Review - Google Sites

2 days back i received a link from my friend about Google site. I was quick to try it as i was curious to know what was in it. As i landed my steps to the main page i thought its something like Google Pages. I hadn’t much time, so i waited for Sunday.

So today i m tried google sites and found that my interpretation of Google sites was completely wrong. Google Sites is an online application that makes creating a team web site as easy as editing a document. Something like a collaboration service.
Sharing
Just as shown in the image there are 3 types of users.

Owners
* Invite other owners, collaborators, or viewers
* Change site themes, and layout
* Change the site name
* Delete the site
* Export backups and import to restore from backup
* Do everything a collaborator can do

Collaborators
* Create, edit, and delete pages
* Move pages
* Add attachments
* Add comments
* Add/remove pages to the sidebar navigation
* Subscribe to site and page change

Viewers
* Only view pages

Page Types
The strength of google sites is its Page type. There are 5 of them

Web Page
This is where your static content goes. Comes with very good Rich Text Editor. You can insert tables, images, google docs,picasa slide shows,etc.

Dashboard
Allows you to create something similar to iGoogle on a page within the site, useful for a landing page, news, etc. Warning: Something is not right. I get page errors when i add gadgets. The scrollbars seems to getting lost. All i can say is messy.

Announcement
Something like a webpage with a title in it, making it look like a blog.

File Cabinet
A repository. Mind you it only provides 100MB so dont go and overload this repository. One thing i didnt find on help site was what bout individual file size limitation that i can upload? Not mentioned anywhere. So i suppose u can upload 100MB file directly. Too bad will cause problem.

List
Couldnt make out what it is. Something for Collaboration i suppose.
They have got 4 List templates plus u can customize your own.

1. Action Items : Keep track of action items from a meeting or project
2. Issue List : Track your project's open issues
3. Unit Status : Track the status of individual units in your project.
4. Create your own: Define your own columns for your list
   

Overall it’s something for collaboration purpose. So, not every user can use it. Yeah if one wants to create a simple site you can try it but it is not what Google site is for.

Out of 5 i would give it 2.5 rating.