PART 1Gmail, Docs and Calendar

Setting up a Gmail account•Go to http://www.google.com.au to set up a Google Account.(If you already have a Google Account, click on Sign In and enter your account details)

•Click on the link to Gmail and click on “Create an Account” Your Google Account gives you access to Gmail and other Google services.

•Complete the details to create your account. Fill out the required information & enter the word verification

•Accept the conditions to create your account

10 benefits of using Gmail

Instead of using folders to organise your mail Gmail has labels allowing you to put your email in more than one location. Below are what Google considers the benefits of labels over folders.

There is a useful guide within Gmail on creating and using, editing and deleting labels

Gmail has a search facility that works the same way as search in Google. Enter a keyword or search terms from the required email, select either search email or labels and Gmail will list any email with the keyword or search terms highlighted in yellow.

Gmail is available as an app in both Apple and Android stores so can be accessed from mobile or fixed devices.

Gmail also has priority sorting, which sorts emails into important and unread, starred and everything else. It predicts what is important to you through what you read, what you reply to and sorts according. Obviously this facility improves with use. If Gmail gets it wrong you can change the priority with the use of this tab Clicking on it marks it as important.

Gmail comes with Chat and call facilities. Chat gives you the option of real time chat with your contacts and SMS to your contacts mobile numbers. Voice and video Call facilities are available however the voice and video chat plug in must be downloaded and installed for this to operate.

The link for the voice and video plug in download is http://www.google.com/chat/video

The best thing about Gmail is that it is free and comes with plenty of space.

Using Google DocumentsWith Google documents, you can easily create, share, and edit documents online. Here are a few specific things you can do:•Upload Microsoft Word, Open Office, RTF, HTML or plain text documents, create documents from scratch, and download your online ones. •Edit documents online simultaneously with anyone you choose, and invite others to view them. •Keep track of who made changes to a document and when, and roll back to any version. •Publish documents online to the world, as webpages or post documents to your blog. •Email your documents out as attachments.Creating and saving a documentTo create a new document, go to your Docs list, click the New drop-down menu, and select Document.

As you're working on your document, click the Save button in the top right corner of the document, enter a name for the document in the window that appears, and click OK. Then, you'll see your document in your Docs list.If you'd like to save and close a document, click the Save & close button.To save a local copy of a document, you can download it to your computer. To do this, open your document, click the File menu and point your mouse to the Download file as option. You'll see these file types: HTML, RTF, Word, Open Office, PDF, and plain text. Select a file type and click OK in the browser window that appears.Uploading a documentYou can upload existing documents to Google documents at any time. Here's how: Click the Upload button at the top of the sidebar in your Docs list page. Click Browse and select the document. Click Open. Click Upload File. The uploaded file appears in your Docs list.Sharing your documentNow that you've created your Google document, you can share it with your friends, family, or co-workers. You can do this from your Docs list or directly from the document.

Sharing from the Docs list:•From the Docs list, select the checkbox next to the document you want to share and click the Share button. •Enter the email addresses of the people you'd like to add. •Select as Collaborators or as Viewers from the drop-down list. •Add a message and click Send Invitation (this is optional). Sharing directly from a document: •Click Share > Share with others. •Select as collaborators if you want to allow them make changes to your document, or as viewers, if you want them to only view it. •Enter the email addresses or mailing lists that you'd like to add. •Add a message and click Invite collaborators. Then you can send an invitation (this is optional), or to skip sending an invitation, click Add without sending invitation. Your collaborators and viewers will still be able to access the spreadsheet from their Docs lists, but they won't receive an email invitation.

•When working with spreadsheets in Google Docs there is a facility called Forms which allows for the gathering of information from any sized group into one online spreadsheet. To view a short video on Google Docs Forms paste the following link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzgaUOW6GIs

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