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CSM Google Apps for Education

Creating a site

 Sign in at sites.google.com  1. Click Create. 2. Select a template to use. If this is your first website, we recommend choosing a simple template; for example, the Classroom site template.

Alert: If you decide to change your site’s template later, all of your previous edits will be deleted. To save your content or photos you’ve uploaded from your original site, make a copy your site. In the top-right corner, click the gear icon , select Manage site, and click Copy this site.

  1. Name your site. Don’t worry, you can always change your site’s name later if you want to.
  2. Name and customize your site location (URL). All sites have the same basic URL but you can customize the last part:

    When you’re creating a custom URL, keep in mind:

    • https://sites.google.com/site/___
    • You can only use a-z, 0-9.
    • It can’t be the same as an existing URL or Gmail username (unless it's your own).
    • The entire URL can be up to 600 characters long.
  3. Choose a theme. A theme automatically creates a background image, font style, and font colors for your site. If you leave this blank, by default, your selected template will set this up for you. You can also change your theme or add to it after the site has been created.

  4. In the More options section, consider these optional features:
    • Site categories: Add one or more categories for your site separated by commas.
    • Site description: Add a short description for your site to help people find your page.
  5. At the top of the screen, click Create to create your website.

Now that you’ve created your site, you can start adding text, images, videos, and more.

Site Viewing

Site viewing and editing permissions

You can allow everyone or only specific people to your site. Here’s how:

  1. Sign in to sites.google.com.
  2. Go to your site at https://sites.google.com/site/______/.
  3. Click the  share button at the top right of your screen.
  4. Click Change... to choose a different type of site permission. Click Save when finished.
     
    Access options Description
    Public on the web Anyone who has the URL or website address can find and view your site. No sign-in required.
    Anyone with the link Anyone who has the link can access. No sign-in required.
    Shared privately Only people explicitly granted permission can access. Sign-in required.

     
  5. If you want to share your site with specific people or groups, enter their names or email addresses in the text box below "Invite people". Next to their name, you can choose an access level for these individuals. Once you have finished, click Share & Save.
     
    Access level Description
    Can view Only allows people to view the page but not make changes to it.
    Can edit Allows people to edit and make changes to site pages.
    Is owner This person can change anything on the site including the site’s themes, templates and permissions. Owners can also delete the site.

My Sites

If you own a site, or if you have explicitly been given access to edit a site, that site will show up in your My Sites page that appears when you sign in to sites.google.com. Sites will not show up on My Sites if you were given access through a group or other indirect ways.

 

Building the site

As the owner of the site, you can add or edit text, upload images or videos, add new pages, or change the site’s template or background theme.

Add text, photos and videos

  1. Sign in to sites.google.com.
  2. Go to your site's URL at https://sites.google.com/site/______/. If you don’t see the pencil icon at the top of the screen, click Sign In at the bottom of the page.
  3. Go to the page you want to update.
  4. Click the Edit page icon . For the actions below, follow the appropriate instructions.
     
    Action Instructions
    Edit text You can add or change text, text size, font, font style, color, make lists and other changes to text.
    Add an image Go to Insert > Image.
    Add a video Go to Insert > YouTube. Note: Your video must be uploaded through YouTube.
    Add a document, presentation, calendar, or spreadsheet Go to Insert > Drive and then choose the appropriate file type.
  5. Click Save.

Add a new page

You can add different kinds of pages to your site like a start page, announcement page, or a standard Web page.

  1. Sign in to sites.google.com.
  2. Go to your site's URL at https://sites.google.com/site/______/. If you don’t see the  pencil icon at the top of the screen, click Sign In at the bottom of the page.
  3. Click the  "new page" icon.
  4. Select the page type you want to add.

Manage your site’s settings

You can change your site’s name, web address, site theme or template, and manage permissions of who can view and edit your site.

  1. Sign in to sites.google.com.
  2. Go to your site's URL at https://sites.google.com/site/______/. If you don’t see the  pencil icon at the top of the screen, click Sign In at the bottom of the page.
  3. Click More > Manage Site.
  4. Make changes.
  5. Click Save.

Advance Site Tips

As your site evolves over time, you have lots of tools to change and update your site.

Change site layout

To change the layout of a page like moving the navigation panel or changing what links are called or adding or editing a footer, just follow these steps:

  1. Sign in to sites.google.com.
  2. Go to your site at https://sites.google.com/site/______/.
  3. Click More > Edit Site Layout.
  4. Click the buttons in the toolbar to make your changes. All changes are saved automatically.

Revision History

If you make changes to your site and later decide you want to go back to the old version, you can do it using revision history.

  1. Sign in to sites.google.com.
  2. Go to the page you want to revert.
  3. Click More > Revision History.
  4. From the list, select the version you want go back to and click Revert to this version.

Site visitor information

Want to know who has been visiting your site? You can add Google Analytics to your site and see:

  • How many people are visiting your site
  • How long visitors stay on a page
  • Where they are clicking most

Learn more about Google Analytics.

Add a “Recent Posts” section

If you have a lot of announcements on your pages, you may want to add a “Recent Posts” section to your site to make it easier for people to see the most recent announcements.

  1. Go to your site at https://sites.google.com/site/______/.
  2. Click the  pencil icon in the top right corner of the screen.
  3. Click Insert > Gadgets > Recent Posts