GOOGLE SLIDES - New Sidebar

The NEW SIDEBAR in Google Slides has 6 helpful tools in one place!

The New Sidebar in Google Slides puts 6 helpful tools in one spot to the right of your presentation so that you can find and use them easily when you're editing your presentation. The 6 tools are - 1) Templates - a variety of templates that can be applied to your presentation, 2) Building Blocks - pre-formatted pieces of content that can be added to your presentation, 3) Stock & Web - images, stickers, and visual elements that can be added to your presentation, 4) Drive & Photos - access items in your Google Drive and Google Photos to add them to your presentation, 5) Slides Recordings - you can record yourself presenting, then have access to the recordings, and finally, 6) Speaker Spotlight - you can insert your video feed directly into your presentation. Each of these tools can be found on the toolbar under either Insert, View, or Slide so you can access each of them in another place but having them all together in the New Sidebar is a great new addition to Google Slides!

TECH TREAT of the MONTH - MAY 2025

 There's a NEW SIDEBAR in Google Slides! SPRING into action and check it out!

GOOGLE DRIVE - Share Video at a Timestamp

Look how easy it i to SHARE VIDEO AT A TIMESTAMP with Google Drive!

When you save a video in Google Drive, you have a "hidden" option that you might not know about. Most people are familiar with the Share button but when you click on the down arrow next to the word Share, you'll see the option to Copy Link To This Time. To use this feature, play the video or scroll to a specific time in the video. Pause the video and click the down arrow on the Share button next to the word Share. Click on Copy Link To This Time. This copies a link for you at the timestamp. When you share the link, whoever you shared it with will be able to view the video starting at the timestamp. This is really helpful when you want people to view a portion of a video and not view the whole video. Instead of them having to scroll to view the video at a specific time, you've done the work for them and shared the video at a timestamp.

TECH TREAT of the MONTH - APRIL 2025

Don't FOOL around! Check out how you can SHARE VIDEO AT A TIMESTAMP in Google Drive!

GOOGLE DOCS - Cover Image

 You can add a COVER IMAGE in Google Docs now but make sure that you're in Pageless format!

Google continues to add new features to Google Docs all the time and Cover Image is a great one! It's only available when you're in Pageless format so be sure to switch to that if you want to try out Cover Image. You can switch to Pageless format by clicking on Format and Switch to Pageless Format or by clicking on File, Page Setup, and selecting Pageless. When you're in Pageless format, Google Docs look more like a web page and when you add a Cover Image, it looks even more like a web page. The Cover Image is wide and goes across the whole width of the Pageless format. If you want to adjust the Cover Image, just click on it and a small toolbar appears at the bottom left of the Cover Image. The toolbar lets you replace the image, reposition the image, add alt text to the image, or delete the image. When you click off the Cover Image, the toolbar disappears. Click back on the Cover Image and the toolbar will reappear.

TECH TREAT of the MONTH - MARCH 2025

 We're in LUCK! Google Docs has a new COVER IMAGE feature and it's awesome!☘

GOOGLE FORMS - Rating Question

 Try out the new RATING QUESTION in Google Forms and you'll see how awesome it is!

I've always loved Google Forms and it's been great to see all the changes and updates to them over time. The new Rating Question is definitely a fun addition to Google Forms. It has some interesting options that make it visually appealing. First of all, you can select how many icons you want to show. You can choose from 3-10 icons. You can also select from 3 different icons to use for rating - a star, a heart, and a thumbs up. When you're in the Published version of Google Forms, you can click on any of the icons to give a rating and they show up in color, which I really like. The star is yellow, the heart is read, and the thumbs up is blue. Speaking of the Published version of Google Forms, the new Publish button takes a little getting used to but I think it's a good change. It prevents people from accidentally filling out the form in the Edit version and it makes more sense than the Send button. I love all the changes in Google Forms!

TECH TREAT of the MONTH - FEBRUARY 2025

 Google Forms has a new RATING QUESTION and you're going to LOVE it!

GOOGLE SLIDES - New Templates

 Check out the NEW TEMPLATES in Google Slides! They're awesome!

When I first saw Templates on the right side in Google Slides, I thought that it was replacing Themes because Themes is usually showing on the right side when Google Slides opens. Thankfully, this is not the case. We still have Themes and now we have Templates, too! If you want to see Themes instead of Templates, just click on the word Theme at the top of Google Slides and Themes will open in the right side navigation pane instead of Templates. Also, if you want to see Templates but they're not showing, just click on the Slide tab at the top of Google Slides and then click on Templates. We have so many new templates to choose from that it might be hard to make up your mind. As you scroll through the new templates, you can click on any of the templates to see all of the slides in the template. You can click on any slide in a template to add it to your presentation or you can insert all the slides from a template into your presentation.

TECH TREAT of the MONTH - JANUARY 2025

 It's a NEW YEAR and Google Slides has some awesome NEW TEMPLATES for you to try out!

GMAIL - Create an Event

It will save you lots of time when you use GMAIL to CREATE AN EVENT and it's so easy!

Being able to create a calendar event from an email while in Gmail is such a great feature! It saves you time because you don't have to leave Gmail and open up your Google Calendar to create an event. This means that you don't have to go back and forth between Gmail and Google Calendar to transfer the information in the email to the calendar event. When you create an event in Gmail, Google transfers the message from the email right into the description for the calendar event. It also makes the subject line of the email the name of the calendar event and automatically adds the person who sent the email as an invitee. You can add additional guests and edit the guest list, if needed. The main thing that you need to do is edit the date and the time to make sure that they're correct. The default is the date and time when you're creating the event so you definitely need to make sure that you change the date and time to match the information in the email.

TECH TREAT of the MONTH - DECEMBER 2024

 You'll be giving yourself the GIFT of time when you use GMAIL to CREATE AN EVENT!

GOOGLE DOCS - Document Tabs

 We finally have the new DOCUMENT TABS in GOOGLE DOCS and they're awesome!

Document Tabs in Google Docs are finally here! We've had tabs available in Google Sheets but we've never had them in Google Docs before. Now you can have multiple tabs (pages), each with a name, all in one document. If you use Headings in your Google Doc, they will appear in the tab list below the name of the tab that they're on. You can name a tab anything you want but the Headings will appear in the list with the same text as they have in the Google Doc.  When Document Tabs open, you'll see Tab 1 ready for you. You can add a subtab, duplicate a tab, rename a tab, choose an emoji for a tab, and copy the link for a tab using the 3 dot menu. You'll notice that there's no Delete option for Tab 1 in the 3 dot menu because it can't be deleted. When you have multiple tabs, you can delete any of them except one. When you have only one tab, you can't delete it. If you don't want to use tabs, you can just ignore Tab 1, but I think you're going to like using Document Tabs!

TECH TREAT of the MONTH - NOVEMBER 2024

 I'm so THANKFUL that we finally have the new DOCUMENT TABS in GOOGLE DOCS!

GOOGLE SLIDES - Import Theme

 IMPORT THEME in GOOGLE SLIDES is the perfect way to use saved theme templates!

The Import Theme feature in Google Slides is amazing! I'm always looking for great templates for Google Slides and one of my favorite sources is Slidesmania (slidesmania.com). The templates are free and they're saved in your Google Drive. With Import Theme, I can import a saved theme template and I can choose the slides that I want to use from all of the slides. This is instead of using the template and having all of the slides in my presentation and having to delete the ones I don't want to use. Also, this eliminates the possibility that I would accidentally use the template and then I would no longer have my template that I could use again. I could make a copy of the template and use the copy but then I would again have all of the slides in my presentation. Import Theme is the perfect solution. You have access to all the slides but you can pick and choose the ones you want to use. You will still have your template saved in your Google Drive and you will still be able to customize any slides that you use in your presentation.

TECH TREAT of the MONTH - OCTOBER 2024

Using IMPORT THEME in GOOGLE SLIDES is a great TRICK and definitely a TREAT!

GMAIL - Offer Available Times

 Did you know that you can use GMAIL to OFFER AVAILABLE TIMES for meetings and events? Check it out!

If you've ever sent emails back and forth with someone trying to find a date that works for both of you, Gmail has a better way! You can use the Gmail feature to Offer Available Times! When you click the calendar icon at the bottom of the Compose window, you'll have the option to select Offer Times You're Free. Click on that option and you'll be able to select dates and times that you're available in a Calendar Sidebar that opens. After selecting a date, you can click on a time or click and drag to select a block of time. You can add other dates and do the same thing. You can even add a Google Meet and add a description. When you're ready, click on Add to Email. The body of your email will now have a list of time slots showing your available dates and times! When you send the email, the recipient will be able to select the time slot that works for them and the event will be added to your calendar and to their calendar.

TECH TREAT of the MONTH - SEPTEMBER 2024

 It's FALL planning time and you can use GMAIL to OFFER AVAILABLE TIMES for all those meetings!

GOOGLE SHEETS - Pre-Built Tables

 See how easy it is to use the new PRE-BUILT TABLES in GOOGLE SHEETS!

When you open Google Sheets now, you'll see the new side panel for Pre-Built Tables open automatically on the right. You don't even have to look for this new feature! If, for some reason, the Pre-Built Tables side panel doesn't open, you can access it by clicking the Insert tab and clicking on Tables. The panel will now appear on the right side of your Google Sheet. You can also type @ and when the menu appears click on Tables. The side panel for Pre-Built Tables will open. Pre-Built Tables include smart chips, placeholders, and custom color palettes. There are categories listed and under each category are options to choose. Click the arrow by a category name to see the options. When you scroll over any option, you'll see a preview of the table in Google Sheets. After you decide on a Pre-Built table that you want to use, click the Insert tab shown right beside it and the table will be inserted into your Google Sheet.

TECH TREAT of the MONTH - AUGUST 2024

It's as EASY AS ABC to insert the new PRE-BUILT TABLES in GOOGLE SHEETS!