It is really slick to use Google Docs for collaboration. If we all look at our own copies, we have to update them each ourselves. And if things are updated later, when we aren’t meeting together, then a new copy has to be downloaded and sent out. Operating from individual copies means one can never be certain she is working from the most current one.
To access a shared document in Google Docs, you need a Google account. When you set up the account, it will generate a gmail address. You don’t have to use that gmail account for mail, ever, but to fix it so you can log in with your regular email address, you have to edit your Account settings. After that sharing of documents can be done using your own email address which everyone knows.
If you are brave enough to set up a Google account, then, well, I’m not sure all the ways to get into Account Settings, but here’s one way.
- Go to Google.com, click on "Sign in" and follow the steps to create a new account.
- Click on “Documents”. You still won’t see the shat this point. But at the far right side of the bar where it shows “Gmail Calendar Documents Photos Sites Web More “ you will see your (Gmail) email address and next to it a little gear. Click on the ADDRESS (not on the gear). One of the options on the dropdown menu is “Account settings”. Click on that.
(If you clicked on the gear, then you can then click on “Settings” and within the options on that page, click on “Visit your Google Account settings”.) - On the Account settings page, in the secton under “Personal Settings” (Security, Dashboard Email addresses …), click on Edit next to Email addresses. (Don’t click the “Edit” next to “Multiple sign-in” – the world won’t end, but it’s not the page you want.)
- On the next page, below “Edit Personal information”, there is a section “Add an alternate email address to your account.” Under that, there is a box where you can put your real email address, and then click Save. Unless you sign up for their social networking crap, it will not be shared with anybody except the Chinese government. Nothing to worry about.
In the Personal Information section, it’s helpful if you put in your real name or at least a more or less recognizable nickname, so when you make edits to documents, the others you’re collaborating with will know who is doing it.
And now you should be able to see the shared document. The account settings opened in a new window or a new tab in the same window with your Google Docs home page. Now you should be able to see the sponsor list. If there is more than one document, you can scroll down and find the document titled “sponsor list” and click on it. It will open (as did the Account Settings) in a new tab or a new window. If you have a lot of documents, you can percolate it to the top by clicking on “Sort” up above the “Last Modified” column and click on “Last Modified”.