Pop quiz

Posted by: Garnet Gratton

Garnet Gratton is an educator with experience teaching university-level literature and writing courses. She has also taught high school, 9th through 12th grades, in both public and private settings. Now, she teaches and consults other educators through her @edu blog, which is where we first encountered her story.

Ever since I discovered Google Docs' forms, I must confess that I’m obsessed. I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about all I can do with forms: grading and testing and quizzing and polls and information collection and books-read-this-month and surveys and sign-ups. . . . It goes on and on until I fear my head may split.

To put an end to the madness, I picked one option, put fingertips to keyboard and came up with a simple quiz on rhetoric:

You can send this quiz to each of your students through email, but it's even easier to make it public, and link to it from your website. Have them enter responses from the computer lab, or assign it for homework. Google docs timestamps students' entries, so you'll know if they beat your deadline, and their responses are collected into a Google docs spreadsheet, which you can check at any time.

One of the great things about this system is that you as the teacher have the option to keep the spreadsheet private, or make it public, allowing students to compare their answers with others. I call this particular quiz a "feeler quiz," in which I can sort of feel out whether students understand the information from a previous lesson, or if the material needs a further going over. Hmmmm. In this case, I think it's the latter!

A little presentation gives a lot of information

Posted by: Meredith Whittaker, Program Manager

Idling online the other day, I came across a presentation on the Piraeus Lion, created and posted on P-E Fronning's Martin Klasch blog.

The topic is interesting, but I was particularly impressed with the way that P-E used the embedded presentation to communicate a large amount of content in short and manageable pieces.

Says P-E, "I've been familiar with the Piraeus Lion, and its history, for awhile. After reading a Wikipedia article on the subject, I thought it might be interesting to others. A fellow blogger wrote something about Google Docs, which seemed to be a great way to communicate this content, so that's what I did."

Check it out here to learn a little about Greek sculpture, the spoils of war, runic graffiti and the versatility of embedded presentations.

Aliza's chronicles, part 4: collaboration, quick and easy

Posted by: Aliza Sherman, author, speaker, TV and radio producer

In my last post, I talked about using Google Docs for long-term collaboration. But what about quick collaboration for one or two documents? Keeping track of them is not the issue, but I've found plenty of reasons to use Docs for quick collaboration.

Recently, someone asked me to review a press release for their nonprofit organization. Since I like to do pro-bono work for good causes, I was happy to do it and simply uploaded it to Docs, made my edits, then pointed her to it. Voila! Done.

Also in the last few weeks, I started working on a rough Table of Contents to land a new book deal and have asked another writer to co-author the book with me. With me in Alaska and her on the East Coast, I knew that email and the occasional phone call would be all we’d need. But I was wrong. We needed Docs.

We each took a stab at the TOC, then I uploaded both versions and used one of the versions as the foundation for the collaborative draft. Then I discovered another feature.

When I went to save the document so I could email it to my book agent, I remembered the "attach the document as a PDF" feature, so I sent it to her directly from Docs. That particular book project my agent was pitching me and my writer friend for did not pan out. But, we realized we'd make a great team as we worked together on Google Docs. We are now in the process of collaborating on a new book proposal -- so what started out as a quick collaboration may soon become long-term.

Next time, I'll discuss how Google Docs can enhance one's...guilty pleasures.

The Do's and Don't's for using Forms

Posted by: Jonathan Rochelle, Product Manager

We've heard plenty of great stories about how people are using the Forms feature of Google Docs and how it has really helped them collect information from friends, family, customers, employees and website or blog visitors. But (there's always a "but"), we've also heard some stories about how people have been confused when trying to re-arrange questions or otherwise change the spreadsheet underlying the form. Yes, we're actively fixing these issues, but in the mean time, here's a guide to getting along with the existing quirks of the current forms feature... Let us know if we've missed something by getting involved in the discussion on the Google Docs Help Group, where we've re-posted this information.

First - the basics: Yes, there is always a spreadsheet underlying a form... If you started with the spreadsheet, you knew that from the start, but if you started with the form (like clicking the "Create your own form" link on someone else's form confirmation), you discovered the spreadsheet part later (we hope!). Once your form is set up, form submissions get added to the spreadsheet at the bottom of your data - after the last row which has data already.

Second - the main source of confusion (and our fault): Generally, if you want to change the form, don't try to do it by changing the spreadsheet.... just edit the form. The form controls the spreadsheet more than vice versa.

Here are the detailed Do's and Don'ts to clarify how to edit forms:

	DO	DON'T
From the FORM	re-arrange questions using the up/down icons on the left of the question being edited delete questions you want removed from the form. Note: the spreadsheet column will NOT be deleted, so you won't lose any prior responses, but it will no longer be filled with any new data.
	DO	DON'T
From the SPREADSHEET	insert columns for your own data - calculations, notes, etc - which are not in the form insert rows under your column headers to create calculations of results (such as counts of each answer, etc. New form responses will always be added after the last row with any content.	DON'T try to re-arrange questions by cutting/pasting portions of columns OR whole columns DON'T delete columns that are in the form - they will not be deleted from the form and will eventually re-appear in the spreadsheet (next time you edit the form) as the first available column at the end of your current columns. DON'T change column header text, as the next edit of the form will overwrite those back to whatever they are on the form... make all changes to question titles on the form and those will be transferred to the spreadsheet column headers (overwriting what's there). DON'T expect re-ordering of questions in the form to change the order of columns in the spreadsheet

Featured video: quick and easy forms

Posted by: Meredith Whittaker, Program Manager

From one of your fellow Docs users, here's a well-made and thorough video covering every part of creating a spreadsheets form. The step-by-step instructions are a good way to get started making forms, and they also inform anyone who wants to help others in creating and distributing a form -- but doesn't want to provide tech support while the others figure it out :)

Note that while this video refers to creating a contact form, you can, of course, create surveys, questionnaires, order sheets, and many other cool things using the forms feature, and following these steps.

So, sit back and enjoy this great resource (and thank Lynnette for creating it!).



Check out more great Google Docs videos, created by lots of you, on the Google Docs Community channel.

Have a Docs-related video you'd like to submit to the Community Channel? Let us know.

Aliza's chronicles, part 3: collaboration and the long haul

Posted by: Aliza Sherman, author, speaker, TV and radio producer

Last time I discussed how Google Docs helped me as I migrated documents from my old computer to my shiny new one. This time I'll talk about using Google Docs for long-term collaboration.

As I prepared the manuscripts for my upcoming podcast, I started sharing them with my producer on Basecamp. She obliged me and checked them out, but commented that the “writeboard” or whiteboard collaboration feature wasn’t up to snuff because it required its own markup language.

“Try Google Docs,” she said. (She had found Docs and was a convert.) She uploaded my first manuscript. I was frustrated because I was hoping to see her previous revisions once I made my changes to the script.

“Look at the Revision History,” she said.

Revision history? I didn’t know Docs had a revision history feature! I swear a choir of angels sang and trumpets trumpeted in my head with that discovery. I'm looking for a long and fruitful relationship with my podcast producer and am grateful she told me about a new feature in Docs.

As I'm sure you know, when you're collaborating, a revision history is really critical. And of course it makes sense that the feature for looking back at previous revisions would be in Docs. I am, of course, a feature-phobe, which means:

• I'm terrified to try something that I don't need yet. I use just what I need when I use it.
• Did I mention that I hate to read instructions of any kind?
• But, each time I discover a useful new feature, it is like Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa and all the other sparkly holidays in one.

Another example of how I'm using Google Docs for long-term collaboration: Every month I send press releases for a client's workshops. To properly format the releases, I refer to a list of workshop descriptions, a list of locations, and a list of media contacts. Now instead of searching for these documents on my computer, I can quickly access Google Docs and copy and paste the content that I need.

Occasionally one or more of those documents needs updating, something that's easy to do in Docs. Then the next time I access the files, I always know that the most recent copy is at my fingertips. The collaboration comes in handy when my client wants to update the document. I have a number of ways of getting the most recent version I have to her for her edits including giving her access to my documents in Docs, emailing her a PDF for her to print and markup (yes, people still do that), and downloading to my computer and attaching to an email to her.

I love these options and so do my clients and collaborators.

Extra Tip: Make sure to name your files clearly so you always know what they contain without even having to open it.

In my next post, I'll discuss quick collaborations in Google Docs.

Simply scientific

Posted by: Stephen Rahn, Information Technology Specialist at Kennesaw State University, currently teaching and working on a Ph.D in Instructional Technology

We've been using Google Docs for some time. The fact that it's free helps our rural school district save money that would otherwise be spent on more expensive productivity suites. We've found, especially, that the sharing capabilities have helped facilitate research and collaboration in our school's science classes.

Currently, our students are using Google Spreadsheets to enter data collected from water samples from a nearby stream, measuring the pH level in the water and also looking at different types of chemicals present. They then use Google Documents to chart the data they find, and share it with each other. This keeps them all on track, and means that they can learn from each other and draw on a much larger pool of data than if they were simply keeping notebooks, not shared until the project's end, if ever.

We love Stephen's brief account of using Docs to facilitate science learning, and it got us wondering, who else is using Google Docs for science? Are you? Ornithologists, paleontologists, astronomers and armchair biochemists...we want to know how using Google Docs has helped your scientific pursuits.

Write us a note and let us know what you're up to, or submit a video, showing us how you use Google Docs for your science projects.

Docs on the iPhone with Chris Pirillo

Posted by: Meredith Whittaker, Program Manager

Chris Pirillo, Gnomedex Conference founder, CNN.com Live technology contributor, and one of our regular guest bloggers, uploaded a new video recently, giving an overview of using Docs on the iPhone (one of my favorite features :)

Check it out, below, and check out the accompanying post on his blog.

Notes from the computer graveyard

Posted by: Meredith Whittaker, Program Manager

I'm running late for work, the trains are packed. I arrive at the office a little winded, set down my coffee and open my laptop. Hello? Laptop? Try that again: close and open my laptop. No go. Shoot. I manually restart, plug and unplug; I change power outlets and restart again. Nothing.

And so it is, 20 minutes later I'm at the tech stop (our IT department), my laptop declared dead on arrival.

"How long will it take to get me a new machine?" I ask.

"That depends," Fernando, one of our IT gurus responds. "If you have a lot of files on the hard drive, it could take a day or so to transfer them over...if we can get to them. But, if you don't need much from the original computer, then we can get you up and running in a few hours."

Now, there were some music files, and a random PDF or two that I wanted. But, by and large, my important documents were all on Google Docs. So, while Fernando set up my new machine, I was able to work, business as usual, from the clunky loaner-computer.

Waiting at the tech stop for a morning isn't my idea of an amazing party, but since my documents were online and accessible, it didn't have to be the definition of a total time sink, either.

Aliza's chronicles, part 2: surviving the computer shuffle

Posted by: Aliza Sherman, author, speaker, TV and radio producer

In my previous post, I talked about finally turning to Google Docs to save my bacon while working on a major client job with multiple players, several simultaneous projects and too many versions of spreadsheets and documents flying around in email. After working with Google Docs for the remainder of the project, I didn't use it again for a while, at least not with my clients.

Then I hit another document crisis moment. I was trying to figure out the most efficient way to transfer files from my old PowerBook to my new MacBook and began misplacing old files and current versions of files. That's when it hit me: Why not just upload the current versions to Docs? So I did. And it was a good thing.

By using Google Docs as the bridge between my old and new computer, I was able to not only access critical documents from my new MacBook but also from any computer I happened to be on, anywhere. Ahhhh, I was seeing the light.

I didn't upload every document making the transfer but instead used the following criteria for uploading:

1. An open project with a client or collaborator
2. Any document that I would need to share with anyone
3. Documents related to an ongoing project

As I migrated old files to the new computer, I hit another snag. My new Intel Mac did not accept most of my old software, and it appeared as if I would have to purchase upgrades or new versions of all my most important software programs. To avoid this, I discovered NeoOffice, a shareware office suite software. Although I can convert any .ODT file (word processing) or . ODS (spreadsheet) file into a .doc and .xls, I don't really have to with Google Docs because it accepts the NeoOffice formats. What a relief!

I don't know about you, but feeling a sense of relief while using a Web app is a sure sign that you're on the right track.

My next blog post will explore using Google Docs for longer term collaboration.

Embed your forms

Posted by: Andrew Chang, Marketing Manager

Since we launched spreadsheet forms in January, one of the top user questions has been "How can I embed my form into a website or blog?" Last night, we added this option. You'll see this new feature during form creation, when you're prompted to invite people to fill out your form. Just skip the invitation step and look for "Embed" in the upper right-hand corner of the page. Paste the code provided into your blog or website.


Here's what a form looks like once it's been embedded into a blog.

Making across the country feel like across the classroom

Posted by: Meredith Whittaker, Program Manager

Brian Crosby and Lisa Parisi came to my attention when I stumbled across a video they'd made, showing their students collaborating on short stories using Skype and Google Docs. Over the course of some weeks, we worked together on a post describing the details of their project.

The Harris Burdick Collaborative Writing Project began because the teachers and educational professionals involved have become part of a network through their blogs, Twitter, Skype and other web applications. Brian Crosby in Nevada and Lisa Parisi in New York initially connected through their fifth grade students’ blogs, which are hosted on ClassBlogmeister.

“Our students were communicating through the comments and assignments on their blogs and just seemed a good fit for one another,” Parisi noted.

Crosby added, “Lisa and I ended up connecting further through Twitter and email and a collaborative project just seemed a natural extension of what had already begun.”

The project was simple: the children would use Docs to collaboratively write stories based on the book The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, by Chris van Allsburg. The book is really a set of 14 drawings each of which is inspiration for a different story. Children from one class in New York would be partnered up with children from the other class in Nevada to brainstorm and write a story about one of the pictures. Google docs would allow them to work both synchronously and asynchronously and have text discussions, since updates are almost instantaneous.

While the students worked on the projects individually, “The real collaboration happened when we arranged to have both classes working on them at the same time," Parisi remembered: “Students were sharing ideas about characters and plot as well as the story, and they could see each others’ work as it was being done!”

Because they had experience video-conferencing, Crosby and Parisi added Skype video-conferencing into the mix. They set-up computers with webcams in their respective classrooms and their students could then see and hear each other while at the same time working on their Docs live. “This added another powerful collaborative element,” said Crosby, “Now they knew what each other looked like and it “humanized” their relationship.”

Reported Parisi, “We would give partners 5 minutes or so to video-conference, and usually only when it was necessary to deal with a problem they were having with their story. Each time we worked synchronously we only had 45 minutes or so because of our schedules, with 14 groups that might need to meet there was no time to waste.”

Once the project was planned, Brian and Lisa decided to invite teachers from around the globe into the activity. There are presently 14 classes, ages 9 -12, working on the stories. Each class is paired with another and all are using Docs to communicate and write.

Interestingly, students experienced some of the same issues they would when working with an “onsite” classmate. There were a few disagreements and even some heated discussions between collaborators. One student even erased the work done by their partners.

“Fortunately Google Docs allows you to go back to every version of the document," disclosed a relieved Parisi. “We were able to return to the version that included the erased section, so we were able to restore the lost work."

“This became a teachable moment and we had discussions about appropriate behavior. But this same kind of behavior happens during collaboration between students in the same classroom. This was no different," added Crosby.

Parisi and Crosby are already discussing similar projects for next year.

The final stories will be published in Google docs and linked to a wiki for viewing by all. A VoiceThread will give the students one final opportunity to comment about the various versions of the story or about the project itself.

For those of you who have questions, or related stories of your own, please leave a comment below.

For teachers who'd like to get started using Docs, check our our teachers guide, Using Google Docs in the Classroom. It has all the basics teachers will need to get up and running with Docs.

Functions, Formulas and how you can relieve the Frustration

Posted by: Regina Dinneen, Docs User Operations (aka Google Docs Guide 2)

If you haven't been following along in the user group, you may have missed the new spreadsheet function documentation that we released a few months ago. Due to frequent requests for help finding and understanding the hundreds of functions available, our own Melissa Louie created Version 1 of the function helper:


We're now working on the next version of the documentation. It'll include a real example of each of the different functions and formulas. From simple to complex, we're going to try to have examples for all.

Please join us in this effort. You can help us by sharing your own function examples by visiting our user group and adding your own examples.

Note: If you're not a member of the user group you'll need to click the sign-in option in the top right-hand corner and join the group. Joining the group will also give you a chance to chat with other users, get some of your questions answered and/or ask a few questions of your own.

Come and check it out - all of your fellow spreadsheet users out there are waiting for help with those complex functions you've mastered. :)

Aliza's chronicles: climbing out of document hell

Posted by: Aliza Sherman, author, speaker, TV and radio producer

Aliza Sherman first wrote a version of these posts in a shorter item for Web Worker Daily, entitled Learning to Love Google Docs. She's generously expanded the ideas in that post for us here, and included tips and tricks for those of you attempting to incorporate Google Docs into your lives. Here's the first of a 5 part series we're calling Aliza's chronicles.

I’ve said it before and I'll say it again: I am a devoted Gmail user. I'm also a big Google fan but must confess that I avoided using Google Docs for far too long. Until recently, that is. At first, I couldn't understand why I'd want to upload documents to the Web when I've been emailing them to clients and colleagues for years. As a Web worker - Internet strategist, project director, pro-blogger, and a social media and virtual world marketer, I'm very comfortable online. But as a self-taught techie, I still experience that moment of fear that I just won't be able to figure out the technology.

Besides hating to read instructions to anything, I tend to always zero in on just a few capabilities of any Web-based application because I often feel overwhelmed by the options and possibilities. First, I test out an application at the moment I'm in desperate need of a viable solution. Then if it isn't easy to use without a manual, I continue to use it until the crisis is over. If it really makes my life and work easier, then it becomes second nature to me.

Adopting Google Docs into my suite of favorite Web apps came about after mixing up spreadsheets on a project where multiple people were updating the same document and emailing it back and forth. Looking back, I can't believe how primitive our "organizational system" was at the time. I finally gave in, uploaded the spreadsheet to Google Docs and invited team members to view and update it. Only one person had trouble accessing the document (user error).

Suddenly, a questionable "process" became streamlined. Any of us could access the document at any time and see the most recent updates from other team members. Work was no longer duplicated, tasks that had been in limbo were now completed. And whenever the client asked for a status report, I was confident that I was providing them with the most recent versions of the spreadsheets.

I gave in to my Docs resistance, the dark clouds parted, the sun shone through, and suddenly, there was order in the chaos.

Some things I've learned so far about the process of using Google Docs with others:

1. If you have clients or team members who don't have a Gmail account, encourage them to sign up for a Google account first before you direct them to your Google Docs. This just streamlines the process of getting everyone into the documents in the first place.

2. If you are working with someone who is not comfortable with technology but is fine with email, you can also attach the document as a PDF file to an email and send to them. Gradually, they'll feel more comfortable and will usually start accessing the document through Google Docs directly.

I'll talk more about the Big Switch in my next post.

Google Docs in burning marshmallows

Posted by: Meredith Whittaker, Program Manager

I'll make this quick, but I have to share. The Google Docs team recently returned from a team-building offsite at Seascape Resort just south of Santa Cruz, CA (hint: many very cool things coming!). After a long day of hiking, eating and thinking big about the future of Docs, we gathered around fire pits on the beach -- drinking hot cocoa, making s'mores, and enjoying the full moon. Ben Margolin, one of our tech. leads, took these photos: Google Docs spelled with burning marshmallows! (For the record, the circle at the end of "Docs" is an artistic rendition of a trademark symbol :)

Thank you, teachers

Posted by: Meredith Whittaker, Program Manager and Andrew Chang, Marketing Manager

Happy National Teacher Day! To celebrate, we have some inspiration, and some instruction.

Awhile back you may remember that we asked teachers to share their stories about using Google Docs. And did you ever. We were humbled by the exceptional creativity that you expressed to us. Reading through these submissions, we realized that we had to share these ideas, and the along with them the evident passion for teaching.

For anyone who's looking for inspiration on using Docs in the classroom, we've gathered a sampling of the ideas and stories we received from these teachers and put together this document, showing many creative uses of Docs in education.

But, while we were constructing this document, we realized that these solutions, while great, won't be immediately straightforward to those not familiar with Docs.

For people who'd like to know a little more before diving in, we've created a getting started document targeted specifically to educators: Using Google Docs in the Classroom. This Docs-specific resource is available, along with other documents covering many Google applications, on the newly-revamped Google for Educators page.

Finally, I'd like to close by saying that there's no one on the Docs team who'd be here without an exceptional teacher. I speak for all of us when I say to Ms. Berkebile, Mr. Cohen, Mrs. Mulder-Wollon, Professor Trujillo, Ms. LaFon and all the other wonderful educators out there - a sincere thank you from all of us.

Posted by: Meredith Whittaker, Program Manager and Andrew Chang, Marketing Manager

Post content here...

Good things come in multiples: multi-size embedding and multi-select

Posted by: Andrew Perelson and Jeff Grimes, Google Docs Software Engineers

Embedded presentations now come in multiple sizes (small, medium, and large) to suit all your embedding needs. Small or medium sizes work best in blogs, while large is most suitable for onscreen viewing and reading.

And as a bonus, we've just added another new feature to presentations: you can now select and manipulate multiple objects at once. Drag over the objects you want to select or hold SHIFT while clicking on additional objects.

Want your docs to be stylin'?

Posted by: Joelle Fornengo, User Operations Team

If you've ever wished that you could add your own personal style to your documents, wish no more. We've recently enabled custom styles through an 'Edit CSS' function, so that you can apply your unique styles to your documents.

Some of you might be wondering what CSS is and how it can help spruce up your documents. CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. In essence, CSS is a type of style sheet markup language which enables you to create a personalized look for your web page or documents. For example, using this markup language, you have control over font type, colors and sizes. CSS's most common use is to style HTML for web pages. How is CSS different than HTML? HTML is a markup language that focuses on document content; CSS focuses on document presentation.

A picture's worth a thousand words, so take a look at the example below of a styled doc created by our very own webmaster, Melissa Louie (aka "The CSS Master"). You can also make a copy of this example for yourself, with all of the CSS in place.

Here's how you can get started in becoming a CSS master like Melissa:
1. Check out inspiring examples of styles that you can create and apply by checking out Melissa's tips and tricks page.
2. Engage with other Docs users in our user group community. There, you can share styles with each other and help each other create new styles.
3. Try it out for yourself by adding some CSS code to your own document.

We can't wait to see what you create. Interested? Go to any doc, click on 'Edit CSS' in the 'Edit' menu and style away!

Google Docs goes wild

Posted by: Gill, wildlife enthusiast

We're thrilled to have Gill as a guest blogger. Through the evolution of Google Docs, she has been one of the most courteous and helpful members of the Google Docs Help Group, assisting users with all manner of questions.

I use Google docs mainly to keep track of the records I keep for the local wildlife group. I try and make a note of anything interesting that I see out and about every day (like this ladybird (or ladybug, as you say in the states), found on my front doorstep on 6th April).

In late 2006 I discovered Google Docs, and decided to keep my records online. I have never looked back. Using a Google spreadsheet gives me several advantages over the old system (uploding a Works spreadsheet to a MySQL database accessed via PHP).

• I can enter the records from home, from work or from a friend’s computer; this means I don't have to remember what I saw at lunchtime till I get home.
• The records are safe on Google’s servers
• Friends and family can enter species they have seen, after I invited them to collaborate
• Other members of the Society can see the sheet, as viewers
  
• The results can be made available, in real time, on the website, by publishing the sheet (click on the link to Current year’s records, in progress)
  

In the beginning, I set up a simple one-sheet file with columns for the English Name, Latin Name, Location, Habitat, Grid Ref, Date, Notes, Special and Recorder. This worked very well, but as I used it I soon found I wanted other information recorded, namely the species number such as the BSBI number for plants, and a (hidden) running counter to make life easier when adding the year-end records to the database. So, I added the extra columns.

I then began to think “Wouldn’t it be great if I didn’t have to keep looking up the Latin name? Or having to type in today’s date, or the Recorder when it’s me?”, so the project grew a bit.

I added my initials to the Recorder column, and =today() in the Date column, then filled down. I already had species lists as two- or three-column tables for species number, English and Latin names for the plants and birds. I uploaded these into a second worksheet, and added the information for common mammals, insects and the few reptiles and amphibians living in northern England. So far, so good. But, I'd hit a roadblock, because I couldn't work out what to do next – I knew what I wanted : type in the English name and have the Latin and the species number fill in automatically from the data sheet, but not how to do it. At this point I joined the Help forum and Ahab (the Google Docs Help Group's most prolific poster) came to my rescue – as he has on many occasions since for me and many other spreadsheet users. He provided me with the formulas I needed: =VLOOKUP(C2,'ref lists'!A:I,3,false) for the first data row, =VLOOKUP(C3,'ref lists'!A:I,3,false) for the next and so on.

I started a new spreadsheet for 2008 by the simple expedient of Copy Spreadsheet and then deleting all but the last couple of rows, that were empty apart from Ahab’s functions. I am very happy with the sheet in its current form, but of course I might need more modifications in the future.

This is from the current version, with the title row frozen:

I also use the Google Docs documents for writing wildlife reports, but that’s another story, for another time...