June 23, 2022

ITS is super excited to show Google Workspace new features that are going to make your work life so much easier!

Google Drive

In Google Drive, you can see the file’s name, owner, modified date and size which is very helpful. The Google Workspace team has created a new location feature which lets users see the file’s locations in search, recent, starred and trash web views.

With the new search feature, file matching is more accurate and users can find the specific file quickly.

Open

Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides

The Google Workspace team just rolled out an update to their Google Docs, Sheets and Slides products that will allow you to make a copy of an existing encrypted document, spreadsheet or presentation. This will be helpful because users will be able to use their existing encrypted file content when creating their new encrypted Docs, Sheets, or Slides.

Open

Google Sites

Site editors can now create full pages of content directly within Google Sites by pulling in content from other websites, copying and pasting content, or inserting maps and documents to create presentations. Previously, editors could only include these elements as part of a page. This new feature provides a greater level of flexibility which helps users get up-to-date information to their readers. 

Google Meet

We’re happy to announce that the Google Workspace team has made picture-in-picture for Google Meet available on Chrome browsers.

It’s a new way to keep an eye on meetings while working in other windows. Users can see up to four video tiles of meeting attendees in a floating window on top of other applications.

Users will be able to pin multiple videos streams to make it easier for them to create the perfect meeting for their needs. This provides flexibility in how you combine people and content, allowing them to adjust the view in a way that benefits their needs.

For more information, please see the links below to Google’s announcements.

• Easily see file locations in Google Drive

• Copy your client-side encrypted Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files

• Embed content as a full page in new Google Sites

• Picture-in-Picture and multi-pinning available for Google Meet in Chrome

And as always, if you have any questions or concerns about Google Workspace, or would like ITS’ assistance with training for you or your department or division, please don’t hesitate to send us a ticket at http://ithelp.ncssm.edu or email us at ithelp@ncssm.edu.

May 24, 2022

ITS is thrilled to share a few of the powerful new features that have been added to Google Workspace. 

Google Meet

With the new Google Meet integration, users can join a Google Meet call from within Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

This update will help people who use these tools at work to be more productive and efficient. It is a great way for companies to collaborate in real time with their team members.

The new Google Meet integration will help teams collaborate more efficiently with each other.

Google Sites

Google Sites just got a lot more colorful. The Workspace Team is giving users the ability to import themes from one site to another. This will give users the opportunity to reuse themes across various sites. 

Also, the Google Workspace Team is giving customers more time to migrate from classic Google Sites to new Google Sites. The new timeline is: 

• Starting December 1, 2022  users will no longer be able to edit any remaining classic Sites in their domain. 

• Starting January 1, 2023 users will not be able to view Classic Sites unless they are converted to new Google Sites.

For those still managing or maintaining Classic Sites, if you have any questions or concerns about the migration process, please contact ITS. We will be working with these Site owners to ensure as smooth a migration as possible.

Google Calendar

In August 2021, the Google Workspace Team gave users the ability to share where they’re working from directly on their calendar. 

This team has recently updated the working location feature, allowing users to enter and update location information more efficiently and more compactly. 

Google Chat

When using Google Chat, users are met with warnings about potential phishing messages from Google users. These banners, which are already available in Gmail and Google Drive, help protect people from malicious messages by informing them of what might be an unsafe message or link.

For more information, please see the links below to Google’s announcements.

• Join a Google Meet call from Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides

• Import existing custom themes to new Google Sites

• Migrate your classic Google Sites before December 1, 2022

• Improved user interface for sharing your working location in Google Calendar

And as always, if you have any questions or concerns about Google Workspace, or would like ITS’ assistance with training for you or your department or division, please don’t hesitate to send us a ticket at http://ithelp.ncssm.edu or email us at ithelp@ncssm.edu.

May 11, 2022

ITS is excited to share the large number of changes that have occurred with Google Workspace over the past few months. The Google Workspace team has provided a number of helpful updates to their products to help keep their users engaged. Below are some of the updates that are happening with some of NCSSM's favorite tools: 

Google Docs

The Workspace team has added a smart canvas feature in Google Docs. This tool will help fuel users' collaboration by enhancing content and connections and offering flexible, interactive, and intelligent experience. The tool gives users the ability to add a summary and create pageless documents which will make it easier for them to work with documents that have wide tables, large images, and much more. 

Also, with the new smart canvas feature, the team also added dropdown chips and table templates that can be used for collaborative documents. The dropdown chips make it easy for users to designate the status of their document and project milestones. Users can choose from project status and review status. 

The table templates give users the ability to quickly insert building blocks that can be used for common workflows. The table template options are launch content tracker, project asset, review tracker, and product roadmap. Each template contains sample column content to help guide users on how they can be used and customized. 

There is an email draft template option available now for Google Docs which is very easy and helpful when collaborating with your classmates, colleagues, and friends on a draft. You can add people to the recipient field with the @ symbol without having to look up or remember their email address. Once the email draft is completed, users can easily preview and send the email by clicking the Preview in Gmail button.

The workspace team has created new Emoji reactions in Google Docs on the web to give users the ability to express their opinions concerning document content. This new feature is fun and easy to use. The emojis have options to help their users reflect their identity, there are also gender-neutral options, and the emoji skin tone and gender preferences are saved by each individual emoji. 

Users will notice enhanced menus to help improve finding the commonly-used items and more assistive writing suggestions in Google Docs. These changes will make the users’ experience more positive by making the product easier and faster to use. 

Google Sheets 

The Workspace team has improved Google Sheets by including intelligent corrections for formulas. With this change, users will be able to write formulas faster and will be able to utilize formula corrections when needed. Whenever a user includes a formula on their spreadsheet, this tool could discover another option to improve the formula and users will be able to accept or reject the option. 

For more information, please see the links below to Google’s announcements.

• New smart canvas features in Google Docs

• Use new table templates and dropdown chips in Google Docs to create highly collaborative documents

• New email draft template in Google Docs

• New Emoji reactions in Google Docs on web

• Intelligent corrections for formulas in Google Sheets

And as always, if you have any questions or concerns about Google Workspace, or would like ITS’ assistance with training for you or your department or division, please don’t hesitate to send us a ticket at http://ithelp.ncssm.edu or email us at ithelp@ncssm.edu.