Computer Tips From A Computer Guy

Things You Didn’t Know Google Docs Could Do

Posted: 24 Feb 2010 03:20 AM PST

Google Docs is slowly evolving into a set of extremely useful tools and applications. Even though it may not be able to compete on every level with Microsoft Office or the other major office suites, Google is doing a good job of adding useful functionality at a steady pace.

A lot of useful functionality does still get overlooked, even by regular users. Here are some underrated features in Google Docs that you may not even know about.

Publish to Blog from Google Docs

One of the best things about Google Docs is the ability to share documents. What most people don’t know is that you can publish documents directly to your blog.

1. Once you’ve saved your post, click on Share, and then choose Publish as a web page.

Share drop-down menu

2. On the Publish this document page, click on the change your blog site settings link.

Document publishing settings

3. On the Blog Site Settings page, fill in your blog settings, User Name and password.

Blog site settings

4. Once you’ve verified that Google Docs can connect to your blog (use the Test button), click OK.

5. When you’re ready to post your document, click the Post to blog button, and then click OK on the confirmation dialog box.

Post to Blog

Your document should appear on your blog. You may have some minor formatting issues depending on the complexity of the document, but being able to post to your blog directly from a good online word processor is worth the trouble, and saves you the extra work of having to copy and paste everything to your blog editor.

Bulk Upload All File Types

Google recently changed their policy to allow you to upload any type of file you would like up to 250mb. Previously you were restricted to typical office file types which Google Docs converted to its native format upon upload.

Now you can use Google Docs to store important files, which is really handy when you’re on the road, or when you need to access files from multiple computers.

1. From the main Google Docs dashboard, click Upload.

Upload button

2. Click on the Select Files to upload link.

Select files to upload

3. Select the files you would like to upload and click Select.

Choose files

4. A list of the files you’ve chosen to upload will be displayed. If you would like your documents converted to Google Docs format (from Microsoft Word, Excel, etc.), click the checkbox next to Convert documents, spreadsheets & presentations to Google Docs format.

If you would like to save the files to a folder, choose the folder from the drop-down menu. When you are ready, click Start upload.

File upload options

5. Once your files are loaded, Google Docs will display a check mark next to them.

Completed uploads

These are just two of the lesser known Google Docs functions that can really improve your productivity and mobility. With these tools you know that you can post to your blog and access the files you need from anywhere at any time.

Copyright © 2007
Online Tech Tips.
Aseem Kishore (digitalfingerprint: a59a56dce36427d83e23b501579944fcakmk1980 (74.125.112.80) )

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Things You Didn’t Know Google Docs Could Do

Backup and Move Your iTunes Library to Another Computer

Posted: 23 Feb 2010 03:55 AM PST

Backing up your iTunes library regularly is always a good thing to do, especially if you have a lot of music. Some people have several thousand songs. Imagine losing 2000+ songs because your hard drive failed… not good.

In many cases, 2000+ songs would mean $2000… down the drain. This tutorial will teach you three easy ways to backup your iTunes. Hopefully, one of them works for you.

For this tutorial, you will need:

- An external hard drive

- A high capacity flash drive

and/or

Another computer

*If you plan on transferring your iTunes to another computer, your hard drive or flash drive needs to be formatted correctly. If transferring to a Mac, the hard drive must be formatted as OS X Journaled. If transferring to a PC, the hard drive must be formatted as FAT 32.*

Backing up your iTunes library

1. Open up iTunes

2. Navigate to your iTunes preferences. If you are using a Mac, click the iTunes text in the top OS X navigation bar and select Preferences from the drop down menu.

If you are using Windows, select edit from the top toolbar of the iTunes window and select Preferences from the drop down menu.

3. Click on the advanced tab.

4. Check to assure that the option to Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library has a check mark next to it. If not, check it. Click the OK button when you are finished.

5. Click the File button located on the top OS X navigation bar on Macs, or the top Window menu in Windows. Hover your mouse over the Library link from the drop down menu and select Organize Library from the secondary sub menu.

6. From the Organize Library window, put a check next to the listing Consolidate Files. If you have the option, also put a check mark in the box that says Upgrade to iTunes Media organization. Click the OK button.

7. Close out of iTunes completely. If you are using a Mac, select iTunes from the top OS X navigation bar and select Quit iTunes. If you are using Windows, just click the X in the corner of the iTunes window to exit.

8. Connect your external hard drive or high capacity flash drive to your computer.

9. Navigate to your external hard drive or flash drive and open it. If you are using a Mac, it should auto mount and show up on the desktop. If you are using Windows, you may need to navigate to your My Computer and open it from there.

10. Find the location of your iTunes folder. By default, the location is Finder > Username > Music > iTunes on a Mac. The location is Start > Documents > Username > My Documents > My Music on a PC.

If your iTunes folder is not located in one of those locations, you can manually find it. Reopen iTunes. Use the path iTunes > Preferences on a Mac, or Edit > Preferences on a PC.

11. Click the Advanced tab. Look for the section labeled iTunes Media folder location. That is how you can get to your iTunes folder.

12. Click and drag your main iTunes folder into your external hard drive of flash drive.

That's all there is to backing up your iTunes. You now have all of your music saved too your external hard drive or flash drive.

Restoring iTunes or adding iTunes to another computer (optional)

13. Make sure that you have iTunes installed on the other computer. If you do not, you can get iTunes here.

14. Connect your external hard drive of flash drive to the computer.

15. Launch iTunes.

16. Drag your iTunes folder from your external hard drive/flash drive into the iTunes Window.

17. Wait for all music to copy completely. This could take quite a while, depending on how many songs that you are copying. After that, you're done.

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Backup and Move Your iTunes Library to Another Computer