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9.3 Comments and suggested Edits
9.5 Downloading in other formats
9.1 Sharing a document
You can share a document so that other people can view, comment, or edit the document. The Sharing settings dialog is where you specify the visibility options for the item you're sharing, add collaborators, and send notifications.
- Open the File menu: Press Alt + Shift + F.
- Press S to select Share.
Once you've opened the Sharing settings dialog, you have several options for how to share your document, communicate with collaborators, and set the visibility of the document.
The first field in the Sharing settings dialog contains the link to share. Copy the link by pressing Control + C. You can then paste the link text into an email or chat message.
You might also have the option to share the link via Gmail, Google+, Facebook, or Twitter. (This option isn't available for documents created within an organization's domain.) If these options are available, you can press Tab to hear the options, then press Enter to select them. You might be prompted to change the visibility settings of your document to ensure that recipients are able to access it.
9.2 Access permissions
After the link sharing options, the dialog has a section called "Who has access." Here you can choose who can find and view your document. To set the overall access level for your document, follow these steps:
- Press Tab until you reach the Change link.
- Press Enter to bring up the visibility options dialog.
- Press Tab to focus on the visibility options, and choose one of the available options with the down or up arrow. The options vary based on whether your document was created within a domain, and the sharing policies that your domain administrator has set. If you choose an option like "Public on the web" or "Anyone with the link can access," you can tab to an access level selector. Here you can use the down or up arrow to choose the permission level granted to users.
- Press Tab to the Save button, then press Enter.
After the "Who has access" section, the Sharing settings dialog has a section where you can share your document with specific people and determine their level of access.
- Press Tab to navigate to the "Invite people" text box.
- Type the names, email addresses, or group names of the people you want to add.
- When you finish adding everyone, press Tab once to navigate to the permission levels and press Enter to open the drop-down list.
Use the down or up arrow to choose the permission level. The options for permission level vary depending on the type of document that you're sharing. Options might include the following:
- a. Can edit: Collaborators can add and edit content in your document, or add comments.
- b. Can comment: Collaborators can add comments, but they can't edit the content.
- c. Can view: People can view your document, but they can't edit the item or add comments.
Press Enter to set the permission level.
- The next step is to notify your newly added viewers or collaborators that you've added them. You have several options for this step:
- a. To send a standard notification to everyone, press Tab to the Send button and press Enter.
- b. To add your own message to everyone, navigate to the Add message link and press Enter. Type your message. When you're finished, press Tab to the Send button and press Enter.
- c. To add people without notifying them, navigate to the Notify people via email checkbox and deselect it by pressing Space. press Tab to the OK button, then press Enter.
When you share a document with someone, you can set that person's level of access to it. The Sharing settings dialog provides a list of collaborators and allows you to change their permission levels.
- In the Sharing settings dialog, press Tab to navigate to the "Who has access" section of the dialog, where you'll find the list of people who have access to the document, their email addresses, and their permission levels.
- To change someone's permission level, press Tab to navigate to the collapsed list box after that person's email address. Press the down arrow to open the menu and choose the new permission level. press Enter to set the level.
- To remove a person from the list, navigate to the Remove button and press Enter.
- Navigate to the Save changes button and press Enter.
To close the dialog, press Escape or navigate to the Done button and press Enter.
9.3 Comments and suggested Edits
You can use comments to work with others on Google Docs. If you have permission to edit or comment on a document, you can reply to comments. When a discussion is finished, you can resolve a comment to close it. The comment feature can be accessed from the Comment item on the Insert application menu or via the toolbar, but the most efficient method is via the keyboard shortcuts:
- Add a comment: Ctrl + Alt + m
- Open the comment stream box: Ctrl + Alt + Shift +a
To add a comment to a document:
- Open a document.
- Highlight the text you wish to comment on.
- To add a comment press Ctrl + Alt + m.
- Type your comment.
- Press Tab to select Comment and press Enter.
To manage comment email notifications:
- Open a document.
- Press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + a to open the comment stream box.
- Press Tab until you hear "Change Email Notifications" and press enter.
- Press up or down arrow to select when you want to receive notifications:
- a. All: Whenever any comments are made.
- b. Only yours: Whenever others reply to your comments or comments you are added to.
- c. None: Never receive emails about comments for that document
If you are reviewing a document and want to suggest changing some text, you can suggest edits to the owner of the document without affecting the original text. Your suggestions won't change the original text until the document owner approves them. Once you are in Suggesting mode, you only need to start typing to begin suggesting edits.
- Open the document.
- Make sure you are in Suggesting mode by confirming the setting on the View application menu or the option on the toolbar. More information about viewing and editing modes can be found in Module 5.
- To suggest an edit, simply begin typing where you think the edit should be made in the document. You can also select text and type alternative text to suggest replacing the original.
- Owners of the document will receive an email with your suggestions and be able to accept or reject them.
9.4 Revision history
In addition to all changes being automatically saved in Google Docs it is also possible to view a list of all versions of a document and to restore to any previous version of the document. The revision history can be accessed from the File applications menu or by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Alt + Shift +g.
A document can be restored to a previous version by following these steps:
- Open the document to be restored to a previous version and press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + g. The Revision History dialog will open containing a list of document revisions including the date and identifying who made each revision.
- Using the up and down arrow keys select the version of the document to be restored.
- Press tab to select Restore This Revision and Press Enter.
9.5 Downloading in other formats
Documents can be downloaded from Google Docs in a number of file formats by following these steps:
- Open the File application menu by pressing Alt + Shift + f.
- Select Download As and press Right Arrow to open the submenu.
- Select the desired file format from the available options and press Enter.
- A window will appear to confirm the download and optionally allowing the download location to be specified.
9.6 Publishing to the web
To make a document available for a large audience to see, publish a document to the web. Once you publish your document you'll have a URL that you can send to anyone or embed into your website.
Published documents update automatically whenever a change is made in the original document
To publish a document to the web:
- Open a document.
- Press Alt + Shift + f to open the File application menu.
- Select Publish to the Web.
- Press Tab to select Publish and press Enter.
- Copy the URL and send it to anyone you’d like to see the document or embed it into your website.
To stop publishing a document to the web:
- Open a document
- Press Alt + Shift + f to open the File application menu.
- Select Publish to the Web.
- Press Tab to select "Published content & settings." and Press Enter.
- Press Tab to select Stop publishing and press Enter.
