Google has recently completely overhauled their website creation tool Google Sites (and this is now live on our domain), with the creation interface now being very similar to the updated Google Forms tool that was rolled out last year.
We used the old version of Google Sites for a number of different projects (including faculty professional development portfolios), but the confusing layout and hidden template and design options made for a steep learning curve. This new version is much much better and is a great tool for creating classroom websites, sports team information pages and for student technology projects such as student e-portfolios.
Note that this tool will only work in the desktop version of Chrome and not on the iPads.
To get to the new Google Sites you need to access it via the New button in Google Drive (you can still access the old version and any old sites you may have created from here):
Then to create a new site click the red plus button in the bottom right hand corner of the page. You will be presented with this interface for the first page of your site:
Hover the mouse over any object you add to edit it or see various options for just that object. As with the previous Google Sites embedding Google Drive files, Google Calendars, YouTube videos and Google Maps is extremely easy.
To add another page to your site click the Pages tab, then click the blue plus button. New pages are automatically linked together and you can see these links in the top right hand corner of each page:
The new Google Sites does also have a range of professional-looking templates and to switch between these click on the Themes tab. Just click a template name to change the theme, and choose a palette color from the colored circles underneath:
Finally, to publish your site just click the purple Publish button at the top of the screen. Here you can set the site address (something like http://sites.google.com/
hebronacademy.org/yoursitename), and whether only people within Hebron Academy or the entire internet can view your site:
For a more interactive look at the new Google Sites this walk-though video gives a good overview of the new layout and creation steps: