A Guide to Google Docs

Stumped with Google Docs? Apparently not everyone finds Google Docs as easy as its desktop equivalents. Luckily for them, Amit Agarwal made a Google Docs Guide. Call it a cheat sheet if you may. The guide is very in-depth; it includes links to Google Code articles, some Google Docs hacks, and it also suggests some software to use to enhance Google Docs further. Just a thought: you would definitely be a Google Docs expert after going through the list.

The guide gives some really useful tips. Some notable tips are:

Batch document upload to Google Docs:

Windows users can use List Uploader to bulk upload files to Google Docs via drag-n-drop if you like to upload your files en masse. For OS X users, they can go for GDocsUploader, a simple drag-n-drop uploader application. If applications aren’t your thing and you like Firefox add-ons, you can use GDocsBar.

Associating Office file extensions with Google Docs, so that desktop documents open directly iin the web browser:

Just install the Google Toolbar for Firefox and select the ‘Google Docs’ checkbox from Toolbar options. Office documents will open in your browser, bypassing your desktop application.

Making Office 2007 files compatible with Google Docs:

Google Docs does not yet support Office 2007 file extensions, so you need to convert them first with Zamzar and them upload them to Google Docs.

Adding watermarks (like PRIVATE, CONFIDENTIAL, etc.) to Google Docs Documents:

Simply editing the CSS of your document and adding an image with non-repeating background would be the solution.

Translating Google Docs documents to another language online:

Just publish the document as a public web page (read steps) and then go to the online Google Translate tool to translate this page into any other language you choose. Then just copy-paste the translated page into a new document, and turn off sharing for the original document. Easy as that!

Turning Google Docs into a distraction free writing tool just like Writeroom.

Going to Edit –> Document Styles and turning the background color to black, then changing the font foreground color to white or green and pressing Ctrl+Shift+F to enter Full Screen mode will ensure a productive, distraction-free writing experience for you. See a similar hack for Word.

Read the rest of the guide here.