Studio reports
Depending on what website you add, you might be able to customize how the site appears on
your site. Some allow a preview option or an option to see dynamically updated content. After
you add content, you might need to sign in again to see the update.

Add content from another website:

1. Open your site and on the right, click Insert > Embed URL.
2. Enter or paste the URL you want to embed.
3. Select Whole page or Preview and click Insert.
Note: If you can't add or preview content, contact the website's owner.
 2.5
Move and resize content
Anything you insert is added as a content “tile” on the canvas grid. Tiles snap to the grid so it’s
easy to move, align, and edit them.
Move site content:

1. Hover over the content you want to move until you see Move .
2. Drag the content to a highlighted area.
Resize site content:

1. Select the content you want to resize.

2. Drag the blue circles to resize.
Group and ungroup objects:
You can connect text boxes and images together in a vertical group.

1. Add a photo and a text box to your site page.

2. Drag the text box to the top or bottom half of the object until a blue line appears.
3. To ungroup text boxes and images, click the group you want to separate.
4. Click the object you want to remove from the group, and drag the object away from the
group.
5. To change the order of grouped objects, click the group you want to change.
6. Click the object you want to rearrange and on your keyboard, tap the Up or Down key.
 3
Share and collaborate
Now that you’ve customized your site, share it with people in your organization to collaborate
on the content. In this section, you learn how to:
3.1 Share and collaborate on Sites

Share and collaborate on Sites

1. Choose an option:
• To share a site from Sites, click Add editors
• To share a site from Drive, in Drive, select the site file and click Share
2. Choose people to share your site with:
• To set permissions across your organization: Under Who can edit, click Change,
select a sharing option, and click You can then copy and paste a link to
the site into an email or chat message.
• To set permissions for individual people: In the Invite people box, enter the
names or email addresses of people in your organization you want to share your
site with then, click
3. Change people’s permissions:
• To give permissions, click the Down arrow next to the person’s name and
select a permission level.
• To remove permissions, click the Down arrow next to the person’s name, and
click Remove X.
4. (Optional) To restrict editors from publishing, changing site access, or adding new
people, click the box next to Prevent editors from changing access and adding new
people.
• Click
Note: After you publish a site, you can share it by clicking Copy link and
then paste the link to someone in a chat or email message.
 4
Preview and publish your site
You can preview a new site before you publish. When you’re ready, you can publish it only to
your organization or to the world.
In this section, you learn how to:

4.1 Preview your site

4.2 Publish your site for the first time
4.3 Change your site’s URL
4.4 Unpublish your site

4.1
Preview your site
If you’re viewing a site on a mobile device, the content automatically adjusts to fit the screen.
You can preview how your site appears on different devices.

1. Click Preview.
2. To see how your site looks on different devices, choose an option:
• Phone
• Tablet
• Large screen
3. Click X close to exit the preview screen.
 4.2
Publish your site for the first time
When you publish your site for the first time, add a site name to complete the site URL. You can
only use letters, numbers, and dashes in the site name. The beginning of the URL includes your
organization’s domain and can’t be changed.

1. Click
2. Add a name to the end of the URL. Certain terms, such as support and admin, can’t be
used.
3. Under Who can visit my site, choose who can see your site:
• Anyone in your domain
• Anyone on the web
4. (Optional) If you choose Anyone on the web and you don’t want your site available in
public searches, check the Request public search engines to not display my site box.
Note: This doesn’t guarantee that your site won’t show in public search engines. It only
requests that search engines do not automatically index it.

5. Click Visit your site's URL to confirm that your site published correctly.

Change who can see your published site:

1. Next click the Down arrow > Publish settings.
2. Under Who can visit my site, choose who can see your site:
• Anyone in your domain
• Anyone on the web
3. Click
Note: You can continue to edit your site after you publish it. However, you need to republish
the site to see any new changes.

Search in a site:
When a Google Site has more than one published page, you can search for what you want to
find on the published version.

1. Go to a Google Site website and at the top right, click Search

2. Type your search and tap Enter on your keyboard.
 4.3
Change your site’s URL
You can change your site’s URL anytime. However, if you do, bookmarks to the old URL will no
longer work.

1. Next to click the Down arrow > Publish settings.

2. Enter a new URL.
3. Click
 4.4
Unpublish your site
If you no longer want your site to be available online, you can unpublish it. You can still access
and update your site content. You can also republish the site using the same URL or a different
URL at any time. If people try to visit your unpublished site, they’ll see an error message.

Unpublish your site:

Next to click the Down arrow > Unpublish.