This blog post covers the basics of sharing of Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.
You can share a Google Doc (to include Docs, Sheets, and Slides) by right-clicking on the doc in your Google Drive and selecting "Share… Share…"
If you are viewing a doc, you can also click the blue "Share" button in the upper right:
Either method above makes the "Share with others" dialog box:
The simplest and most straightforward way to share the doc is to start typing the name of the person with which you want to share the doc. By default, the doc will be shared with an editing privilege, unless you want a different setting:
Commenting is a handy way to hold a discussion on a document, and viewing is for letting people see, but not edit or comment. Keep in mind that all three sharing privilege settings will allow the recipient to make a copy of the doc that they will own and have full editing rights.
Note the "Notify people via email" checkbox on the lower right is checked by default. That will general an email message to your recipient(s) with a link to the Google Doc you are sharing. If you uncheck that box, they will have to look in their "Shared with Me" section of their Google Drive.
Want to explore more options for sharing? Click the "Get shareable link" feature in the upper right of the "Share with others" and then the little disclosure triangle to the left of "Copy link:"
Click "More…" at the bottom for even more options. Explore what all of those options enable you to do in sharing Google Docs, and you will begin to wonder how you ever got by without these tools and techniques!
If you discover a useful feature or process, be sure to share it in the comments below.
If you haven't used Google Drive at all, or very much, do yourself a favor and get set up to use all of the doc sharing and editing features by configuring your Google Drive Upload Settings first.
When I mention the editing features of Google Docs, I realize that's one of those things that's easier to understand from practice, rather than reading. Let it suffice to say that, unless you are using more advanced features of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint), there is a strong chance you can do without those tools once and for all. I have had almost zero use in my personal and professional work for many years now.
So you want to learn how to upload a Word Doc (or, for that matter, an Excel or PowerPoint file) in your Google Drive? It's really easy. First, log into your Google Apps for Education account (that's your LBCC Gmail account). Next, look for the nine little squares (I call it the "Rubic's Cube) in the upper right, and then the "Drive" icon:
A new browser tab opens showing your Google Drive. If you see a prompt across the top of the page offering to "install" Google Drive onto your computer, you can close that out. You most likely won't need or want that, especially if you are working on a desktop machine that's always connected to the Internet.
Ready to upload your first Word Doc? Not so fast: it's probably a good idea to set up some basic folders first. Click the red "New" button in the upper left:
Go ahead and create a few folders, so you can start off being organized… or just jump right in like I did, and organize later.
Ready to upload your first Word Doc? Ok, click the red "New" button again, and then click "File Upload."
If you adjusted your Upload Settings (see the top of this post), your Word Doc will be uploaded, and converted to an editable Google Doc format on-the-fly. Double-click on the Doc to edit it, share it, publish it, etc. Welcome to a higher level of functionality in your document workflow!
