Posts of Step-by-Step Guides

Google Sites - This Location is Already in Use

2011-06-14T03:02:51.401Z

Many users of Google Sites run into the all-too-common "This location is already in use by another service, please pick a different one" message when attempting to map their Google Sites website to their custom domain. In some cases, this error requires the assistance of the team at Google, but in most cases, it can be handled by the website administrator in very little time.

Contents

1 Why is the location already in use?
2 How to get rid of "Location already in use" for Google Apps users
1. 2.1 Mapped Sites for the domain:
2. 2.2 Custom URL's for Apps Services:
3 How to get rid of "Location already in use" for stand-alone (non-Google Apps) users
4 After removing any existing mappings, what's next?
5 What if I need help from Google (or a Google Sites TC)?

Why is the location already in use?

This error occurs simply because there should not be two identical web addresses/URLs on the internet. If Google allowed two sites to be mapped to the same location (www.example.com), how would they know which site to display?

One of the reasons this error is so common is that when a domain is purchased through Google, a Google Apps account is automatically created, and the "www" subdomain is mapped to a placeholder for a site that has not yet been created. For more details, see the Errors while mapping your site to a Google Apps domain article in the official Google Sites Help center.

How to get rid of "Location already in use" for Google Apps users

For users who have built their site as part of a Google Apps domain (or who have a Google Apps domain under the domain they are trying to map to their site), there are two primary locations to check for the root cause:

Mapped Sites for the domain:

http://www.google.com/a/example.com/SitesMappings
If the subdomain ("www", for example) exists under the list of existing mappings, check the box to the left and remove it by clicking the "Delete mapping(s)" button.

Custom URL's for Apps Services:

http://www.google.com/a/example.com/CustomUrl
If the subdomain ("www", for example) exists under the "Sites URL" heading (or any other section), it should be deleted or replaced. If replacing, "sites" would be a good alternative.

How to get rid of "Location already in use" for stand-alone (non-Google Apps) users

For users of the stand-alone version of Google Sites, the process is not quite as clear-cut as with Google Apps users. However, there are a few suggestions that may help in resolving this issue:

Was the subdomain previously mapped to a different Google Sites website? If so, does that site still exist, or has it been deleted? If deleted, was it deleted within the past 30 days? Can the site be recovered/accessed to remove the previous mapping?
Was the subdomain previously mapped to a blog on blogger.com? If so, does the blog still exist, or has it been deleted? Can the blog be accessed to remove the previous mapping
Has the subdomain been previously mapped to any other Google service (AdSense, etc)?

One other thing you can try is to register your domain (example.com) with the free version of Google Apps to try to "override" the domain mapping. This has been known to correct the "Location already in use..." issue in many extreme situations. The steps for this are as follows:

Register your domain (example.com) with the free version of Google Apps
Map www.example.com to the Sites service in Apps. (This step may be automatically done during the registration process.)
Release www.example.com from Sites service by mapping sites.example.com to the Sites service
Return to your site and map it to www.example.com

Note that the above will NOT move your site to Google Apps. It should simply give you the ability to override the mapping so you can use it in your existing site.

After removing any existing mappings, what's next?

Once the subdomain mapping has been removed, or a Google Sites TC or Google Employee have helped resolve the issue, try mapping the site again. How this is accomplished will vary depending on whether you are a Google Apps user, or a stand-alone (non-Google Apps) user. For a detailed explanation of how to complete the mapping, please see the following:

How do I Map My Site to My Custom Domain?

What if I need help from Google (or a Google Sites TC)?

If the "this location is already in use by another service" message is still present, post your issue on the Google Sites User Forum. Be sure to include the following:

The system URL for your site (http://sites.google.com....)
The subdomain you are trying to map to your site (www.example.com)
A description of your issue, and any specific problems you may be having.

Enabling or Disabling the New Google Sites User Interface

2011-09-26T17:22:06.579Z

Contents

1 How to Enable the New User Interface for Google Sites
2 How to Disable the New User Interface for Google Sites
3 Other Resources

How to Enable the New User Interface for Google Sites

To enable the new user interface for Google Sites, there are two basic options:

Select the Give it a try! option from the yellow alert bar across the top of the screen. This option will only appear if your site is currently set to display using the old interface.
Select the option from your User Settings screen, by following the steps below:

Navigate to your site
Log in with your Owner account
Navigate to the User Settings option under the gear icon in the upper-right corner of the browser window
Place a check in the box next to Use the New Look:
Save your changes

Once the new user interface has been enabled, the look and feel of your site's administrative view will change. For example, the new look for the Create and Edit page icons will have a different appearance, a new "Share" button will be available and the "More Actions" menu will now appear as "More":

How to Disable the New User Interface for Google Sites

If there is a need/desire to revert back to the old user interface for Google Sites, simply follow the steps below:

Navigate to your site
Log in with your Owner account
Navigate to the User Settings option under the gear icon in the upper-right corner of the browser window
Remove the check from the box next to Use the New Look:
Save your changes

Once the old user interface has been re-enabled, the look and feel of your site's administrative view will return to what you should already be used to. The Create and Edit page icons will return to their original appearance, the new "Share" button will no longer be available and the "More" menu will go back to being titled "More Actions":

Other Resources

Direct link to User Settings: https://sites.google.com/site/sites/system/app/pages/meta/dashboard/userSettings

Adding +1 Button to Google Sites

2011-06-05T18:53:03.496Z

Google Sites offers a seamless integration with the Google +1 Button. This integration allows users to place the +1 button either in the sidebar of a site, or inline with the content of the page. This article outlines how each of these options are used.

Contents

1 Adding the Google +1 Button to a Google Sites Sidebar
2 Adding the Google +1 Button to the Content Area (Body) of a Google Sites Website
3 Adding the Google +1 Button via Third Party Gadget
4 Related Links

Adding the Google +1 Button to a Google Sites Sidebar

To add the +1 button to the sidebar of your Google Sites website, follow the steps below. Following these steps will add the button to the sidebar for all pages on your Google Sites website. The is the only option for globally inserting the +1 button:

Navigate to More > Manage Site
Select the Site Layout option from the left navigation pane
Click the Add a Sidebar Item link
Locate the +1 Button option and click the Add button
Position the +1 Button gadget in your sidebar by dragging and dropping the gadget to the desired position in the sidebar
Click the Save button to save changes

Adding the Google +1 Button to the Content Area (Body) of a Google Sites Website

To add the +1 button to the content area (body) of your Google Sites website, follow the steps below. Following these steps will add the button to individual/specific locations of your website:

Navigate to the page you wish to add the +1 button to
Click the Edit icon (small "pencil" icon in upper-right corner of page when logged in)
Place the cursor in the desired location for the +1 button. This must be in the body/content area of the page
Click the Insert menu and select the +1 Button option
Configure the button options by selecting the button Size and whether or not to display the Click Count along side the gadget. The following example shows "standard" size with click count displayed:

Adding the Google +1 Button via Third Party Gadget

In some cases, the dynamic nature of the integrated Google +1 Button may not be what you are looking for. In these situations, a third party gadget may be a better choice.

Google Sites Top Contributor prac has made a fully functional gadget for adding the Google +1 button to your Google Sites pages. To include this gadget on your pages, log into your site as a user with edit permissions, navigate to the page you wish to add the button to, and do the following:

Click Edit Page to begin editing the page
Place the cursor in the location you want the +1 Button to appear and select Insert >> More Gadgets...
In the Add a Gadget to Your Page window, click the Add gadget by URL option in the left navigation list
Paste the following gadget URL into the Add gadget by URL box and click Add

http://prac-gadget.googlecode.com/files/button-plusone.xml
Configure the gadget options:

NOTE: The Background of Container field is used to determine the background color of the gadget. (This is the area around the +1 button.) It requires the use of hex notation instead of actual color names. For example, #FFFFFF represents white, #FF0000 is red, and so on. As most of us don't know these off-hand, there's a pretty good list over at webmonkey.com that may come in handy.
Save the edits to your page and preview/test the changes.

Custom Footer

2010-08-20T14:05:32.364Z

Google Sites offers the option to create a custom, site-wide footer. This footer does not replace the system footer that exists on the bottom of every page, but instead places your custom content immediately above it. This article outlines how to work with the custom footer feature.

How to Add/Edit a Custom Footer on Google Sites

Log into your site as Owner
Select More >> Manage Site.
Select Site Layout from the left navigation menu.
On the "Site Layout" screen, select the Change Site Layout button
Place a check in the box next to Footer
Click OK to close the Change Site Layout overlay.
Locate the Footer section and click the Edit Footer Content link.
Add the desired footer content to the Edit Site Footer WYSIWYG editing window. (HTML is possible by clicking on the HTML icon in the toolbar.)
Click OK
Click Save Changes and return to the site. (You can also click Preview to see the changes without having to first save them for all to see.)

Your changes should now be visible on every page of your site:

Official Google Announcement

Copy Site

2009-08-25T12:35:06.556Z

Google Sites supports the ability to migrate (copy) a site from one location to another. This includes copying between Google Apps domains, as well as the stand-alone version of Google Sites.

How to Copy a Google Sites Website

Log into your site as a site Owner
Select More >> Manage Site >> General
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Copy Site link
In the To section, enter a new Site Name
Verify the URL for your site
Determine whether you want to include Revisions (Revision History) and/or Sharing settings
Click Copy Site

Things to keep in mind when copying a Google Sites website:

The Copy Site feature can be used to copy a site based on the following scenarios:

Copy site from an Apps domain to another site in the same Apps domain
Copy site from an Apps domain to another site in a different Apps domain
Copy site from an Apps domain to another non-Apps site
Copy site from a non-Apps site to another non-Apps site
Copy site from a non-Apps site to another site in an Apps domain

To copy a site across domains, you must first invite a user from the destination domain as an owner of the site and perform the copy using that user. The resulting site (the copy) will always appear under the domain/account of the user performing the copy.
Copying a site does not move the original site.

Adding a Custom Favicon

2009-06-28T12:52:11.730Z

As of July 15, 2009, Google Sites officially supports the ability to customize the favicon for your Google Sites website.

What is a favicon?

According to Wikipedia, a favicon (short for favorites icon), also known as a website icon, shortcut icon, url icon, or bookmark icon is a 16x16 pixel square icon associated with a particular website or webpage. The favicon is often displayed in your browser's address bar, bookmarks/favorites list, tabs and even desktop shortcuts to web pages. For example:

Default Google Sites favicon:
Favicon for the Unofficial Google Sites Help Center (this site):

Creating Favicons

Favicons can be created based on most any image, but not all images will look good as a favicon. There are a variety of tools available for creating these images, including the following free online services. From my experience, all of these services work equally well, though some have more features and capabilities than others:

Adding a Custom Favicon

The following steps are all that is required to take advantage of this new capability:

Navigate to the Attachment management section of your site (More Actions >> Manage Site >> Attachments)
Click Upload
Click Browse and select your favicon.ico file

Your favicon file must be named "favicon.ico"
The apple-touch-icon.png file is not currently compatible as a favicon for Google Sites.

Choose the option to Upload attachment to / (top-level)
Click Upload

CNAME, Alias, Mapping... How does it all work?

2009-03-30T17:24:11.414Z

When it comes to mapping your Google Site(s) to your own custom domain name(s), there are a few things to keep in mind:

[link] Are you using the stand-alone version of Sites, or the Google Apps version? (There is a difference.)
[link] Creating a custom URL for the Sites service is different from mapping your domain to your Site.
[link] Google does not support mapping your naked domain (http://example.com) to a Google Site, but you can make it happen. (For Google Apps users, Google now offers a naked domain redirect feature, but an alternate method is recommended in the Google Apps Naked Domain Redirect article on this site.)

What is Domain Mapping?

Essentially, there are two parts to the whole mapping process:

You need to tell your registrar/DNS host where to send requests for your subdomains ("www", "mail", "sites", etc.) by entering the CNAME pointing to ghs.google.com
You also must tell Google what to do with requests to the subdomain specified in #1 through either your Site's "General" page, or your Google Apps control panel.

If either of these elements are missing, the whole thing simply will not work. If your registrar doesn't know where to direct the traffic, the request will fail without ever getting to Google. If the registrar knows where to send the traffic, but Google doesn't know what to do with it once it gets there, the request will fail on Google's servers.

Stand Alone or Google Apps? >>

Enabling AdSense with Google Sites

2009-06-02T14:08:38.362Z

Contents

1 Enabling AdSense with Google Sites
2 Adding AdSense Ads to Your Google Site
3 Approving Google Sites as an AdSense Partner Website
4 Why are my Ads not Appearing?
5 Related Information

Enabling AdSense for use with Google Sites is a simple, straightforward process. The bulk of the work is done from the Google Sites side, though you will need to approve Google Sites as a "partner website" in your AdSense control panel.

Have a question, but don't know where to start? Check out the Google Sites FAQ!

Enabling AdSense with Google Sites

Log into your site
Select More Actions >> Manage Site
Locate and select the AdSense tab in the left navigational menu
Click AdSense
Choose whether to Create a new AdSense Account or Use an existing AdSense Account (for the remainder of this article, we will focus on using an existing AdSense account).
Enter the email address associated with your AdSense account
Enter the postal (zip) code or the last five (5) digits of the phone number associated with your AdSense Account
Click Next
If you've entered the appropriate information in the previous steps, you will now see a message stating that AdSense is Enabled for Your Site

Adding AdSense Ads to Your Google Site

Once you've enabled AdSense for use with Google Sites, you can begin to add ad blocks to your site. This can be done in one of two ways:

As a sidebar gadget:

Log into your site
Select More Actions >> Manage This Site
Select AdSense from the left navigational menu
Under the Site Sidebar section, click the Add button

Once the AdSense gadget has been added to your site's sidebar, you can edit the layout and style as you would any other gadget in your sidebar. Simply click the Edit Sidebar (or, More Actions >> Manage This Site >> Site Layout) and locate the AdSense gadget in the Sidebar section. By default, it should appear at the bottom of your list of active gadgets.

You can then click the Edit option to choose the "Ad Format, including whether to show images with your ad text, or only text.

As inline ad blocks:

In addition to adding ad blocks to the global sidebar of your Google Site, you can strategically place ads in the content area of any page(s) you choose. To place these ad blocks, do the following while editing a page:

Place your cursor in the location you would like to place the ad block
Select Insert >> AdSense
Select the desired Ad Format and Display Style from the Insert Ad screen
Select Save

Approving Google Sites as an AdSense Partner Website

You will likely need to approve Google Sites as a Partner Website with AdSense. Failure to do this may result in an inability to earn revenue through your site.

Log into your AdSense account OR click the link in the confirmation email that AdSense will send to the email address you have on file.
Look for the announcement stating that "You have requested to use AdSense on a partner website. In order to earn revenue on their site, you'll need to grant them access to your AdSense account."
Click on the Review Account Access link in the announcement noted above
Locate the sites.google.com entry. It should say PENDING
Select the Grant Access link

Why are my Ads not Appearing?

When you first add AdSense to your Google Site, you may not see the ads displayed. There are a couple of reasons for this:

Your site must be public in order for the ads to display. If you are trying to use AdSense on a private Google Site, it will not work.
After you initially configure AdSense to work with your Google Site, it can take approximately 24 hours for the ads to display.
Reported June 8, 2009 (Google is working on a fix): There is a known bug with Google Sites that prevents Ads from being displayed if you are using the Simply White theme. Changing to any other available theme will allow your ad block(s) to be displayed. (NOTE: Changing themes will remove any customizations you have made to the appearance of your site.)

Related Information

Restore Deleted Site

2011-04-14T01:44:00.216Z

If an Owner of a Google Sites website deletes a site, the site can be recovered by visiting the site's URL within 30 days. This applies only to sites deleted after the recovery feature was implemented (around April 13, 2011). Here's how it works:

At the time the site is deleted, the Owner will be asked to confirm that they wish to delete the site:

If the Owner chooses the "Delete" option in the message above, the site will no longer be accessible to those attempting to visit the site. However, if an Owner navigates to the URL for the deleted site, they will be prompted to "Restore Site" or "Delete Permanently" the site:

If the "Restore Site" option is selected, the site will be restored to the same state it was in at the time it was deleted.

Selecting the "Delete Permanently" option will permanently delete the site, leaving no option to recover in the future. This is a permanent option that cannot be reversed.

For more information, see the official Google announcement concerning this feature.

Customize Google Sites System Footer Links

2011-06-24T03:03:21.032Z

Google Sites offers the ability to make minor adjustments to the links that are displayed in the system footer. Some text/links, such as "Powered by Google Sites", cannot be removed. The following links, however, can be hidden:

View Site as Desktop for mobile enabled sites - This option controls whether the link appears to visitors who are viewing your site on a mobile device.
Sign In
Recent Changes
Print Page

How to Customize the Google Sites System Footer Links

Log into the site as an Owner
Navigate to More Actions > Manage Site > Site Layout
Scroll to the bottom and click the Customize System Footer Links link
Select the options to hide/display
Click OK
Save changes

Examples

Default Layout (All links visible):

Custom Layout (All links hidden):

Official Google Announcement: Automatic mobile rendering for Google Sites

Google Sites Mobile Rendering

2011-06-24T02:13:21.248Z

Google Sites now supports automatic mobile rendering for iOS 3.0+ and Android 2.2+ devices. In addition, mobile versions of the sites list, sites search and browse categories features is now available.

Contents

1 Google Sites Automatic Mobile Rendering Features
2 How to Enable Automatic Mobile Rendering for Google Sites
3 Google Sites Mobile Preview

Google Sites Automatic Mobile Rendering Features

Header and top bar alignment
Set site width to match the device's screen width
"Smart handling" of sidebars, horizontal navigation and dropdown lists

Mobile Preview - Show Sidebar

Mobile Preview - Hide Sidebar

How to Enable Automatic Mobile Rendering for Google Sites

Log into your site as a site Owner
Navigate to More Actions > Manage Site > General
Scroll down and place a check in the box next to Automatically adjust site for mobile phones
Save changes and return to site

Google Sites Mobile Preview

Once automatic mobile rendering has been enabled for your site, it can be previewed from your browser as it will render on a mobile device. To access the mobile preview:

Navigate to More Actions > Preview as Viewer
In the preview window, select Mobile from the yellow bar at the top of the page

Official Google Announcement: Automatic mobile rendering for Google Sites

Site Templates

2009-11-13T03:20:17.630Z

Google recently released a new feature for Google Sites: Site Templates. With this feature, site Owners can now turn any site into a template from which other sites can be built.

Once a site has been created, it can be saved as a template that is accessible to all users on the Google Apps domain under which the template was created. There is also a public template gallery from which sites can be built.

How does it work?

Log into the site as a site Owner
Navigate to More Actions >> Manage Site >> General
Scroll down and select the Publish this site as a template option:
Enter the requested information for the new template: Site Template Name and Description
Click the Create Template button

At this point, the template should be available to Sites users on your domain. In order to make use of the template, there are a couple of options:

When a user clicks the Create Site button, they will see an option to Browse the Gallery for More. Selecting this option will provide access to the gallery of templates for the Google Apps domain, as well as those in the public gallery.
Another option for making use of the newly created template is by accessing the template site itself. (The template site can be accessed the same as any other site on an Apps domain.) When this method is used, a small notification is displayed across the top of the site that identifies the site as a template and provides a link from which a new site can be made.

Google Checkout and Google Sites

2009-07-29T03:10:36.617Z

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Contents

1 What is the Google Checkout Store Gadget?
2 How do I Embed the Checkout Gadget in my Google Sites Website?
3 See it in Action!

A Store Gadget for Google Checkout that can be embedded directly into - among other things - Google Sites websites is available to quickly and easily turn your site into an online storefront! This gadget is easy to use, quick to install and is dynamically populated with the contents of a simple Google Spreadsheet!

The purpose of this article is to bring your attention to this gadget and show you how to add it to your site. For full details on the gadget itself, and to learn how to make it work, please see the Google Checkout store gadget tutorial.

What is the Google Checkout Store Gadget?

In simple terms, the Google Checkout Store Gadget is a gadget that enables you to quickly and easily build a shopping cart for your website. More importantly, you can embed this gadget into your Google Sites website!

The underlying data source for this gadget is a simple Google Docs Spreadsheet consisting of eight (8) native fields - some of which are optional. It is quick and easy to build (and maintain), which means you can be up and running with Google Checkout on your Google Sites website within minutes! And, Google makes it easy by providing a spreadsheet template to get you started.

How do I Embed the Checkout Gadget in my Google Sites Website?

As stated above, this article is not aimed at teaching you how to configure the Google Checkout Store Gadget. Instead, it is intended to show you how to add the gadget (there are three gadgets, actually: Large, Small and Tiny) to your Google Sites website. For more details on working with the gadget, please see the Google Checkout store gadget tutorial.

To embed the gadget, skip to Step 3 on the Google Checkout store gadget tutorial and select "Google Sites" from the Embed Location section of the Embed the Google Store Checkout Gadget table. Once this selection has been made, the section to the right of the Embed Location will update to provide step-by-step instructions on how to add the gadget to your site.

See it in Action!

Note: The embedded Google Checkout Store Gadget below is for demonstration purposes only. The products are not for sale. The gadget is functional up to the point of checking out, at which time the gadget will likely error out.

Deleted Sites List

2011-06-13T22:15:24.266Z

Google has released a new feature that will enable Google Sites administrators greater ease of access when it comes to permanently deleting or restoring previously deleted sites. To access this feature, log into Google account and navigate to the following page:

Stand-alone (non-Google Apps): https://sites.google.com/site/sites
Google Apps: https://sites.google.com/a/EXAMPLE.COM

(Be sure to use your domain in place of EXAMPLE.COM)

Any site that has been deleted within the past 30 days will be listed. For example:

Horizontal Navigation

2010-07-29T02:58:19.735Z

With Google Sites, you have the option to display your site's navigation using either the built-in navigation gadget as part of your sidebar, or as a horizontal menu across the top of each page. (You can also use both navigation options at the same time, if necessary.) This article outlines the steps required to enable/configure the horizontal menu.

Instructions

Log into your site as Owner
Select More Actions >> Manage Site.
Select Site Layout from the left navigation menu.
On the "Site Layout" screen, select the Change Site Layout button.
Place a check in the box next to Horizontal Navigation Bar.
Click OK to close the Change Site Layout overlay.
Locate the Horizontal Navigation Bar section and click the Edit Content link:
Add the desired pages/links to the navigation and position accordingly:
Select the desired Style (appearance) from one of the following options:

Boxes (default):
Tabs:
Links:

Click OK
Click Save Changes and return to the site. (You can also click Preview to see the changes without having to first save them for all to see.)

Drop-Down Menus

When adding items to the horizontal menu structure, it is possible to create sub-menu, or drop-down menu options. To make use of this feature, perform the steps above exactly as written. While adding pages/links at step 8, use the left and right arrows that appear to the right of the page names in the "Horizontal Navigation Properties" window. Indenting a page name so that it appears as a child to another page will force that page to appear as a drop-down menu when saved and viewed on the site. In the sample image above, the resulting menu would look like the following image:

Customization

The Horizontal Navigation Bar can be fully customized to match the look and feel of your site. This is done through the Colors and Fonts menu option (More Actions >> Manage Site >> Colors and Fonts), and includes the following options:

Making a Site Public

2008-09-09T12:38:45.329Z

In order to make a site public, for all the world to see:

Navigate to your site.
Sign in.
Expand the More Actions menu and select Site Permissions.
Under Permissions, click the Change link.
In the Sharing Settings window, select the appropriate Visibility Option:

Public on the web - Anyone on the internet can find and access. No sign-in required.
Anyone with the link - Anyone who has the link can access. No sign-in required.
Private - Only people explicitly granted permission can access. Sign-in required.
Note: If your site is part of Google Apps, you will also see options for sharing your site with members of your Google Apps domain. These options open the site up to either ALL members of the domain, or just those members of the domain who have a link to the site.

Click Save.
Close the Sharing Settings window.

Granting Specific User Permissions

In addition to the above sharing options, you can grant additional permissions to specific people or groups. To do this, follow these steps:

Click in the Add People box.
Begin typing names, email addresses or groups. (These can already exist in your contacts list, but it is not required that they do.)
Select the appropriate permissions level:

Is Owner - Full control of site
Can Edit
Can View

Click the Share button so save changes.

NOTE: If you are using Sites as part of a Google Apps domain, it is possible that you will not have the option specified in step 4 above. If this is the case, you will need to log into your domain's management console (assuming you are the administrator of your domain) to make the following change before completing the steps above:

Navigate to your domain's management console (dashboard): http://www.google.com/a/YOUR-DOMAIN
Select the Services tab from the horizontal navigation
In the left navigation, select the Sites option
Under the "Sharing options" section, place a check in the box next to "Users can make sites public"
Click the "Save changes" button.

(Be sure to replace YOUR-DOMAIN with your domain. ie// http://www.google.com/a/example.com.)

Other Resources

Have a question, but don't know where to start? Check out the Google Sites FAQ!

Web Fonts

2011-05-21T02:50:06.406Z

In April 2011, Web Fonts were added to Google Sites. This enhancement provides over 100 new, unique fonts for use across all aspects of your Google SItes website(s). To make use of this new feature, simply do the following:

Select the More Actions >> Manage Site
On the site management page, select the Colors & Fonts option from the left navigation
Select the section of your site for which you would like to use an alternate Web Font
Click the "Custom" option and select the desired font style from the drop-down menu
Once satisfied with the changes, click the Save Changes button to save your selection(s) and return to the site.

Google Web Fonts: http://www.google.com/webfonts
Google Docs Blog: Google Sites brings you over 100 new web fonts

Google Apps Naked Domain Redirect

2011-04-13T02:22:37.546Z

If you are a Google Apps user, you can use the forwarding features outlined below to point your naked domain (http://example.com/) to one of your mapped subdomains/CNAMEs:

Note

:  

While the Google Apps Naked Domain Redirect (GANDR) will do the trick, it is not - in my opinion - as robust as the alternate method of forwarding your domain via your DNS management console.  

The main issue I see is that when using GANDR

, all

redirects will land on the root of your domain, regardless of whether a subdirectory or page is specified in the URL.  

For example, http://example.com/subdirectory will redirect to http://www.example.com when using GANDR.  Using the standard DNS redirect, the same URL would redirect to http://www.example.com/subdirectory.

Log into your Google Apps control panel at http://www.google.com/a/[example.com]
Click on the Domain Settings tab
Select the Domain Names sub-tab of the Domain Settings screen
Click the Redirect your naked domain link:
Enter the sub-domain/CNAME for location you wish to redirect visitors to when they enter your naked domain name (http://example.com) and click the Continue button
Log into the DNS management console for your domain (GoDaddy, eNom, etc.) and enter the A records specified on the Changing the A-Record for Your Domain page:
Once the A records noted in step 6 above have been created, click the I've Completed These Steps button.

Note: It may take some time (up to 24 hours) for the DNS changes to fully propagate across the web. Also note that if you've previously set up a domain redirect/forward for your naked domain, you will want to remove it prior to completing the steps above.

Adding a Custom Search Engine (CSE)

2009-06-05T20:25:19.722Z

Updated
August 27, 2009:  

Google Sites has released a feature that allows
for simple integration of a CSE with your Google Sites website.  For
more details on how to make use of this new feature, please visit my
article on Custom Search.

Contents

1 Creating your CSE
2 Creating a Custom Gadget for your CSE
1. 2.1 What code do I use in my custom gadget?
2. 2.2 Further Customization
  1. 2.2.1 Results in New Window
  2. 2.2.2 AdSense Integration
3 Adding Your CSE to Your Google Site
4 Related Information

Though Google Sites offers a built-in, site-specific search engine, there are times when you would like to do more than just search your site. For that reason, it's nice to have access to the Google Custom Search Engine (CSE) service.

With a CSE, you can provide targeted search options for your site visitors. For example, the following CSE's have been configured to search sites that have specific content that is closely related to Google Sites. Try them out:

Custom Search (User help forums) - The custom search engine below searches the Google Sites User Help Forums, including the archived user help group hosted at Google Groups. Results open in a new window.

Now that you've seen Google's CSE in action, how do you make one for your site? More specifically, how do you make one and include it in your Google Sites site?

Creating your CSE

Your first step in this process is to create yoru CSE. Follow the steps below to create your CSE:

Navigate to the CSE home page: http://www.google.com/coop/cse/
Enter "Basic Information":

Search Engine Name
Search Engine Description
Language

What do you want to search?

Only sites I select
The entire web, but emphasize sites I select
The entire web

Specify a list of websites to search (Not an option if "The entire web" is selected in the previous step)
Select an edition:

Standard Edition (free, but includes ads on results pages >> Ads can be monetized via your AdSense account!)
Business Edition (starts at $100/year, but no ads required on results pages)

Agree to Terms of Service
Click Next

That's it for creating the CSE! After clicking next in step seven above, you'll be given the opportunity to take it for a test run.

Now, be sure you've placed a check in the box next to Send confirmation email to [email address] and click the Finish button. You will be taken to the My Search Engines page of the CSE service. From here, you can do the following:

View or edit your CSE profile
Create another CSE
Explore CSE resources
View or edit your existing CSE's

Click on the name of the CSE to perform live searches
Access your CSE's control panel to modify settings and provide further customization (including AdSense integration!)
View statistics on the use of your CSE
Delete your CSE
Access CSE code for embedding in your site (Note: Google Sites will not allow you to paste this code directly into your site. You will have to create a custom gadget that is embedded via the Insert >> More Gadgets menu option.)

Manage your email preferences

In the email that is received (remember the comment above?), you will be given links to perform the following options:

Day-to-day management of your search engine
Access code to incorporate your search engine into your site or blog
Add your Custom Search Engine search box to your Google Personalized Homepage
Manage all of your Custom Search Engines from your Google Personalized Homepage, by adding the Custom Search Console at http://fusion.google.com/add

Creating a Custom Gadget for your CSE

As mentioned above, in order to add your CSE to your Google Site, you will have to create a custom gadget. Once created, the gadget can be embedded into your site via the Insert >> More Gadgets menu option.

What code do I use in my custom gadget?

In order to create your custom gadget, you're going to need the code for your CSE. This code can be found in one of two locations:

The To incorporate your search engine into your site or blog, you can find the necessary code at... link in the email mentioned above
The Control Panel >> Get Code link for the spcific CSE. This can be found on the My Search Engines page mentioned above

On this page, you'll be given multiple options for hosting your search engine. My recommendation is to use the first option: Host the result on a page hosted by Google. Copy this code to your clipboard. It should resemble the following:

<form action="http://www.google.com/cse" id="cse-search-box">
<div>
    <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="011079130885249389707:0ocphfqgbku" />
    <input type="hidden" name="ie" value="UTF-8" />
    <input type="text" name="q" size="31" />
    <input type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" />
</div>
</form>

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/jsapi"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">google.load("elements", "1", {packages: "transliteration"});</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/coop/cse/t13n?form=cse-search-box&t13n_langs=en"></script>

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/coop/cse/brand?form=cse-search-box&lang=en"></script>

Once copied, proceed to the Google Gadget Editor (GGE) to build your custom gadget as outlined in the tutorial on this site.

Further Customization

Results in New Window

If you want results for your CSE to open in a new window (like the example above), you'll need to add target="_blank" to the <form...> tag of the code copied above. It should look like this:

<form action="http://www.google.com/cse" id="cse-search-box" target="_blank">

AdSense Integration

AdSense integration can be achieved through the Control Panel link to the right of your CSE on your My Search Engines page. Once you click on this link, look for Make Money in the left navigation bar. Click the Make Money link and follow the instructions for integrating your CSE with AdSense.

Adding Your CSE to Your Google Site

Once you've created your CSE and the associated custom gadget, you will be able to embed the gadget into your site. To do this, follow these simple instructions:

Copy the URL for your gadget. It should resemble the following:
http://hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/118139941537578381077/siteshelp_cse-demo.xml
Log into your Google Site
Navigate to the page you on wish to embed the CSE
Click Edit Page
Select More Gadgets from the Insert menu
Click Add Gadget by URL
Paste the URL from step 1 above into the box
Click Add
Set the dimensions
Click OK

You should now see the gadget on your page!

Related Information

Have a question, but don't know where to start? Check out the Google Sites FAQ!

Keyboard Shortcuts

2010-10-03T20:26:30.330Z

Google Sites offers keyboard shortcuts for a number of commonly accessed features/functions. By default, this feature is enabled for all users, but can be disabled on a per-user basis, if desired.

Accessing Keyboard Shortcuts:

To access help for keyboard shortcuts, press CTRL + /. (If using a Mac, press ⌘ + /.)

Available Shortcuts Include:

Create Page
Edit Page
Delete Page
Toggle Site Subscription
Manage Site
Search
....Complete list of available keyboard shortcuts for Google Sites.

Disabling Keyboard Shortcuts:

Keyboard shortcuts can be disabled on a per-user basis through the following steps while on a Google Sites website:

Click User Settings in the upper-right section of the page.

You must be logged in with your Google (Gmail, Apps, etc) account in order to access the User Settings link.

Remove the check from the box next to "keyboard shortcuts"
Click “Save changes”

See the official Google announcement.

How to Reuse a Page Name (URL)

2009-04-22T02:28:06.820Z

Contents

1 How can you get around this limitation?
2 Recovering a Page
3 Renaming Pages in Google Sites
4 Deleting a Page
5 Other Resources

When working with Google Sites, there may come a time when you need to scrap a page entirely and start over. The most common reason for this is that you chose one page type when you created the page, but now you realize you need a different page type. Unfortunately, when you delete the initial page, Sites will not allow you to reuse the page name (URL) for the new page.

How can you get around this limitation?

Fortunately with Google Sites, you have the ability to not only delete unwanted pages, but you can also rename them in the process. By renaming the page before you delete it, you preserve the ability to use the page name (URL) again with a new page.

Recovering a Page

If you've deleted the page before renaming it, you'll need to recover it, rename it and delete it again. To recover a deleted page:

Log into your site
Select More Actions >> Manage Site >> Deleted Items
Place a check in the box next to the page you wish to recover.
Click the Recover button.

See Manage Deleted Pages for more details.

Renaming Pages in Google Sites

Log into your site
Navigate to the page that needs to be renamed
Select Page Settings from the More Actions menu
Change the name displayed in the Page URL text box
Click Save

Deleting a Page

Log into your site
Navigate to the page you wish to delete
Select Delete from the More Actions menu
When prompted to confirm that you wish to delete the page, click the Delete button

Other Resources

Have a question, but don't know where to start? Check out the Google Sites FAQ!

Working with Page Attachments, Images and File Cabinets

2009-04-05T03:43:25.883Z

Attaching a file to your Google Site can be done in a number of ways. One method, of course, is to embed documents, spreadsheets or presentations through Google Docs. Each of these items can be selected directly from the Insert menu on your Sites Edit toolbar.

Have a question, but don't know where to start? Check out the Google Sites FAQ!

Contents

1 What are your options for uploading files to your Google Site?
2 Why would you use one option over another?
3 How do you manage your files once they have been uploaded?
4 Related Information

For the purpose of this post, I want to focus on uploading and sharing files that do not reside in your Google Docs library. More specifically, the focus will be on:

What are your options for uploading/attaching files to your Google Site?
Why would you use one option over another?
How do you manage your files once they have been uploaded?

How do you remove/delete a file once it has been uploaded?
How do you replace an uploaded file with a newer version?

If I've missed something that should be included, please let me know!

What are your options for uploading files to your Google Site?

You have four basic options for uploading files to your Google Site:

Select Image from the Insert menu.
Use the Attachments feature at the bottom of each page of your site.
Create a File Cabinet page to store and manage your files.
Manage all attached files through the global Attachments feature

Why would you use one option over another?

Insert >> Image

PROS: With the Insert >> Image method, you can quickly and easily add an image to your site. This is a one-step method that allows you to upload, select and embed the image all in one location.

CONS: The Insert >> Image method leaves you with relatively little control over the image once it has been uploaded. The only way to remove images added using this method is to access the global Attachments interface for your site, which is less than ideal.

Recommended? Despite the improvements made to this option with the addition of the global Attachments interface, I do not recommend this method.

Page-Specific Attachments

PROS:

The page-specific Attachments option is available at the bottom of each and every page.
Images added using this feature are available in the Insert >> Image dialog for the page.
Once a file is attached, the upload date and latest revision information are displayed along side each file name.
Each file that is uploaded to the Attachments area is available for use throughout the site.
As the site administrator, you have the ability to show/hide the list of Attachments for any (or all) page in your site. Simply select the More Actions >> Page Settings menu option and de/select the "Attachments" option to select your desired display setting.

CONS: As the heading for this section explains, files attached here are page-specific. By this, I mean that these files will not show up when browsing for files (images) to embed in other pages of your site. They are, however available to use on other pages if you know the URL.

Recommended? Yes. Personally, I use this method quite frequently. I find it just as easy to manage as a file cabinet page, and I have the ability to completely hide the list of attachments, whereas with a file cabinet page, I do not.

Another reason to make full use of page-specific attachments is the addition of a global attachments management feature in the July 2009 release of Google Sites. With this feature, site administrators can add, delete and move files across the entire site from a single location: More Actions >> Manage Site >> Attachments. For more information, see the Sites Guide - Manage Site article.

File Cabinet Page

PROS: A File Cabinet page can be used as a central management point for a group of attached files. It is easily accessible, and can be accessed with little effort.

CONS: File Cabinet pages cannot be hidden from view. Even if the page is not displayed in your site's navigation menu, it will appear in the sitemap, which is accessible to all site visitors.

Recommended? Yes. A File Cabinet page is useful for uploading and keeping track of revision history for attached files. It is also good for organizing files through the available folder structure. (Although the folder management features are somewhat lacking at this time, they can be quite valuable for even the most basic file organization and management requirements.)

Global Attachments

As noted above, Google added a global Attachments feature to Sites with the July 2009 release. This addition provides robust control over all site attachments from a single interface.

PROS: The global Attachments feature allows you to upload, move, rename and delete any and all files that have been uploaded and attached to your site, all from a single location.

CONS: Due to the series of clicks that must be made in order to access the global Attachments feature, it is not ideal for managing files on a one-off basis.

Recommended? Yes. When you have a need to move an attached file from one location to another (within the same site), this is a quick and painless way to go. It is also a great interface for performing site cleanup by deleting multiple attachments at once.

How do you manage your files once they have been uploaded?

File management can be handled in many ways, and each person likely has their own preferred method. The purpose of this section is to explain the mechanics of the different options. For example, how do you upload a new version of a document so that existing links to that document are not broken in the process?

How do you remove/delete a file once it has been uploaded?

Files that have been uploaded to either a File Cabinet page or a page-specific Attachments section can easily be deleted. Files that have been uploaded to the site via the Insert >> Image menu option, on the other hand, cannot.

To remove files from a File Cabinet page, log into your site and perform the following steps:

Place a check in the box to the left of the file(s) you wish to delete.
Click the Delete button located at the top of your File Cabinet page.

To remove files from a page-specific Attachments section, log into your site and perform the following step:

Click the Remove link to the right of the file you wish to delete

To remove files using the global Attachments feature, perform the following steps:

Access More Actions >> Manage Site >> Attachments
Locate the file you wish to remove
Place a check in the box next to the file(s) you wish to remove
Click the Delete button

Note: This method is the only way to remove images that have been added to a site via the Insert >> Image menu option.

How do I upload a new document version without breaking existing links to the document?

As long as you ensure that recent updates to existing files are uploaded using the exact same name, links to your documents will be preserved. Doing this will also create a revision history (with the Page Attachment and File Cabinet page options) for each updated document.

With the Insert >> Image method, you can also replace an existing image by uploading another image with the exact same name. The only thing you will not see is the revision history that the other two methods offer.

Related Information

Moving a Page

2008-08-29T12:46:35.030Z

On September 7, 2010, Google released a new and improved method for moving pages in Google Sites.  With this update, users can now rearrange the ordering of their pages via a simple drag-and-drop interface.  See below for more details.

Google Sites offers multiple ways to move pages around in your site's hierarchical structure. If you find that you've created a new page that would fit better under another parent page, or might be better suited to exist as a top level page, you have the following options:

Use the Move Page menu option to select the new location for the page
Use the drag-and-drop interface that is found under the More Actions >> Manage Site >> Pages menu option.

Using the "Move Page" Menu Option:

Navigate to your Site.
Sign In.
Navigate to the page you would like to move.
Click the More Actions button.
Select Move from the More Actions menu.
In the "Move Page" dialog box, select the page under which you would like the current page to exist.

The default view is of your recently edited pages. You may wish to view all pages in the order of your sitemap. To do this, simply click the Site Map link at the top of the screen.
If you would like the page to become a top level page, select the first item in the list, which should be the name of your Site.

Click the Move button.
Repeat these steps for any page(s) you would like to move.

Using the Drag-and-Drop Feature:

Navigate to your Site.
Sign In
Select the More Actions >> Manage Site menu option
Select the Pages option from the left navigation menu
Select the Tree view (this should be the default setting)
Locate the page you wish to move and drag-and-drop it in the new location.

For more details on the drag-and-drop feature, see the official Google feature announcement.

Other Resources

See this Tutorial in Action!

Using the Built-In Navigation Gadget

2009-06-10T11:52:06.452Z

Tweet This

Google Sites provides a built-in navigation gadget that can be used in the sidebar of your site. It has very basic functionality, but provides the ability to add an expandable/collapsible hierarchical navigation structure. To make use of this feature, follow the steps below.

To access the navigation gadget, simply log into your site and select the edit sidebar link that is located at the bottom of your sidebar. If your site is not displaying the sidebar, follow these steps:

Log into your site
Select Manage Site from the More Actions menu
Select Site Layout tab from the left-side menu

Once on the Page Layout screen, you will see something similar to the image below. Locate and click the edit link under the Navigation gadget. If the Navigation gadget does not appear in the list of items under the Sidebar, click Add a sidebar item to add it.

Clicking the edit link will bring up the window for managing your site's navigation, including the expandable hierarchical structure. This window will appear similar to the following image:

Title

The Title section of the Configure Navigation window is designed to allow you to place a title at the top of your Navigation gadget when displayed in the sidebar. Removing the check from the box next to Display Title will prevent a title from displaying, regardless of what is typed in the Title box above.

Auto Navigation

Placing a check in the box next to Automatically Organize my Navigation will enable Google Sites to automatically build your navigation structure. New pages will be added to your site's navigation in alphabetical order, and will appear in the same hierarchical structure as they exist in your site.

You have the ability to limit how many hierarchical levels of your site will be included in the auto-navigation by selecting one of the options in the Show <all> Levels of Pages section.

Removing the check from the box next to Automatically Organize my Navigation will return your site to the manual method for managing your site's navigagion.

The list of pages that are displayed under the Pages section includes only pages that are currently displayed in the Navigation section of your site's sidebar. To add links/pages to this section, click the Add Item link at the bottom of the Configure Navigation window. By default, new items added will appear at the bottom of the list of pages.

To organize the order of page links in your Navigation gadget, simply select the page you wish to move and click the appropriate Up or Down arrow until the page appears where you want it.

Once you have organized your pages into the desired hierarchical order, you can use the Left and Right arrows to create an expandable/collapsible menu.

As of the July 29, 2009 release of Google Sites, you can add external links to your Navigation gadget. This is accomplished by selecting the Add URL link near the bottom-right corner of Configure Navigation screen. Once added, external links can be edited by double-clicking on the entry in the list of Pages on the Configure Navigation screen.

Have a question, but don't know where to start? Check out the Google Sites FAQ!

Manage Deleted Pages

2010-08-20T20:53:03.960Z

Google Sites provides an interface for managing deleted pages. Through this interface, it is possible to either recover a deleted page, or delete (remove) it from your site forever. Deleted items can be recovered up to 30 days after they have been deleted. After 30 days, they will be permanently removed.

Recover a Deleted Page

Log into your site as Owner
Select More Actions >> Manage Site.
Select Deleted Items from the left navigation menu.
Locate the item(s) you wish to recover and place a check in the box next to the name
Click the Recover button
The recovered page(s) will now be available to your site visitors (restricted, of course, by the permissions set on your site)

Permanently Delete a Page

Log into your site as Owner
Select More Actions >> Manage Site.
Select Deleted Items from the left navigation menu.
Locate the item(s) you wish to recover and place a check in the box next to the name
Click the Permanently Delete button
Confirm that you would like to delete the selected page(s) by clicking the Delete button on the confirmation screen.

Posts of Step-by-Step Guides

Google Sites - This Location is Already in Use

Why is the location already in use?

How to get rid of "Location already in use" for Google Apps users

Mapped Sites for the domain:

Custom URL's for Apps Services:

How to get rid of "Location already in use" for stand-alone (non-Google Apps) users

After removing any existing mappings, what's next?

What if I need help from Google (or a Google Sites TC)?

Enabling or Disabling the New Google Sites User Interface

How to Enable the New User Interface for Google Sites

How to Disable the New User Interface for Google Sites

Other Resources

Adding +1 Button to Google Sites

Adding the Google +1 Button to a Google Sites Sidebar

Adding the Google +1 Button to the Content Area (Body) of a Google Sites Website

Adding the Google +1 Button via Third Party Gadget

Related Links

Custom Footer

How to Add/Edit a Custom Footer on Google Sites

Related Articles

Copy Site

How to Copy a Google Sites Website

Things to keep in mind when copying a Google Sites website:

Adding a Custom Favicon

What is a favicon?

Creating Favicons

Adding a Custom Favicon

CNAME, Alias, Mapping... How does it all work?

What is Domain Mapping?

Enabling AdSense with Google Sites

Enabling AdSense with Google Sites

Adding AdSense Ads to Your Google Site

As a sidebar gadget:

As inline ad blocks:

Approving Google Sites as an AdSense Partner Website

Why are my Ads not Appearing?

Related Information

Restore Deleted Site

Customize Google Sites System Footer Links

How to Customize the Google Sites System Footer Links

Examples

Google Sites Mobile Rendering

Google Sites Automatic Mobile Rendering Features

How to Enable Automatic Mobile Rendering for Google Sites

Google Sites Mobile Preview

Site Templates

Google Checkout and Google Sites

What is the Google Checkout Store Gadget?

How do I Embed the Checkout Gadget in my Google Sites Website?

See it in Action!

Deleted Sites List

Horizontal Navigation

Instructions

Drop-Down Menus

Customization

Related Articles

Making a Site Public

Other Resources

Web Fonts

Google Apps Naked Domain Redirect

Adding a Custom Search Engine (CSE)

Creating your CSE

Creating a Custom Gadget for your CSE

What code do I use in my custom gadget?

Further Customization

Results in New Window

AdSense Integration

Adding Your CSE to Your Google Site

Related Information

Keyboard Shortcuts

Accessing Keyboard Shortcuts:

Available Shortcuts Include:

Disabling Keyboard Shortcuts:

How to Reuse a Page Name (URL)

How can you get around this limitation?

Recovering a Page

Renaming Pages in Google Sites

Deleting a Page

Other Resources