Google Jan. 31 began making Google Docs more visually appealing and easier to use as it seeks to improve its cloud-computing collaboration application for documents.
Google Jan. 31
said it is refining the search capabilities in its Google Docs document
software to help users find the myriad files they create and store in the
company's cloud-computing system.
The
enhancements are all geared toward making Docs a more serious collaboration
software play as the company seeks to pit Google Apps against Microsoft
Business Productivity Online Suite and SharePoint, Zoho and other collaboration
suites.
To help users
find many different files, the Docs team added filters to let them search by
type, visibility state and other criteria. This is important considering the
variety of document types Google supports.
Google a year
ago
upped the document-storing ante for its Docs application,
allowing Google Apps users to upload large graphic files, .zip folders, RAW
photos or personal videos in addition to the documents, spreadsheets,
presentations and PDF files the application always accepted.
Google also
just added priority sorting, which as the name implies, sorts files using
signals of relevance, as an option in all views. Priority sorting is based on
the technology in Gmail's Priority Inbox messaging-relevance feature.
The company
also added a new preview panel on the right side of the document list so that
users may see a preview thumbnail and sharing settings.
Moreover,
users can start playing videos directly from the preview panel or from the
video player in Docs. Photos now open for viewing via a slide show format. See
samples of the new features in this
blog post.
Google also
introduced Home view, which lets users remove files by right-clicking the file
and selecting "Don't show in home."
Finally, a new
"Collections" tab has replaced Folders in the left navigation bar and
will include labels and folders. To be clear, files can inhabit several
collections, which can be stored like folders on a desktop, and shared just as
documents are shared.
The
refinements will be rolling out to all Docs users over the next couple of days,
so make sure to check the
application for changes and a "guided tour," said
Vijay Bangaru, Google Docs product manager.
Google Apps
for Business customers who don't have the "Enable pre-release
features" box checked will have to wait a few weeks to see the new Docs.
The
improvements are the latest of a string of significant changes to Google Docs
stretching back to April, when the company
rewrote the application with a new JavaScript
layout engine and HTML5 to speed up the application's document, drawing and
spreadsheet editors.
The Docs team
then
added shared folders and batch-file upload
capability in October.
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