Sharing a Google Site on cgxchange.org with collaborators

This short tutorial shows how to share a Google Site created on cgxchange.org with CGIAR and non-CGIAR account users (i.e. users with cgxchange.org  cgiar.org and non-CGIAR email accounts).

The Share button

Open the Google Site you wish to share and click on the Share button in the upper right corner.


In the Sharing settings, you set the visibility of the Site. You can share privately with individual users, or set the visibility option in bulk.

Sharing with specific people

By default, visibility of a Google Site is private: only the people you invite can access. You have to invite collaborators and give them permission to Edit or View:

  • Edit gives them rights to edit the Site content, add people and change visibility and permissions. 
  • View gives them a simple right to view the Site.

In the Invite people box, type the email addresses of the users you would like to access the Site. As you type, you will get suggested contacts from the CGIAR directory of contacts. When you see the one you wish to add, just click on it to add it to the Invite box. If the collaborator you wish to add is not in the CGIAR directory, simply type the address or paste it in the box.


Note about inviting users: all the people you wish to invite are required to have a Google account.

  •  CGIAR staff can be invited with their cgiar.org or cgxchange.org accounts: make sure they can sign in to cgxchange.org if this is the first time you are sharing files with them; to invite colleagues from IRRI, use their irri.org addresses.
  •  Non-CGIAR staff: contact them to obtain their email addresses associated to a Google account. It is always best to check beforehand so that they can safely receive the invitation. If they do not have a Google account yet, they may wish to create one or associate their current email to a Google Account.
  •  Google Group: when you need to share Google Site with a large group of collaborators on a regular basis, collect all their Google accounts and create a Google Group on cgxchange.org. This will create a handy mailing list address that you can use to Invite people, instead of you entering several email addresses each time.

Visibility options

If the information is not confidential or you would like to avoid collaborators to sign in, you can change the visibility of the Site in bulk. Locate the Private line and click on Change… to display the available options:

  • Public on the Web: no sign-in required. Anybody on the Internet can find and access. Good when you wish to publish a public Web site.
  • Anyone with the link: no sign-in required. Only people who receive the link will be able to access. Good when you wish to share a Site with a team or group of people on an occasional basis or just for reference. If this link is published on the Web, people not originally invited can access the Site.
  • CGXCHANGE: sign-in required. People on cgxchange.org can find and access. Good when Sites are not restricted access within CGIAR, but are not for circulation outside, e.g. communities of practice.
  • People at CGXCHANGE with the link: sign-in required. Good when you want simply to distribute a link to a group of cgxchange.org users that you have identified.

Remember that in any of the above cases, you can give users permission to Edit or View.

Comments

As the site owner, you can enable Comments on every page of the Site or selected pages. To enable/disable Comments, go to More>Page settings.

If Comments are enabled, any collaborator – editor or viewer – can leave comments at the bottom of your site pages.


See also how to sign in to Google Sites on cgxchange.org




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