Google Apps: The Missing Manual

By Nancy Conner
May 2008
Pages: 740
Series: The Missing Manuals
ISBN 10: 0-596-51579-0 | ISBN 13: 9780596515799
Press Release
(4) (Average of 2 Customer Reviews)

Description

This comprehensive and easy-to-follow new book teaches you how to use the new web-based applications from Google that are providing a viable alternative to Microsoft Office for many businesses. While Google's office suite shows a lot of promise, navigating what you can and can't do and -- more importantly -- understanding how to do it isn't always easy. With this book, you can get the most out of Google's web-based business suite.
Full Description

Among its many amazing applications, Google now has web-based alternatives to many of the applications in Microsoft Office. This comprehensive and easy-to-follow new book enables you to explore Google's new office applications in detail. Once you do, you'll be in good company -- more than 100,000 small businesses and some corporations are already looking to take advantage of these free Google offerings.

Google Apps: The Missing Manual teaches you how to use three relatively new applications from Google: "Docs and Spreadsheets", which provide many of the same core tools that you find in Word and Excel; and Google Calendar and Gmail, the applications that offer an alternative to Outlook. This book demonstrates how these applications together can ease your ability to collaborate with others, and allow you access to your documents, mail and appointments from any computer at any location.

Of course, as remarkable as these applications are, Google's office suite is definitely a work-in-progress. Navigating what you can and can't do and -- more importantly -- understanding how to do it isn't always easy. And good luck finding enough help online. Google Apps: The Missing Manual is the one book you need to get the most out of this increasingly useful part of the Google empire. This book:

Explains how to create, save and share each of Google's web-based office applications
Offers separate sections for Docs and Spreadsheets, Google Calendar, and Gmail
Demonstrates how to use these applications in conjunction with one another
Gives you crystal-clear and jargon-free explanations that will satisfy users of all technical levels

Many of you already use Gmail, but do you know its full potential? Do you know how you can increase its power by using Gmail with Doc and Spreadsheets and Google Calendar? You'll find out with Google Apps: The Missing Manual. You'll also come to understand why large corporations such as General Electric and Proctor & Gamble are taking a long, hard look at these applications.

Featured customer reviews

A look into the nooks and crannies of Google Apps, February 17 2009

Rating:

Submitted by Allen Stenger [Respond | View]

This is a good overview of a number of useful free web-based applications put out by Google. It is especially helpful for alerting you to some non-obvious features of the apps. Google Apps are an exciting development not only because they are a free way to perform most common computer tasks, but because they permit a high degree of collaborative work. They are also pleasing to those of us who prize simplicity in computing (I like the phrase "hyperlink carnival" used on p. 411 to describe the typical dotcom home page, contrasted to Google's simplicity).

A book about Google Apps is bound to be awkward, because they are not a single subject and are aimed at several different audiences. In general this book assumes the reader is already familiar with the type of application being discussed, and just needs to learn how to use the Google version. In particular the presentation focuses on individual features and doesn't say much about workflow. For example, although Google's spreadsheets are simple, and well-described here, I don't believe anyone who was unfamiliar with spreadsheets would be able to figure out how to use Google Doc Spreadsheets from this book.

The section on Google Docs (word processing, spreadsheet, slideshows) goes fairly quickly through the available editing functions. It goes into more detail on the collaboration functions (since documents are stored on the web, you can collaborate with anyone else who can get on Google), version history, and reconciling online and offline edits. This section of the book works well.

The section on Communications (email, talk, calendar) really does start at the beginning and assumes you've never done this before. This also works well, although it is a little overwhelming for Gmail because there are so many features.

The web design section is confusing, not least because it combines two very dissimilar apps without telling you what they are for, or what the difference is. iGoogle, which has a very complex discussion, merely creates a custom start page. Page Creator, although it does create pages, is in fact a complete web publishing system, but you don't find this out until late in the chapter (Google lets you have a limited amount of web space and bandwidth for free on googlepages.com). These two chapters are basically OK, but they need more extensive introductions to orient the reader.

The last section deals with Google Apps for organizations. Google offers an enterprise-level version of the same apps discussed earlier in the book. These are basically the same as the individual versions, but they provide a way to control the sharing and customization for the whole enterprise. This section of the book deals with the system administrator's job in managing all this. The book admits on p. 482 that the remainder of the book is "aimed at techie types". It assumes the reader is already administering the enterprise's computers, and describes all the admin steps for Google apps. These chapters look plausible to me, but I don't know enough about that kind of operation to evaluate them in depth.

Many Useful Apps, September 10 2008

Rating:

Submitted by Irv Haas [Respond | View]

At our June meeting, Bob Van Lier’s topic was a demo of Google Apps. Little did he know that O’Reilly would be publishing a book in a few months on this very topic! Nancy Conner describes many of these apps (applications to the unfamiliar) in Google Apps: The Missing Manual ($39.99, O’Reilly, May, 2008, 711 pp.).

For many of us, Google is our favorite browser. It’s easy to navigate and search for topics. But for many others, Google offers many free apps to make our lives easier. Most of these are unfamiliar to the uninitiated. But Conner offers an inside look into many of these and how they can enrich our lives (and our pocketbooks!).

One of the most popular programs, for example, is Gmail (for Google, of course!). This is a free mail program that is extremely user friendly. Want to quickly create word processing files, spreadsheets and slideshow presentations? No, you don’t need to run out and buy Microsoft® Office for several hundred dollars. Just use Google apps and break free of Office.

Typical Apps

Here is just a sampling of Google apps that can work for you:

Google Docs – Word processing
Google Docs Spreadsheets - Spreadsheets
Google Docs Presentations – Presentations
Gmail – Mail app
Google Talk – Chat program
Google Calendar – Calendar (Look out iCal!)
iGoogle – Organize your Google apps on your own web page

What do all these programs have in common (besides being from Google) ? They all are web-based apps. In Conner’s easy to understand description:

“Simply put, they’re programs you access over the Internet. You point your Web browser to the place where the application lives online, and then work with it in the same way you’d work with program that lives on your computer.” How hard is that to understand?

She goes on to explain that Google’s online offerings can be fired up by your Web browser. Just point it to http://docs.google.com and sign up for a free account. It’s really that easy. This book, of course, will help you through the rough spots.

Web Based Apps

Why be Web-based? Conner has several reasons:

• Portability – You can use the app on any computer, not just your own
Mobility – Easy to use with mobile devices
• Collaboration Simple to share with other users
• Integration – Communicate with other apps such as Office
• Updates and bug fixes – No more updates since the version you’re on is the latest

Gadgets

One of the most unique Google apps is Gadgets. According to Conner, gadgets are “a mini-program that displays information and interacts with you.” Since they are small in size, they are easily configurable.

Conner shows you how to add them to your Web page and tweak them to your liking.

Although the price of the book is $39.99, ApplePickers members can get up to a 35% discount by using discount code DSUG when ordering directly from O’Reilly.
Ordering one book will get you 30% off, buy 2 or more will get you 35% off and any order over $29.99 will qualify for free shipping.

Conclusion

Although this book is not for everyone, users who want to actively take advantage of Google’s many apps will find this book immensely helpful. Where else would you learn how to create a wiki?

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Media reviews
"One of the beauties of the Missing Manuals is that there is always something new to discover and the research is quite thorough...I kept finding snippets of information, in the way of Tips or Notes, that would give just that bit extra."
-- Graham K. Rogers, Bangkok Post

"I have reviewed quite a number of Missing Manual books and I am always impressed with them. David Pogue is a Mac master and the depth of his knowledge shines through."
-- Roger Bernau, ACT Apple User Group Incorporated

"It was inevitable. Google's applications are so widely used that it was certain that there would be a "Missing Manuals" book about them sooner or later. Nancy Conner's contribution to the MM series shows just how powerful Google Apps can be, and how businesses as well as individuals can get the most out of everything that Google has developed."
-- Warren Kelly, Blogcritics Magazine

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"One of the beauties of the Missing Manuals is that there is always something new to discover and the research is quite thorough...I kept finding snippets of information, in the way of Tips or Notes, that would give just that bit extra."
--Graham K. Rogers, Bangkok Post