Google Docs and Sites 2011: A Year in Review

This year, we introduced over 100 new features to Google Docs to make creating, sharing, and collaborating in the cloud an even better experience.

In addition to the features you asked for the most, like page numbers and vertical merge, here are our team’s favorite improvements of 2011:

• A new version of Google presentations with character-by-character collaboration - plus new transitions, animations, and themes 
• Comments in Google documents, followed by improvements including collapsible discussions, better email notifications, and a more detailed discussion pane
• A Google Docs Android app available in 48 languages for searching, viewing, and sharing Google Docs on the go in 48 languages
• Comment-only access in documents that allows others to view and comment on your doc without editing
• Offline viewing for your documents and spreadsheets
• Pivot tables in spreadsheets to process and summarize large data sets in seconds 
• Pagination in documents that provide visual page breaks on the screen 
• New printing options such as one-click CloudPrint from your mobile device 
• Page-level permissions in Google Sites for better control over who can view and edit your pages
• Improved accessibility including new screen reader support and shortcuts that makes Google Docs more accessible and navigable for blind users
• A new look across Google Docs and Sites for a more consistent web experience

Our team also loved hearing from you throughout the year: We had you ask us anything in a Reddit AMA, met our Docs and Sites Top Contributors, and held our first Docs Office Hours Google+ Hangout. Our interactions with you were constant reminders of why we build these products.

Let us know in the comments what your favorite features of 2011 were -- and what you’re wishing for in the new year. Thanks for following along -- we look forward to bringing you more in 2012.

Happy holidays from the Google Docs team!

Posted by: Jonathan Rochelle, Product Management Director

One more present under the tree—custom video messages from Santa

Posted by Trevor Claiborne, Product Marketing Manager

Last Friday Santa opened up the Ho Ho Hotline and teamed up with Gmail to send personalized holiday phone calls to anyone you know who has been nice (or naughty, for that matter) in the U.S. or Canada. In just a few days Santa has made hundreds of thousands of calls to your friends, family and loved ones, and received many a message from you at his Google Voice number (855-34-SANTA).

Santa has one more surprise in store. Starting today, anyone in the world can create and send a personalized cartoon video message (in English only) from Santa to anyone you know, anywhere in the world, and share them through email and Google+. Watch our sample video below and create your own at SendaCallFromSanta.com.



The Gmail team wishes you a happy holiday!

Scribbles for Gmail for mobile - a creative way to email

Posted by Donna Dupuis, Software Engineer

From prehistoric humans etching in caves to the modern-day thinker sketching a stroke of genius on a napkin, scribbling is a natural form of human expression. Not constrained by formatting or font styles, scribbling is a versatile outlet for expressing individuality and creativity. Not to mention it's a lot of fun.

Now you can quickly convey that eureka moment to a colleague, or simply brighten a loved one's day with a personal scribble in Gmail for the mobile web browser and the Gmail app for iOS. In the compose view, click on the scribble button to open up the drawing window. A lightweight interface makes it easy to get your idea down.

Need a bit of inspiration to get started? With the holidays just around the corner, it's a great time to send a handmade, festive greeting:


Or, perhaps your wit is better-expressed pictorially than textually. Use scribbles to send original comics to your friends, or generate a new meme:



Simple requests are that much more appealing from someone who puts in a bit of effort:


It’s also great for simply emoting beyond the limitations of plain text:


At the end of the day, it's a blank canvas. What do you want to share? To get started, head to mail.google.com on your iOS 4+, Android 3.1+ or Playbook device, or download the Gmail app for iOS from the App Store today.

We want to see what you can do! Send your scribbles to gmailscribbles@google.com and then share them with the world using #GmailScribbles.*

Brought to you by the Gmail team. Happy Holidays!


*By emailing your scribble to gmailscribbles@google.com, you give us your permission to upload, share or reproduce your scribble both digitally and physically. Unfortunately, we will not be able to showcase all submitted scribbles, and will have to pick and choose amongst the ones that we receive. Remember: have fun and be cool about it - nothing offensive and nothing that violates the law. Thanks!

Ho-ho-hold the phone: Santa’s on the line

Posted by Trevor Claiborne, Product Marketing Manager

Last year, Santa got his very own Google Voice number, and people around the U.S. received a special personalized holiday phone call from Santa Claus.

This year, Santa wants you to reach out to him (after all, reindeer are only so-so conversationalists). If you or your family members have a special request for Santa, you can call him right from Gmail* and leave him a message at his Google Voice number: 855-34-SANTA. Santa won't be able to return messages himselfâ€"it’s a busy time of year for himâ€"but he's promised to keep us up to date on happenings in the North Pole day by day.

You also can create and send a unique, customized phone call from Santa to anyone you know, from your nieces and nephews to old college friends, over the phone (to U.S. numbers only). Listen to a sample phone call, and send a message of your own from SendaCallFromSanta.com.

Of course, Santa is never one to fall behind the technological times (word on the street is that Rudolph’s nose was recently upgraded to an energy-efficient LED). So while the red suit may never go out of style, this year Santa has come up with an extra special way to spread the holiday cheer. But you’ll have to wait until it’s closer to Christmas to find out what it is. So no peekingâ€"but keep checking the site!

Happy Holidays from your friends at Gmail.

*Calls from Gmail are free for U.S. and Canadian users, but will cost people outside those areas $.01/minute (plus any applicable VATs).

Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog

Updates to the Gmail app for iOS

Posted by Ingrid Fielker, Software Engineer

When we launched the Gmail app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, we said we were just getting started and would continue to release updates regularly. Today we updated the app with some new features and interface improvements.

We've added the ability to set a custom signature for your mobile messages and a vacation responder, both available through the gear icon at the top of the menu view. We've also improved labels with support for nested labels:


Additionally, if you are using iOS 5, we've changed the notification sound so that it’s easier to distinguish when you've received an email.

We’ve also got another fun feature to make your language even more colorful (in a good way!). In the Gmail app and Gmail for mobile you can now open up a canvas and scribble a message that will be attached to your email. It's perfect for sending a quick sketch that is hard to express in words or adding a fun graphic to make your email more personal.

Scribbles support different colors, brush sizes, lines, erasers and spray paint. This example was created in the Gmail app on an iPad:


Behind the scenes, we're continuing to work on highly requested features like banner notifications, multiple login support and the ability to send-as from any account already configured in Gmail. We want to make sure these are done right as we continue to improve the Gmail app.

The update is available in the App Store and works on all devices running iOS 4+.

Free calling within the US and Canada through 2012

Posted by Vincent Paquet, Group Product Manager

As the holiday season approaches, we're happy to announce that we've extended free domestic calls within the US and Canada for 2012.

This is our way of helping you connect with friends and family across the country. And you can still call the rest of the world from Gmail at our insanely low rates.

Try Google presentations. No login required.

We recently launched a new version of Google presentations with many new features to help you create beautiful presentations together. We’ve added the new editor to our Docs demos to make it easier to test drive your presentation building skills.

Check out the new animations and transitions, get artsy with drawings, and show off your masterpiece to a friend or colleague. You can share the link in the demo with others and work on the same presentation together. No login required. No Google account needed. Just go to docs.google.com/demo to take it for a spin.

The new Google presentations continues to gradually roll out to all users. You can try it in the demo and if you like it, you can enable it in your Docs settings.

Posted by: Sarah Cooper, User Experience Designer