Recently, my team used Google Docs to write the web page content for a 2010 web design competition on charity, humanities, and technology, so I ended up using Google Docs' online collaboration feature. It's quite easy to use. Just set the document's sharing permissions, send the URL to your collaborators, and you can start editing the document together. It also has a simple built-in instant messaging program, so you can chat while you write. It's great for school group assignments or for anyone who needs to write reports at work.

Actually, I originally wanted to write an introduction to Office 2010. But after I downloaded Office and tested it, my impression of Microsoft dropped even further (not that I had a good impression of them to begin with~). Office 2010 pretty much feels the same as 2007. Its only distinguishing feature is collaboration, but it’s harder to use than Google Docs. Maybe I just didn’t study it carefully, but after 30 minutes I still couldn’t find where the collaboration feature was. If I couldn’t find it, then plenty of people who aren’t good with computers wouldn’t find it either. So I gave up on writing about Office 2010, and I’ll say it plainly: it’s too awful for me to recommend.

Ugh… Someone just told me that the version I downloaded was the web installer, which is why it was acting so strangely.

Using Google Docs Collaboration

1. Of course you need a Google account to use Google Docs, but that's not really the point of this post... So first, open Google Docs using the link below.

http://docs.google.com/

  1. Open the file you want to collaborate on, then click Share → Sharing settings.

  1. Enter your collaborator’s Google account in the add users field, then click Share.

P.S. When entering the account, be sure to include “@gmail.com” as well.

  1. If the user you just added shows up, that means it worked. Then click Close.

  1. Next, copy the URL from your browser and send it directly to your collaborator~

  1. When “XXXX is viewing” appears in the upper-right corner of the window, it means the other person has joined. I haven’t tested how many people can collaborate at the same time.

  1. Click “XXX is viewing” in the upper-right corner to open the instant messaging window between you and your collaborators.