What Is Google Docs?

It seems that more and more things are being done online. We keep our files online, we talk to people online, we place games online, and now you can make your business files online as well. If you're used to Microsoft's Office suite (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) or to Apple's iWork suite (Pages, Numbers and Keynote) you won't be too confused when first you meet the Google Docs suite.

Google Docs does the basics of what you're used to doing in your normal office programs, but cuts out most of the bells and whistles. You can create a word processing document, a presentation, a spreadsheet, a form, or a drawing. You needn't remember to save as it auto-saves up to Google's cloud regularly, and you also have the option of downloading it to your computer so you can work on the document offline assuming you have a similar program on your computer. (You can also upload a file from your computer to Google Docs if you wish to work on it from any computer with internet access.)

You can also share your documents with others with a click of a button, allowing others to either download your document, view it online, or work on it online with you. These are handy options for people who need to collaborate with others who may use different types of computers or programs. It also has a very nice price point- free. That's right, you pay nothing for Google Docs; It's included in your free Google account. Now, keep in mind what I said in the beginning that it is missing some whistles and bells, but if you only do basic document creation and editing, I recommend checking out Google Docs.

Practical Tip of the Day:
In Google Docs, you have many options on which way you'd like to download your document. If you'd like to be able to edit it on your computer without having an internet connection, downloading it in the common Microsoft Office format is recommended (Word, Excel, and Powerpoint), but if you do not need to be able to edit it and would like to make it the easiest to view on a wide range of computers and mobile devices, PDF format is best. PDFs (portable document format) are not easily editable, but are able to be viewed using software that is usually included on modern computers, and easily downloaded in case it isn't there. Picking the format of your file is important as it dictates what you can do with your files, and how you can do it. Choose carefully!

What Are Those Wavy Lines In Word?

The area I live in used to have a big typewriter factory. Then they started making word processors. It's been explained to me that the biggest difference between a typewriter and word processor is that a work processor would check your spelling and let you make corrections before the ink actually touched the paper. Nowadays, word processors are programs on computers that let you type things up. From there you can print it, email it, save it, and many other things.

The most common word processing program is Microsoft Office's Word. If you use a Mac there's iWork's Pages, and if you like free things there's a slew of free programs you can get from the Internet (Note: Be careful when downloading programs off the Internet. Not everything is what it claims to be!) In most word processing programs you can do things like make your text bold or underlined, center justified, and even add pictures, but the most basic thing is still the ability to have your spelling checked for you. If you've ever used one of these programs you may have noticed red lines appear under your misspelled words.

If you see a word with a red wavy line under it, right-click on it (that means pressing the button on the mouse that's on the right instead of the left like we usually do) and the program will suggest words it thinks you meant. Keep in mind that this will only catch misspelled words, not misused words. It won't catch "their, there, and they're" problems or "to, two, and too", but it's a very handy tool.

You may also see another kind of line; a green one. If you see a green wavy line under a section of your text that means that the program thinks there's a grammatical error. This will often find things like a word typed twice on accident, sentence fragments and other obvious errors, but again, there are things that it won't be able to detect. Just like with the red wavy line, if you right-click on the text that has the green line under it, the program will tell you what error it detects so you can make the correction.

Practical Tip of the Day:
If you're writing something that you're going to share with other people, always proofread it. I know this isn't a technical tip, but you can't replace an actual person reading something. Re-reading your document will find things spelling and grammar check can't catch like run on sentences and nonsensical grammar.