Tag Archives: Editors

Now your Activity Dashboard is one click away in Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings

We’ve made it easier for you to open the Activity dashboard directly from Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drawings. You’ll now see the Activity dashboard icon (a jagged arrow pointing upward) next to the comments button in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

Clicking on the icon opens the dashboard, where you can analyze time statistics and adjust privacy and document settings. This gives you instant access to the Activity dashboard information you’re seeking. Hovering over the icon enables you to view the information others can see about you in the Activity dashboard. To learn more about seeing the view history of your Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files, consult the Help Center.

Launch Details

Release track:
Launching to Rapid Release, with Scheduled Release coming in 2 weeks

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace: 
Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact:All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information 
Help Center: See the view history of your Google Docs, Sheets & Slides

Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Copy formatting to multiple objects in Google Slides

We’re making it easier to copy formatting from one object (like a block of text or a shape) to multiple others in Google Slides. Previously, you could use the paint format tool to copy formatting from one object to another, but you’d need to reclick it every time you wanted to apply it to a new object. Now, you can simply double-click the tool icon to enter “persistent” mode and apply that formatting to multiple objects in a slide. Just re-click the icon or tap Escape on your keyboard to stop.



Launch Details 
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release

Editions: 
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace: 
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action: 
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Copy and paste text and images

Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

New interface for Activity dashboard in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides

We’re updating the interface of Activity dashboard in the Google Docs editors. The options and settings available won’t change, but we hope the new interface makes it easier to find data and collaborate more effectively.

See the new Activity dashboard UI 
“View time” in the new Activity dashboard interface

“Viewer trend” in the new Activity dashboard interface


A comparison of the old and new Activity dashboard interfaces 

See our Help Center for more information on how to see the view history of your Google Docs, Sheets and Slides.

Launch Details 
Release track:
Launching to Rapid Release, with Scheduled Release coming in two weeks

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions 

Rollout pace: 
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact: 
All end users

Action: 
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information 
Help Center: See the view history of your Google Docs, Sheets & Slides 
G Suite Updates blog: Improve collaboration in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides with Activity dashboard


Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Vertical ruler improves table management in Google Docs

In response to user feedback, we’re adding a vertical ruler in Google Docs on the web that will help you manipulate tables and control the margins in headers and footers.

Better table management with new vertical ruler 

When you’re using a table, you’ll see your table structure highlighted in a vertical ruler on the left side of the screen. The vertical ruler matches the horizontal ruler, which already exists and is a popular way to control cell width and margins.

You can use the ruler to change the height of rows in the table. When you do so, you’ll see a guide telling you the specific height of the row so you can quickly format it to the specific size you want. You can also use it to control the vertical margins in headers and footers (see more details below).



New controls over header and footer layout 

We recently added new controls which let you specify the size of the margins in your header and footer. You can control the margins using the vertical ruler feature highlighted above or by using the interface pictured below. By controlling this spacing, you can make sure your document is formatted just as you want it.



New header and footer margin options in Google Docs 

Launch Details 
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release 

Editions: 
Available to all G Suite editions 

Rollout pace: 
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact: 
All end users

Action: 
Change management suggested/FYI


Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Easily add images and charts from other files to Google Docs and Slides

The Explore feature in Google Docs and Slides makes it simple to search for Google Drive files related to whatever you’re currently working on. With this launch, G Suite Basic, Business, and Enterprise users can view images and charts in those files—right from within the Explore panel—and insert them quickly and easily into their document or presentation.



Visit the Help Center for more information on how to use Explore in Google Docs and Slides.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to Rapid Release, with Scheduled Release coming in two weeks

Editions:
Available to G Suite Basic, Business, and Enterprise editions only

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: See and use suggested content in a document
Help Center: See and use suggested layouts in a presentation


Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Add automatic real-time captions when you present in Google Slides

You can now show automated closed captions in real-time when presenting in Google Slides. This feature uses your computer’s microphone to detect your spoken presentation, and then transcribes what you say as captions on the slides you’re presenting. We hope that this will make your presentations more effective in more environments to a wider audience.

Captions created automatically from your audio 

If you turn captions on, Google Slides will use the audio from your microphone to automatically create captions of what you say. These captions will display in real time at the bottom of your screen to all audience members watching the presentation. This will work for local presentations and for presentations over video conferencing software, where captions will show on the shared screen.

The feature works in U.S. English on Chrome browsers. Captions are created from the presenter’s computer and its microphone, so captions may not work consistently if there are multiple presenters using different computers. You may want to let the audience know that captions are from Google Slides, not the video conferencing software, and that only the speaker's voice is captioned.

Helps improve accessibility and in environments where it’s hard to hear 

This feature can help make your presentation more effective for:

  • Audience members who are deaf or hard of hearing 
  • Non-native speakers and/or audience members who prefer written content 
  • In venues with poor audio or in noisy ambient environments 



To find out how to turn on and use automated captions in Slides, visit our Help Center.

Launch Details 
Release track:
Launching to Rapid Release, with Scheduled Release coming in two weeks

Editions: 
Available to all G Suite editions 

Rollout pace: 
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact: 
All end users

Action: 
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information 
Help Center: Present slides with captions 


Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Making embedded Google Forms better

We’re making Google Forms look and work better when they’re embedded in websites created with Google Sites. These improvements will also mean Forms will work better embedded in websites not managed in Google Sites as well.

Our users embed forms in sites for all sorts of reasons, from collecting customer feedback to capturing new project ideas to gathering and sharing survey data and much more. User feedback told us how important it was that these embedded forms look and work great, especially when embedded in Google Sites.

So we’re making a range of improvements to make embedded forms more useful, including:


  • Improved looks, including a background that blends into the rest of the website 
  • Better suggested height and width when embedding a form on Google Sites 
  • More intelligent use of space in embedded forms 
  • More adaptive viewing on different devices (e.g. mobile vs. desktop) 
  • Easier to view & enter information into the embedded form 



Launch Details 
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release

Editions: 
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace: 
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action: 
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information 
Help Center: Send your form to people 

Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Easily add buttons to improve links in new Google Sites

We’re making it easy to add buttons to the new Google Sites. These are clickable graphics which link to other content within your site or at an external URL. Users often click on buttons more frequently than they click on in-line hyperlinks, so they are a good way to guide people to important content. For example you could add a “Contact Us” button to encourage users to get in touch with you.

Example of adding a “Contact Us” button to a site 

Buttons will automatically match the color scheme and theme of your site, and can be resized easily through the interface. This will help you:

  • Make your site easier to navigate 
  • Increase the visibility of important links 
  • Keep your site looking consistent and attractive 


Now that you can add buttons with just a few clicks, we hope you’ll be able to more easily create attractive sites which guide users to relevant content. Visit our Help Center to learn more about how to add, edit, or delete buttons.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Add or edit text or images
New Google Sites: sites.google.com/new



Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Use quick-access side panel to do more from Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Calendar, and more

We’re adding a quick-access side panel to the Docs editors and Google Calendar to help you quickly access other G Suite products without leaving what you’re working on. A similar side panel has been a popular feature of the new Gmail, and we hope that this integration will help you work more efficiently within and across G Suite.

You’ll be able to access three G Suite products from Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings:

  • Google Calendar: Quickly reference, create or edit invites. 
  • Google Keep: Easily take notes, create lists, and see your other content. 
  • Google Tasks: Manage your tasks and to-dos. 
You’ll also see the side panel in Google Calendar, where you’ll be able to use Keep and Tasks.


Launch Details 
Release track:
Launching to Rapid Release, with Scheduled Release coming in two weeks 

Editions: 
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace: 
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact: 
All end users

Action: 
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information 
Help Center: Use Google products side-by-side 
The Keyword: With new security and intelligent features, the new Gmail means business


Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates

Docs Activity dashboard now available to all G Suite users

We’re making the Activity dashboard feature available to all G Suite users. Previously this feature was not fully available to G Suite Basic customers.

Extending Activity dashboard to G Suite Basic edition 

All G Suite admins and users will now have full access to Activity dashboards and associated controls. Previously admins and users in Basic domains could choose whether their viewing data appeared in dashboards, but they could not see dashboards for their own files. Now that these users can view dashboards for their files, there are new options and controls:


  • New admin controls available now: Admins in G Suite Basic domains can decide whether their users can use Activity dashboard. This new Admin console setting will be available for two weeks before the feature becomes available for users. By default this will be turned on, meaning that users will be able to view Activity dashboards for files that belong to their domain and that they have “Edit” access to. 
  • Existing admin and user controls will not change: Any existing privacy controls will remain the same when the change is enabled. For example, if an admin or user in a Basic domain has previously chosen to prevent their viewing data from appearing in Activity dashboards, this setting will not change. 
  • User features roll out starting September 4th: Depending on the admin action taken, this change will begin to roll out to users in Rapid Release G Suite Basic domains on September 4th and Scheduled Release G Suite Basic domains on September 18th. 


G Suite Enterprise, Enterprise for Education, Business, Education, and Nonprofit domains already have access to the feature. Nothing is changing for admins or users in these domains.

To learn more about how to change these settings for your organization, see our original launch announcement for Activity dashboard and our Activity dashboard Help Center article for admins. 

Activity dashboard enables efficient and effective communication 

Activity dashboard gives users useful metrics about how people are interacting with their Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files. They can use this to collaborate more efficiently and effectively. Since the initial launch of the Activity dashboard, we’ve made the feature more useful and more actionable. Users can now:

  • Email collaborators through Activity dashboard. Use knowledge about view histories to pick recipients and send custom follow-up emails. 
  • See viewers over time. Keep track of how many viewers have visited your file over time, adjusting the data range and focusing in on specific data points for more details. 
Activity dashboard gives users useful metrics about their files

Launch Details 
Release track: 
- Admin console settings are available today to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains.
- User-facing feature will begin to roll out to Rapid Release domains on September 4th and Scheduled Release domains on September 18th.

Editions: 
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace: 
- Admin settings: Available now.
- User-facing feature: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) 

Impact: 
Admins and end users

Action: 
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information 
Help Center (admins): Let users see who viewed files 
Help Center (users): See who has viewed Google Docs, Sheets & Slides


Launch release calendar
Launch detail categories
Get these product update alerts by email
Subscribe to the RSS feed of these updates