Google Docs & Spreadsheets is a new service for Google account holders and Gmail users. Derived from Google's acquisition of the Writely service earlier this year, this service allows users to create word processing and spreadsheet documents within a web browser, so they can accessed from anywhere. These types of web-based applications are often referred to as "Office 2.0" applications, implying an evolution of the standard desktop-based Office software. Google describes their service on the docs.google.com home page:

Google Docs & Spreadsheets is a web-based word processing and spreadsheet program that keeps documents current and lets the people you choose update files from their own computers. You can, for example, coordinate your student group's homework assignments, access your family to-do list from work or home, or collaborate with remote colleagues on a new business plan.

What's exciting about Google Docs & Spreadsheets (let's refer to it as GDS for the rest of this article) is that it also provides you the ability to post your documents directly to your weblog. It even can update your blog post when you update its original GDS document!

Google has made it easy to configure GDS to post to BlogHarbor weblogs by including BlogHarbor in the default list of blog services (thank you Google!), so all you need to know to configure GDS to post to your BlogHarbor weblog is your username and password.

Here's a walk through of the steps to configure posting to a BlogHarbor blog from an existing Google Docs & Spreadsheets account:

Step 1 - Begin Blog Setup
Choose a document to edit, then click the Publish tab at the top right of your GDS control panel:

Begin Blog Setup

Click on the set your blog site settings link just above the Post to Blog button.

Step 2 - Enter your BlogHarbor Settings
A dialog box will appear over current screen:

Choose BlogHarbor from dropdown

Check the Hosted Provider checkbox at the top of the menu, then choose BlogHarbor from the Provider dropdown menu. Next enter your BlogHarbor User Name and Password:

Enter BlogHarbor username and password

Step 3 - Test your Configuration
That should be all the information GDS needs to post to your BlogHarbor weblog. Click the Test button and you should see a dialog appear like this:

Enter BlogHarbor username and password

Now you're ready to post to your BlogHarbor weblog using Google Docs & Spreadsheets!

Tips and Tricks

  • Google Docs & Spreadsheets allows you to use Tags to cagegorize documents. When you publish a document to your blog, Google will automatically check to see if your blog has any Categories with the same label as your Tag, and if so, post your article to that Category.

    So if your blog has a category named Trivia, and you tag your GDS doc with the Trivia label, when posting the document to your blog it will automatically be placed into your blog's Trivia category.

  • GDS can output a list of documents you create as an RSS feed. Use an RSS Headline Component to add a dynamically updated list of your GDS docs to your blog's sidebar!

We welcome your tips, questions or comments about using the Google Docs & Spreadsheets service to post to your BlogHarbor weblog; please post them to our BlogHarbor Community Forums.