Double-clicking the tray icon opens the InSync folder. If you have multiple Google accounts connected to the InSync profile, you will find a folder for each of them within the InSync folder. Each of the folders will have the name similar to that of the Google account you had connected. Open each folder and browse the files/folders within them. You can upload new documents, pictures, video clips and files of any type to the folder which will be auto-synced to the respective Google account once the computer is connected to the Internet. You can also edit existing documents and once you save the changes, it will get auto-updated on your Google Docs account.

Now the debate burns down to why should we prefer Google Docs storage with InSync and not the already popular and feature full Dropbox? The plain and simple answer is in the post header itself. The former is a cheaper option, to be precise, 8 times cheaper. Now, money doesn’t matter always, buyers are always looking for better products even though they put a hole in their pockets. Here are a few reasons I think the InSync way is way better than Dropbox.

Why InSync is Better than Dropbox

1. The Dropbox client only allows you to connect to one Dropbox account at one time and we have to use a hack to connect to multiple accounts. With InSync, you can add multiple Google accounts and thus a large amount of storage space can be monitored from a single tool.

2. If you are someone who wish to pay for cloud storage, Google Docs storage is a better choice since the price is cheaper and affordable than Dropbox.

3. The file size limit is another thing to consider. Dropbox desktop client lets you add files of reasonably high file size, however, the web interface adds a limit of 300MB. Google Docs lets you add files with filesize as high as 10GB which is quite high even if the Blu-ray movies are to be considered.

4. Individual file sharing is not allowed in Dropbox. Only folder sharing is available. InSync lets you share a single file and a folder as well.

The obvious reason that Dropbox still has an upper hand on Google Docs is the free storage it offers is more than the latter. Well news doing the rounds that the internet giant soon entering the cloud storage market suggests that the free storage is going to change. With endless possibilities with Insync, I’ve already jumped on the Google Docs bandwagon. What are your plans?

Related Posts:

• Busy Docs Syncs Local Documents With Google Docs
• A Comparison Guide Of The Various Cloud Storage Services
• Google Docs Tips For Beginners
• Wuala: An Alternative To Dropbox With Security In Mind

Installation

If you are using 32-bit Linux, all you have to do is to download the tar file (from here) and extract it to your Home folder. After the extraction, simply double-click on the “SuperFlexibleSynchronizer” file to run it.

If you are using 64-bit Linux, you will have to install the 32-bit libraries before you can use it:

sudo apt-get install ia32-libs

This is how it looks when you first run it.

Usage

To configure it, click on the “Advanced Mode” link at the top right corner. This is what you will see. Click on the first button (the + icon) to setup a profile.

1. Give a name to this new profile.

2. At the next section, there are two input fields – 1 on the left and 1 on the right. The left is where you select the directory to backup and the right is the backup destination. For file restoration, select the “right to left” option. For the backup destination, you can select a local folder, an external hard drive, or a network drive. The “Internet” option allows you to setup cloud storage, such as FTP, WebDav, Amazon S3 and Google Docs. Note that to upload files of any type to Google Docs, you will need a premium Google App account. For basic and personal account, you can only upload documents that can be converted to files in Google Docs (such as Words, Excel spreadsheet, Powerpoint presentations etc).

3. At the “Sync Operation Mode” section, you configure whether it should just backup the source directory, or perform a synchronization. The “Standard Copying” and “Move Files to Destination” serve the same purpose, except that the latter will delete all files in the source folder. The “Smart Tracking” option refer to a 2 ways synchronization between the source and destination folders.

4. Once you have setup your backup source and destination location, you can continue to schedule a time to run this profile. Additionally, you can configure more advanced settings like version control, zip archive your backups, number of retries and so on.

5. Lastly, click the “Save as” button to save the profile.

Back to the main window, you can now press the “Play” button to run the profile.

More Configuration Options

There are tons of things that Super Flexible File Synchronizer can do than just simple backup. You can setup a password protection so only you can access the backup settings or set it to send you an email when the task is completed. It also comes with a version controlling system so you can restore to files that you have amended or deleted accidentally. What I love is the scheduling tool that allows you to control the particular timing (down to the seconds) to run the profile, not to mention that you can setup multiple profiles for different backup jobs. You just need to set it up once and it will automate the backup process. Cool.

Conclusion

The Windows and Mac version are available for US$59.90, so the free Linux version is definitely a steal. I am not sure if it will be free forever, so grab it while it is still available.

SuperFlexible File Synchronizer

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Like many Google applications, Google Docs has been doing some testing behind the scenes. Being able to use and manage your documents well can save lots of time. Here are a few tips to help you be more versed with Google Docs.

Starting from scratch

If you are just starting with Google Docs, here are a few things you will want to start with. Note there are features you can add via web apps and extensions if you are using Google Chrome browser. The newest is offline support.

Collections

These are folders where you can organize your documents. I cannot stress enough how much easier it is to organize from the start. If you need to go back and sort through all of your documents and files, it will be a daunting task.

To create a collection, click on the Create button in the top left of the Google Docs homepage. In the drop down, you should see Collection as an option. Name the collection and you are ready to go.

By default, you will be taken into the new collection. If you want a sub-folder, this is a good time to make one. If you need to add a sub-folder, you can always do it later.

Importing

To move your current documents to the Google cloud, there are a couple of methods. If you have a lot of them to import to the cloud, you may want to consider an application like Gladinet. What Gladinet can do for you is upload all of the files from a certain folder or set of folders. You will need to sort them after they are all uploaded.

The other option is to upload them individually or by the folder. If you choose this method, you can import the files into collections you have already created.

Spreadsheets

If you are an Excel user, this may be slightly different for you. However, many of the same features and settings will be in Google Docs. If you are a hard-core Excel user, you may not have everything you need. Also look at used for Google Forms. These export to a spreadsheet and stored in Google Docs.

Keyboard shortcuts

These are a few of the many keyboard shortcuts when you are using spreadsheets.

• Show all formulas  Ctrl + ~
• Make a copy  Ctrl + Up arrow + S
• Add new sheet  Up arrow + F11
• Select column  Up arrow + Space
• Select row  Ctrl + Up arrow + Space
• Strikethrough  Alt + Up arrow + 5
• Redo  Ctrl + Y
• Move to next sheet  Ctrl + Up arrow + PageDown

Conclusion

Google Docs is a fantastic replacement for most desktop If you an everyday user, you will do great. It is an easy transition from Microsoft Office. Having the flexibility to access your documents from anywhere with an internet connection including your phone, outweighs the small features that are lost.

What did you find useful when you first switched to Google Docs?

Image credit: Kinologik

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Regardless is cloud or local storage, as long as the file is important to you, you know that it is necessary to create a backup of it. We have covered many local backup solution. Today, we are going to show you how to back up your Google Docs.

1. Login to your Google Documents.

2. You should see a check box next to the Actions menu icon. Check this box to select all the documents in your Google Docs. You can deselect as many as you want if you do not need older items. If you only want to back up a small list of selected items, you can choose to check only those documents manually. It will be faster than de-selecting the things that you don’t need.

Once you have made your selections, click the Action menu and choose the “Download” option.

3. Now, it is going to ask you what format you want to save your files in. Select the file type for each type of document with the pull down box on the right.

For Mac users, if you have Office for Mac, you can go ahead and save in Office, the default choice. Since iWork is compatible with office, you can also use this format for the native suite. If you are planning to save this file for later storage on a flash drive, and you plan on using it on multiple devices, you may want to consider saving the files as HTML. HTML files are usually lean and allow you access to the text without a lot of memory killing frills.

4. Lastly, click the Download button. Your files will be zipped and the download will start automatically. Make sure the radio button next to Save is selected and click on OK. You may want to take note of the file name so that you can do a simple spotlight search to find the file later on. This will begin your download. This can take some time depending on the number of files you have.

There you have it, a backup that you can use on your local machine as well as store it for future use.

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However, to create a presentation, you need some sort of software. Or do you?

If you are going to create a presentation slide deck, you would likely think of PowerPoint. But what if you do not want to pay for the full version use it more than the trial period allows.

Keep in mind that when you are using one of the options below, you will be somewhat limited. If you are looking to make something super fancy, you may want to look into Keynote (Mac) or PowerPoint.

Some common features all of the below will have are:

• Downloading as .pptx (PowerPoint) file
• Save to PDF
• Print slide deck
• some sort of collaboration

Web-Based options

1. Google Docs

In Google Docs, there is a presentation option. Like the other Google applications, you can collaborate with other people on one presentation. These same people can view a live version of the presentation. This may come in handy if you are rehearsing for a presentation with a partner who is in a different area of the building, or even the world.

If you want to put the presentation onto your web page, you have the option to get the code to do just that. If you update the presentation, the embedded version will automatically update.

2. Microsoft Live

A while ago we talked about how Hotmail added a lot of cool features. One of these features is a cloud based Office suite. A simple version of PowerPoint is usable to anyone with a Hotmail or Live account.

It works in much the same way as Google Docs does. Everything is stored in the clouds on your SkyDrive. You can share and view the presentation with other Live account holders.

Aside from being able to download the presentation as a .pptx file, you can smoothly transition from the cloud to your desktop. You are given a choice to edit in your browser or open with PowerPoint (assuming you have it installed).

3. Zoho

Show is Zoho’s online presentation application. I was pretty surprised at how many features Show has over Google Docs and the cloud version of Office. You can embed and print the presentation just like the others too.

One feature of Zoho Shows is the ability to add transitions. Not just one or two transitions, but over 30 different transitions.

The other feature that stood out as being very different than the other two, is to play the presentation remotely to anyone. Email them a link, no need to sign into Zoho or create any accounts. This is handy for simple webinars or trial runs of an actual presentation.

Google Chrome Web Apps

The next two options are applications you can add to your Google Chrome browser.

4. 280 Slides

280 Slides has a very Mac-like feel to it. It doesn’t have the same drag and drop abilities like Keynote does, but the clean and minimalistic feel.

You can upload your completed work to your SlideShare account if you have one. Other ways of sharing are embedding a copy of your presentation into a sales page or blog post. If you would prefer, you can link to the presentation in an email or instant message.

You can work on and export your presentation with no account. But if you want to save a copy online, you will need an account which is free. If you don’t want yet another account, you can download the file and import it next time you want to work on it.

5. Slide rocket

Sliderocket is a pretty cool little web app. You can do the same basics as all of the others, but the unique features set it apart.

The share option is simple. You can embed or send a link. Sliderocket lets you customize your link. This means the presentations will be easier to determine which presentation is which when you only have the link in front of you.

Of the two web apps, this is the one you will want to use if you need transitions when you change from slide to slide.

You also have access to a few plug-ins. These plug-ins add some cool functionality I didn’t see with the others. The Twitter plug-in will let you place a live Twitter feed in your presentation. The Quote plug-in will help you find and display the perfect quote to fit the mood of your presentation.

While there are some limitations to each of these options, they are a great way for the occasional user to create a brilliant looking, easily sharable presentation.

image indieridley.i.ph

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What’s new

The overall feel of Gladinet has changed – it is a lot easier to navigate through now. There is now a desktop console for you to manage everything. The shiny new interface takes the place of using Windows Explorer to navigate through your documents.

I like the addition of the tabs at the top of the desktop application window. Coupled with the onscreen instructions, the setup for everything went a lot smoother than with the previous version.

There are 3 main sections: Cloud Storage Drive, Cloud Sync Folder and Cloud Backup.

Cloud Storage Drive

When you connect Gladinet with the various cloud services (Amazon S3, Skydrive, Box.net, Google Docs and many more), it will mount the cloud storage as a network drive in your system. You can then drag and drop files to the cloud storage just like how you do it in local drive.

Cloud Backups

With Gladinet 3.0 Desktop, you can easily schedule backups. There is an easy to follow backup wizard that walks you through the steps. What’s nice about the setup wizard is there are a few easy steps and not a lot of choices in the drop downs, making it a fast process to create several custom backups.

You have a mirrored backup option. This acts in much the same way as if you use Mozy or Dropbox. When you save a copy of a file, the file is replaced with the new version. This means, no matter where you access the file from, you will see the most recent version.

What is nice about these backups is you have a choice of how you choose what you want to back up. You can either choose a folder to backup or you can choose a particular file type (like pictures or documents). Within the segment of pictures, you can choose the file types you want Gladinet to scan for (e.g. jpg, bmp, png…)

There is also a Snapshot backup (requires additional Cloud Backup license) that can run scheduled backup and create multiple snapshots with version control.

Cloud Sync

A Cloud Sync Folder allows you to automatically sync files across multiple computers. This is a great replacement for your “My Documents” folder.

Files placed in the designated folder are synchronized to your other computers you use with the same Cloud Sync folders enabled.

Free Giveaway

Thanks to Gladinet, we have 5 copies of Gladinet Cloud Desktop to give away to our readers, and that is all of you. To participate:

Step 1

Be our Facebook fan or follow us in Twitter :

(If you have already done this, skip to step 2)

STEP 2

Fill up the form below. This is to make sure that we can contact you when you win the license. We promise that we won’t spam you.

Update: This giveaway contest has ended.

STEP 3
Share this post either in Facebook or Twitter, or leave a comment below.

This giveaway begins now and ends Wednesday, 2nd Mar at 2359hrs Eastern Time. The winners will be selected at random and announced via email.

Share and enjoy!

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Busy Docs is a service that makes the move easier. Allowing you to edit documents locally and have the sync with your cloud storage will help ease your mind and still allow you to edit and house local copies.

Where to start

After you have downloaded Busy Docs and run the installer, you will be asked to select the Google or Google Apps account you would like to sync with. You must be logged into your Google account to have it show up here. Once you grant access, you are able to start syncing.

Initial sync

The initial sync can take a while if you have a tremendous number of documents to upload. I selected a folder with a small number of documents for this demonstration.

If you store all of your documents in your “My Documents” folder, you can simply select that folder to sync. It will go through your folder and catalog all of the documents.

Busy Docs is not a direct sync initially with Google Docs. Your documents will sync to the Busy Docs servers. If you have a document in your My documents folder and want revisions to be stored in your Google Docs space, you need to drag the file into the Google Docs section of the sidebar. From this point on, it should be in sync with the desktop version.

Search for docs

This is part of what makes Busy Docs so great. Being able to search for and easily find a document over both Google Docs, hard drive and your local network. The web application’s layout is really easy to use. Everything you will need is easily visible on all of the screens.

You have a search bar at the top center of the screen. All of your folders are accessible in the left sidebar.

Drag and Drop ease of use

All of your documents on Busy Docs can be moved by dragging and dropping it where you want it. If you want a document synced to your Google Docs, simply drag it to the Google Docs section of the sidebar. If you have a Google Doc you want to edit locally, drag it to one of the folders or sub-folders you are syncing from your network or hard drive.

Label Documents

Labeling your documents will help keep everything more organized and easier to find later on. When you drag a document from your desktop to Google Docs, it will automatically be labeled GD. If you choose to label your them differently, you will need to add a label manually.

How Busy Docs stacks up

The web interface is really easy to use compared to some other services. However, the syncing isn’t very fast. Even when you manually initiate a sync, it still takes a while.

I started a document in OpenOffice and saved it as a Word file (.doc). When I uploaded it and moved it over to Google Docs, it changed some of the formatting.

I think there are some bugs still, but works well for an individual. I would keep it on my radar, but currently it doesn’t seem ready for large-scale use.

What are some of your tips for syncing local documents with Google Docs?

Busy Docs

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Another great feature of Google Docs is the collaboration feature which allows you to invite multiple people to view or edit your documents. If you have a team or a small group of people and want to collaborate on a document, presentation – Google Docs is the easiest and most versatile tool to choose from.

But not many people know that Google Docs makes it very easy to create and collaborate on a drawing or diagram. This has several advantages:

1. You can invite a group of people to view your drawings and share ideas which can not be represented on a word document or a PowerPoint presentation.

2. You can collaborate with multiple people and create flow charts or network diagrams, this is again very useful when you want to decide the work order of your next project, the roles of different team members and so on.

In this article we will learn how you can create a drawing or graphical representation using Google Docs and collaborate with multiple people on the same drawing.

The Basics of Google Drawings

To use the drawing feature in Google Docs, go to docs.google.com and sign in with your Google account. Next, click the “Create New” dropdown menu and choose “Create a Drawing” as shown below:

This will open a blank canvas page in a new browser tab where you can start adding objects, text items and create the drawing as you want. Here is how the canvas page looks:

Using Templates: In case you want to use ready made templates for your drawing, you can choose the option “Create from Template”.

The Google Docs template gallery contains a wide range of user submitted templates, so it would be better to search for a template and see whether a design matches with your requirements.

There are a whole bunch of templates out there – from UML diagrams to flow charts, from Network diagrams to sequences. If you are unable to find a suitable template for your drawing, create one from scratch.

In the canvas page – you will see a small toolbar with different buttons. The toolbar consists of the following main buttons:

• The Select tool:  Allows you to select an item e.g image or shape.
• The Text Box tool: Allows you to add textual content to your drawing.
• The Zoom tool: Allows you to zoom within the canvas.
• The line tool: Allows you to create a simple line.

To use a tool,simply click the corresponding button from the toolbar and add the items to the drawing canvas. There are other buttons too, their usage is discussed in the following section.

Add Different Shapes in Your Google Docs Drawing

To add different shapes in your drawing, click the “Insert” button from the menu and hover your mouse cursor on the last option called “Shape”. You will now see more options ( just like Microsoft Word) – just select a shape and drag the cursor in the canvas to insert the shape in your drawing.

Once the shape is in place, you can select it using the select tool and resize it by dragging the cursor at any corner of the shape. As soon as you select the shape, you will notice new buttons on the toolbar, namely Fill color, Border Color, Border width and so on. You can use these buttons to customize the shape the way you want.

Add Images and Elements in Your Google Docs Drawing

To add an image in your drawing, click the small image icon and then choose the location of the image file. Here you have three options:

• Choose an image from your computer.
• Choose an image from a public URL.
• Choose an image from Google image search.

Similarly, you can select other options in the insert menu to add different elements in your drawing. This includes adding rectangles, polygons, arcs, curve or an arrow.

Invite Other people to View or Collaborate on Your Drawing

This is the most interesting part. When you want multiple people to edit the same drawing, click the “Share” button at the right top of the browser window and select “Email editors”.

Then enter the email address of the person in the next window and you are done. The editor will then be able to edit the drawing in the same way as you edit, both the people would be able to communicate through a chat window and share ideas, while adding elements to the drawing.

You can also use the other options to either Email the drawing as an attachment or publish it to the web for public viewing.

Finally – Download or Print the Drawing

When the drawing is complete, click File and select the “Download As” option to download the drawing in your computer. The available formats are JPEG, PNG, SVG and PDF.

You can also print a copy of the drawing on paper using the “print” option as shown above.

All in all, Google Docs Drawings is a really fun and useful tool to tinker with. It’s a great way to share ideas which can’t be penned on paper. College students and project members can use it for laying out ideas, determining a flow chart, planning, graphical representation and  so on.

Have you ever used a collaborative drawing tool? What do you recommend? Let’s hear your ideas in the comments.

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Google Docs

Since Microsoft Office 2003, add-ins have been a great way to extend the functionality of Ms Office. OffiSync is one such add-in that you can use to sync your Ms Office document to Google Docs.

After you have downloaded and installed OffiSync, you will find a new toolbar in the ribbon.

Features include Open/Save from/to Google Docs, import web content such as images and templates right from within MS Office, collaborate with others in real time, letting users see each other’s edits as they work with Office files and share their final documents with others inside or outside the firewall.

OffiSync works with Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and compatible with Ms Office, from 2003 to 2010.

Zoho

Zoho is another popular online office suite that people used for mass-editing and collaborating. To access Zoho from Ms Office, you can use the add-in developed by Zoho themselves.

Download and install Zoho Ms Office plugin

Similarly, after the installation, you will find a toolbar at your ribbon menu.

To initiate a upload to Zoho server, you will need to login to the Zoho account everytime you start Word/Excel.

One thing that bothers me is that to save to Zoho server, you need to save the document as a local copy on your desktop first.

Furthermore, it only supports doc and xls extension. So if your document is of the docx and xlsx format, Zoho upload won’t work.

Features of Zoho plugin

• Option to keep a local copy
• Switch between the local copy or the server copy
• Offline editing of documents/workbooks
• Allow other users to edit the document in Ms Office too

Unlike OffiSync, Zoho plugin only works with Ms Word and Excel. It does not work with Powerpoint.

Office Live

Office Live is Microsoft’s proprietary product, and is also a great competitor to Google Docs. Office Live is integrated with Skydrive, which means you get a whopping 25GB of storage space alongside the useful online office apps.

In Microsoft Office 2010 (I am not sure about previous version), it is deeply integrated with Skydrive so that you can quickly publish/sync your documents online.

To save to your Skydrive, go to File -> Save and Send -> Save for Web -> Save As.

From your Skydrive, you will be able to view your document in the browser. You can then select if you want to edit it in your Word/Excel/Power Point or in the browser.

Which online office app do you use to sync your Ms Office documents?

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• Present.me Lets You Offer Information with Engagement

Here’s how you can create a survey form using Google Docs and embed it to your site.

Login to your Google Docs account.

On the Dashboard, click on the Create new button and select Form.

Give a name for your form. This will be displayed as the header in the main survey page. Optionally, you can also give a description to let the users know what this form is about.

Enter your first question of the survey form and choose the input field type. It can be a text field, textbox, multiple choice, checkbox, scale, grid or a list of options. To make it a compulsory field, check the box beside “Make this a required question“.

To proceed on to add the next question, click the Add item button at the top. Similarly, you can choose from the various type of input field.

Keep adding items until you have completed setting up all the questions.

Decorating the Form

The default theme template used by the form is a plain design with no decorations at all. If you prefer a theme that is more visually pleasing, you can click on the Theme button to select from a variety of background theme. There are currently about 95 themes in the library, so you should have no problem getting one suitable for your site. At the moment, it does not allow you to create your own theme.

Confirmation

The last thing to do is to edit the confirmation message. This is what the users will see after they have finished and submitted the form.

Click the “More Actions” button and select Edit confirmation”

Enter the confirmation message in the textbox. You might also want to include a link to allow your users to return to the home page. The Publish response summary allows your users to see the answers they have submitted.

Previewing of form

Once you are done with the form, scroll down to the bottom of the page where you will see a preview link. Click on it to preview your form.

Making your form public

Ok. You are ready to publish your form. There are two ways to do it: Email the form or embed it to your site.

To email the form, simply click the Email this form button and you will be able to enter the recipient’s email address.

To embed the form, click the More Action button and select Embed. You will be presented with a iframe code to embed it to your site.

The iframe code is set to a default width of 760px. You might want to change it to a custom width to match your site width. In WordPress, you just have to switch your text editor to HTML mode and paste the code into your content. Publish the page and your form will appear on the front page of your blog.

To view the result of your form, you just have to click the See response button.

That’s it.

Image credit: alliancelibrarysystem

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So is Google Docs – one of the best online office applications available till date. Google docs lets you create documents, spreadsheets, presentations and drawings and stores them in your Google account, so that you can access the documents from any computer.

If you love using both the above services, why not use Harmony – a simple Outlook add-in to integrate both the services and manage Google docs documents from the desktop.

Manage Google Docs Documents from Microsoft Outlook

1. Download Harmony Add-in for Microsoft Outlook

2. After you have installed the application, start Microsoft Outlook and you will see a new sidebar has been added to the interface as shown below:

3. Enter your Google account credentials and hit the “Sign in”button. The application also works with Google Apps accounts, along with normal Gmail accounts.

4. Once you are logged in, you will see the entire list of documents stored in your Google account in the Outlook sidebar.

Editing Your Existing Google Documents from Microsoft Outlook

1. To edit a document, click the “Actions” button and select “Open” from the menu options.

2. This will open your Google docs account in the “browsing pane” of Microsoft Outlook. Sign in again with your Google account credentials

3. Once you are signed in, the selected document will load inside Microsoft Outlook’s browsing pane as shown below:

4. Now you can edit the document as you normally do inside Google docs. You can add images from your computer or from a web URL , add texts, paragraphs, create spreadsheets and possible do everything that you do inside Google docs while working from the browser. Once you are done editing the document, hit “Save and close” and the changes will be saved to the document.

Sharing a Google Docs Document from Outlook

If you frequently share documents with a group of people, this feature would be immensely helpful. To share a document, select the document from the harmony sidebar in Microsoft Outlook and click “Actions”.  From the options available, select “Share” as shown below:

This will open a pop up window. Enter the email address(s) of the people with whom you want to share your Google document.

As you can see, the add-in window shows live suggestions of email address from your Google account and thus it won’t be a problem if you do not remember the exact email address of collaborators or friends. Once you are done adding collaborators to your document, you can choose whether the person can edit the document or can only view it. You can set this role by clicking the “Role options” as shown below:

You can use the rename option to rename the document and the star option to mark the document as a starred item.

Creating a New Google Docs Document from Microsoft Outlook

Creating a new document is also easy, just click the “New” button and select the type of document you want to create.

If you want to upload an existing office document, click the “Upload” button and navigate to the document location in your computer. Once you have created the document, the application will open the Google docs editor in the browsing pane of Microsoft Outlook and then you can add and edit text as you normally do inside Google docs.

Conclusion

The Harmony add-in for Microsoft Outlook is a must have for web workers who use Outlook and always needed a way to edit, share and create Google docs documents from their email client. This is useful because you do not have to open a new browser window just for sharing or editing a Google docs document. Please note that unlike emails, you can not create or edit a Google docs document offline – you will need an active internet connection to fetch the documents in Microsoft Outlook. Overall, the application seamlessly integrates Google docs with Ms- outlook and there are no flaws or drawbacks found as such.

Do you use any tool to access Google docs documents from desktop? Do you use any other Outlook plugin to add to your daily productivity ? Please share your ideas and suggestions in the comments section.

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1. View .docx file in older Office version

Microsoft has released a compatibility package to run the newer documents file in older version of Office. Just download the Microsoft compatibility pack. After installing the compatibility pack you will be able to read the .docx files in your current installation of Microsoft Office.

2. Install OpenOffice

For those who are not using Windows as their main operating system Microsoft Office as their main office suite, they can install OpenOffice and get it to open .docx file.

If all you need is a lightweight solution, you can also install the OpenOffice.org Portable app onto your USB drive.

3. Using Google Docs

If you don’t want to install any software in your computer, then you can upload the .docx file to Google Docs. You can then use Google Docs to read, edit or print your documents. All the content of the document will be saved in your Google account.

4. Using ThinkFree

Other than Google Docs, ThinkFree is another online based word editor that allows you to view your .docx file. Open the the website and upload any office file. It will show you the document content. Generally Thinkfree does not require registration to view a document file, but if you want to edit that document or share in the internet, you will have to sign up for an account. One thing though, you can avoid the sign up process by logging into your Gmail account.

The first time you login with your Google account, you have to grant the permission to ThinkFree to access your Google account.

5. Convert the docx file to your preferred format

There is another hassle free method to view a .docx formatted document. You can use a converter to convert the .docx file. There are several online tools that you can use to convert a .docx file.

• Zamzar – It is a fast online tool and easy to use. Just sign in to Zamzar and start to convert your docx file in your preferred file format.
• Docx converter – With Docx converter, you can convert the docx file to many file formats such as doc, pdf etc. Docx converter also comes with a desktop widget to allow you to convert the files directly from your desktop. Download Desktop widget.

What other methods do you to use to view your .docx file?

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To solve this dilemma, a company called Gladinet came up with a way to back up and sync your Google Docs. If you want to compare it to other services, think of it like Dropbox or Mozy for your Google Docs.

Set up

Setting up Gladinet is pretty easy. Go to http://www.gladinet.com/p/download_starter_direct.htm and download the installer for your Windows computer. You can choose between 32 and 64 bit.

Gladinet is compatible with XP, Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 2003.

1. When you have the setup file downloaded, double click on it and the follow the steps.

2. Once the basic install is done, you have a few more steps. The first is to register with Gladinet. By registering, you get free tech support and updates.

3. Next comes a little configuring. All you will need to do for this part is select what you would like to back up. In this case, we are going to use standard Google Docs. As you can see, there are many other options to choose from. If you use any of the other services now or plan to in the future, you can always add them in later.

4. Once you you have selected the web service and clicked next, you are brought to a screen with some settings. If you would like to change the proxy settings, drive label letter (default is Z) or the name of the drive, do that now. Simply click [edit] or [change] next to the item you want to modify. Click Finish.

5. You will see something like this for the next page. Click on the top icon that says [Click to mount].

6. You should be whisked away to a log in screen. Put in your Google account email and password here. Click next.

7. During the sign in authentication process, a pop up will ask for the okay to download a Google Docs plug-in; Click ok and continue the setup.

8. When it is finished setting up, you will be presented with the option to back up other folders on your computer. If you want to go forward with this, do so now. If not, you can always go back to it later.

Congratulations, you have just set everything up and now you have a virtual back up of all of your Google Docs.

How to Access

Accessing your documents can be done in a few ways. If you installed a desktop or Start menu shortcut, you can click there to open a window. If you did not choose to install these shortcuts, you can access the drive in {My Computer] under the [Network Drives].

Another way to access the folder containing your virtual docs is to click on the icon in the task bar (assuming Gladinet is running).

Virtual Drive

The window you see when you click on the virtual drive icon looks similar to the one from earlier. However, this time you can click on the [Google Docs] folder.

When you do, you will see all of your folders and docs here. If you have an app like Word you will be able to view and edit the docs just like they were on your computer.

Backing Up

Making a back up is super easy. When you sign into your Google Docs account, you will notice a couple of new folders. These are your back up folders. To keep your documents backed up, drag them into the [Backup From] folder

To sync the virtual drive and Google Docs, right click on the icon in the task bar. Select [Backup My Files Online] then [Create Google Docs Backup Task]. Any files you have dragged into your back up folder in your Google Docs page will be backed up automatically.

Uploading

By dragging and dropping a document into the window, you will automatically upload it to your Google Docs account. What you will see is a FTP style window showing the progress of the upload.

To see if it worked, log into your Google Docs account and see the newest edition.

Overall this is a pretty great way to add an extra measure of security and convenience for those of us who use cloud based office suites and document storage.

How do you backup your cloud based documents?

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Slowly but surely Google has been adding a feature here and a feature there. Some have been bigger steps than others; all of them are chipping away at the reasons you need to buy an office suite. I’m not going to get on a soapbox and shout to the world. I will however, give you a few nifty tips to make using Google Docs spreadsheets a little easier.

1. Lookup

Much like other spreadsheet programs, Docs can do calculations and formulas. The question to ask is the other programs would be, “Do you have built in Google search?” No? Hmmm…. well anyway, here are a couple handy formulas to enter into the desired cell to utilize Google’s search. Make sure to keep the quotation marks surrounding the terms you are adding.

The values will automatically update as the information changes; imagine the possibilities.

=GoogleLookup(“entity”; “attribute”)

Replace entity with something like Ireland and attribute with population.

=GoogleFinance(“symbol”, “attribute”)

An example for this function would be:  =GoogleFinance(“AAPL”, “Price”) The result would end up being what ever the current stock price is.

=GoogleTranslate(“text”, “source language”,”target language”)

The translation function is really cool. It allows you to translate a word or a few sentences from English to Modern Greek or Chinese to Spanish. The most difficult part is having to use ISO 639-1 country abbreviations.

For easy access check out this list of all the functions available.

2. Google Doc Forms

A Google Docs Form is a very simple way to add a survey to an email or website. The basic idea behind these forms is to gather information and automatically aggregate the results into a spreadsheet. You also have the choice to get an email notification when someone completes the form or add a gadget to your iGoogle page to track all of your surveys.

Creating a form is really straightforward.

1. From the main Google Docs screen, choose New — Form

2. If you don’t like the plain blue and white color scheme, you can pick a new one by clicking Theme.

3. Click apply on the new theme to start editing.

4. From there, simply type in the question, choose the type of question you’d like it to be and if it is required to complete the survey.

5. If you click the Share button, there is an option to email the survey or even get the code to embed it into a web page on your site.

3. List View

List view is a fast loading version of a spreadsheet you can publish or embed to your website. The settings you determine in the Share menu will carry over to the spreadsheet you embed.

One of the coolest parts is the spreadsheet is auto-updating. If, for example, you have stock quotes or dollar amounts from a fundraiser; these will all be updated on the embeded version instantly.

If you are a Google Sites user, you can add a editable version of the spreadsheet onto the page by going to the Insert menu.

List view provides a few basic ways to modify data:

• edit cells
• add rows
• filter and sort data
• cells with formulas can’t be edited in this view

4. From Your Mobile

If you have an Android, iPod touch/iPhone or Nokia S60, you can access and manipulate your Google Doc spreadsheets. I was a little disappointed there isn’t a Blackberry or Windows Mobile access, but I’ll live.

• Create shortcuts to your spreadsheets on your home screen
• Edit cells
• Add data
• Sort columns to give you relevant data first

5. Styling

Even though it isn’t an option in a drop down menu, the forms can be modified. You do have over 70 themes available, but if that isn’t enough for you, here are a few tips to spice them up even more by Gill Smith.

What are your productivity tips for Google spreadsheets and forms?

image credit: TaopaiC

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