An entirely new way to stay organized

Posted by: Ron Schneider, Technical Lead, Google Docs & Spreadsheets

Today we introduced some exciting changes to Google Docs & Spreadsheets.

Here's what's new:

• Looking pretty - The entire document list has been given a complete visual overhaul - new icons, more content, and better organizational controls. We know users spend a lot of time here and we aim to make it feel more like home.
• Getting organized - Almost from the day we launched people have been clamoring for folders. They're here! Even cooler, our new folders continue to work like the tags they've replaced - your old tags are automatically converted to folders and documents can live in more than one folder at a time. Organizing your documents is as easy as dragging and dropping a document to a folder. We've also included special controls for seeing only those documents created by you or shared with a particular person.
  
• Search that thinks ahead - If you've ever tried Google Suggest, you know how cool it is when a search engine offer suggestions as you type. Google Docs & Spreadsheets now works the same way - we offer dynamically filtered results from your document list as you type, saving you time and getting you to your documents more quickly.

We hope you like what you see. As always, we welcome your feedback in our help group.

Changes are afoot

Posted by: Ken Norton, Product Manager, Google Docs & Spreadsheets

Tomorrow we're going to release a new version of Docs & Spreadsheets, so keep your eyes peeled. We wanted to give you a bit of advance notice since things will look different when you log in.

People have really come to rely on Docs & Spreadsheets since we launched last October, and lots of you have offered suggestions for ways we could improve the experience for both new and power users. Tomorrow's update is a direct response to this feedback, and includes new ways to keep your docs organized, and find your old docs too.

We can hardly wait to show you, and we hope you'll like what you see. If you have questions or feedback, it's always welcome in our help group.

See shared docs & spreadsheets before logging in

Posted by: Jonathan Rochelle, Product Manager

When someone invites you to a view or edit a shared document or spreadsheet, you expect to be able to see it without having to jump over any walls (like a sign-in page or registration). We know this because you told us.

So now, if you invite someone who doesn't have a Google Account (or who does, but isn't logged in) to share a document or spreadsheet, he or she will be able to immediately view it. To edit, however, it's still necessary to first sign in or to create a Google account. Syd & Regina explained this in our Group.

To enable this feature, check the option on the "Share" tab called "Invitations may be used by anyone" - which will also allow people to forward your invitation email to others, so those people may gain access. You can always uncheck the box to limit access to those people you specifically invite. (They'll still need to be logged in to their Google account to create and edit documents and spreadsheets.)