Google Apps Deciphered: Compute in the Cloud to Streamline Your Desktop

Google Apps Deciphered Compute in the Cloud to Streamline Your Desktop   Use Google Apps to Improve Productivity and Collaboration, Reduce Costs, and Eliminate Technology Hassles!   Google Apps gives you virtually all the business and productivity software you need–all of it free, or available at extremely low cost. Because the suite of Google Apps runs on Google’s network in the cloud, you avoid the hassles that go with desktop software. Getting started with Google Apps is easy–but if you want to make the most of it, you’ll need expert guidance that Google’s online help doesn’t provide. Get all the help you need, right here.   This is your start-to-finish guide to setting up Google Apps, migrating to it, customizing it, and using it to improve productivity, communications, and collaboration. Scott Granneman introduces every leading component individually, and shows exactly how to make them work together for you on the web or by integrating them with your favorite desktop apps. You’ll find practical insights on Google Apps email, calendaring, contacts, wikis, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, video, and even Google’s new web browser Chrome. And, drawing on his extensive experience helping companies move to Google Apps, Granneman presents tips and tricks you simply won’t find anywhere else. Coverage includes   • Choosing the right edition of Google Apps for you • Setting up Google Apps so it will be easier to use and manage • Migrating your email, contacts, and calendars to Google Apps • Administering and securing Google Apps • Integrating Google Apps with other software and services • Leveraging Google Sites to collaborate across teams, organizations, or the entire world • Making the most of Google Talk voice calls and instant messaging • Implementing Google’s office productivity tools, including Docs, Spreadsheets, and Presentations • Using policy management and message recovery to control and secure your messaging • Customizing efficient Google Apps Start Pages for you and your colleagues • Sharing important and useful videos with your colleagues • Maximizing the innovative features of Google’s new web browser, Chrome   SCOTT GRANNEMAN is an author, teacher, and entrepreneur with extensive experience in Google Apps migration, setup, and training. As Adjunct Professor at Washington University, he teaches popular courses on technology, security, and the Internet. A monthly columnist for SecurityFocus and Linux Magazine, he has authored four books on open source technologies, including The Linux Phrasebook. As a principal at WebSanity, he manages the firm’s UNIX server environment, and helps develop its Content Management System, which is used by educational, business, and non-profit clients nationwide.   www.1and100zeroes.com  

Table of Contents:
Foreword    xxv Preface    xxvii Acknowledgments    xxxi About the Author    xxxiii INTRODUCTION    Computing in the Cloud    1 The Rise of Cloud Computing    3 Further Reading    7 PART I    Getting Started with Google Apps    11 CHAPTER 1    Choosing an Edition of Google Apps    13 Standard    15 Premier    15 Team    15 Education (and Nonprofits)    16 Partner    17 Conclusion    17 Further Reading    18 CHAPTER 2    Setting Up Google Apps    21 Signing Up for the Various Google Apps Editions        21 Signing Up for the Standard Edition    21 Signing Up for the Team Edition    25 Signing Up for the Premier Edition    27 Signing Up for the Education (and Nonprofit) Edition    29 Enabling Additional Services    30 Enabling Web Pages    31 Enabling App Engine    31 Enabling Message Security and Recovery    31 Configuring DNS    33 Verifying Domain Ownership    33 Creating Custom URLs    36 Setting Up MX Records for Email    40 Setting Up SRV Records for Google Talk Federation    43 Setting Up MX Records for Policy Management and Message Recovery    46 Fighting Spam with SPF Records    48 Using a Domain Purchased Through Google    50 Buying a Domain Through Google    51 Accessing Advanced DNS Services    55 Should You Purchase Your Domain Through Google?    56 Creating Users    58 Adding Users Manually    58 Adding Users in Bulk    59 Syncing with Your Active Directory or LDAP Server    61 Canceling Google Apps    62 Solving Common Problems    62 I Can’t Get Back to the Control Panel!    62 I Lost the Admin Password!    63 Conclusion    64 Further Reading    64 CHAPTER 3    Migrating Email to Google Apps    67 Plan Carefully Before Migrating    69 Molding Your Email Folder Structure into the One Used by Gmail    69 Processing New Emails Arriving During the Migration    72 Dealing with Emails You Send During the Migration    74 Manually Migrate Email Using IMAP    78 Outlook-Specific Settings    80 Automatically Import from IMAP Servers Using Google’s IMAP Migration Tool    81 Automatically Migrate from Exchange Server    88 Develop Your Own POP Tools with Google’s Email Migration API    89 Manually Move Messages from a Preexisting mbox File or Maildir Store    90 Automatically Move Messages from a Preexisting mbox File    91 Automatically Move Mail from a Client with the Google Email Uploader    92 Automatically Transfer Mail from Thunderbird with the Mail Redirect Extension    95 Migrate Mail from Gmail to Google Apps Premier Edition    96 Manually Migrate from Hotmail (or Live Mail) Using the Microsoft Office Outlook Connector    97 Migrate from Web-Based Email Systems Using Thunderbird and the WebMail Extension    98 Migrate from Web-Based Email Systems    104 FreePOPs    105 MacFreePOPs    105 YPOPs    106 Solving Common Problems    106 Why Can’t I Use Gmail’s Mail Fetcher to Import Email?    107 I Want to Pay for Software or Hire Someone to Do the Work for Me! Where Do I Look?    107 Conclusion    107 Further Reading    108 CHAPTER 4    Migrating Contacts to Google Apps    109 Preparing to Migrate Contacts    110 Manually Importing a CSV File into Google Contacts    112 Working with the CSV File    113 Exporting Contacts from AOL    117 Exporting Contacts from Apple Mail    117 Exporting Contacts from Eudora    118 Exporting Contacts from Evolution    118 Exporting Contacts from Gmail    118 Exporting Contacts from Hotmail and Windows Live Hotmail    118 Exporting Contacts from KAddressBook    119 Exporting Contacts from Outlook    119 Exporting Contacts from Outlook Express    119 Exporting Contacts from Thunderbird    119 Exporting Contacts from Yahoo!    120 Developing Your Own Contact Migration Tools with Google Data APIs    120 Automatically Migrating from Exchange Server    121 Automatically Syncing Contacts with Plaxo    121 Automatically Syncing with Outlook Using OggSync    122 Automatically Syncing Your Apple Address Book and Google Contacts    123 Automatically Syncing Apple Address Book and Google Contacts with Spanning Sync    125 Automatically Syncing Your Thunderbird Personal Address Book and Google Contacts with Zindus Thunderbird Contact Sync    128 Automatically Copying Addresses with the Google Email Uploader    131 Solving Common Problems    131 While Importing into Google Contacts, I Keep Getting This Error Message: “Error saving data: Cannot have more than one contact with email address.” Why?    132 Conclusion    132 CHAPTER 5    Migrating Calendars to Google Apps    133 Preparing to Migrate Calendars    133 ICAL    134 CSV    136 Exporting Calendar Data from Software and Services    137 Exporting Calendars from AOL    137 Exporting Calendars from Apple iCal    138 Exporting Calendars from Evolution    139 Exporting Calendars from Google Calendar    139 Exporting Calendars from Hotmail and Windows Live    140 Exporting Calendars from KOrganizer    140 Exporting Calendars from Outlook    140 Exporting Calendars from Sunbird or Thunderbird with Lightning    142 Exporting Calendars from Windows Calendar    143 Exporting Calendars from Yahoo!    143 Manually Importing Calendar Data    143 Developing Your Own Calendar Migration Tools with Google Data APIs    144 Automatically Syncing Using ScheduleWorld    145 Automatically Syncing Using GCALDaemon    145 Automatically Syncing with Apple iCal Using Spanning Sync    146 Automatically Syncing with Outlook Using iCal4OL    147 Automatically Syncing with Outlook and Exchange Using OggSync    151 Solving Common Problems    151 What Does a “Processed 0 events” Error Message Mean When I’m Importing an ICAL or CSV File?    151 What Does It Mean That My ICAL or CSV Files Are Too Big to Import into Google Calendar?    152 Why Are All My Imported Events Showing Up at the Wrong Time?    152 Why Won’t My CSV File Import at All?    152 Conclusion    153 CHAPTER 6    Managing Google Apps Services    155 Dashboard    155 User Accounts    156 Users    156 Settings    157 Domain Settings    159 General    159 Account Information    160 Domain Names    160 Appearance    161 Advanced Tools    162 Service Settings    162 Start Page    162 Email    170 Chat    172 Calendar    173 Web Pages    176 Docs    177 Message Security and Discovery    178 Sites    178 Solving Common Problems    181 Why Do Administrators See Every Calendar My Users Have Created?    182 Conclusion    182 Further Reading    182 PART II    Gmail    183 CHAPTER 7    Setting Up Gmail    185 General    185 Maximum Page Size    186 Keyboard Shortcuts    186 Snippets    186 Vacation Responder    187 Outgoing Message Encoding    187 Browser Connection    188 Accounts    188 Get Mail from Other Accounts    188 Send Mail As    190 Change Password    194 Labels    194 Filters    199 Forwarding and POP/IMAP    199 Forwarding    199 POP Download    200 IMAP Access    200 Chat    201 Chat History    201 Chat List Location    202 Auto-Add Suggested Contacts    203 AIM    203 Web Clips    203 Labs    204 Quick Links    205 Superstars    207 Fixed Width Font    208 Custom Keyboard Shortcuts    209 Mouse Gestures    209 Signature Tweaks    209 Random Signature    210 Custom Date Formats    211 Conclusion    211 CHAPTER 8    Things to Know About Using Gmail    213 Searching for the Exact Message You Need    213 Living with Labels    218 Filtering Messages Effectively    218 Speeding Things Up with Keyboard Shortcuts    221 Securing Your Email    223 Checking for Viruses    223 Stopping Image Spam    225 Finding Out Who’s Accessing Your Gmail Account    225 Preventing Phishing    226 Limiting How Many Emails You Can Send    226 Solving Common Problems    227 What the Heck Is a “Lockdown in Sector 4?”    227 How Do I Troubleshoot Gmail Problems?    227 Conclusion    228 Further Reading    228 CHAPTER 9    Integrating Gmail with Other Software and Services    231 A Note on Adding Scripts to Your Web Browser    231 Understanding the Implications of POP and IMAP    232 IMAP Versus POP    233 Using POP    233 Using IMAP    235 Accessing Gmail in a Desktop Email Program    241 Generic Email Configuration for IMAP    242 Apple Mail    243 Evolution    246 KMail (and Kontact)    248 Outlook 2003    250 Outlook 2007    251 Outlook Express    252 Thunderbird    253 Windows Mail    256 Accessing Gmail on a Mobile Device    257 Generic Instructions for Mobiles    258 Blackberry Internet Service (BIS)    258 iPhone    259 Receiving Notifications    261 Receiving Notifications About New Emails    261 Receiving Notifications That Sent Mail Has Been Read    262 Securing Your Email    264 Encrypting Your Email    264 Backing Up Your Email    265 Changing Gmail’s Appearance    266 Giving Gmail a New Skin    266 Hiding Ads    268 Making Labels Look Like Nested Folders    269 Always Showing CC and BCC    270 Highlighting Conversations as You Mouse Over Them    271 Displaying Attachment Icons    272 Hiding the Chat Box    272 Displaying the Unread Count First on a Tab or Title Bar    273 Showing Message Details    273 Adding New Features    274 Providing More Keyboard Shortcuts    274 Using Gmail with the Getting Things Done System    276 Posting on the Bottom of Replies    276 Creating More Effective Filters, Faster    277 Adding Attachments by Drag and Drop    278 Defaulting to Gmail    279 Making Gmail the Default for Your Windows PC    279 Making Gmail the Default on Your Mac    279 Making Gmail the Default on Your Linux Box    280 Solving Common Problems    281 Why is Gmail so slow?    281 How can I check more than one Google Apps Gmail account in the same browser?    282 Why do my non-English folders look funky in Outlook and Outlook Express?    282 Why is my desktop email client crashing when I download my email?    282 Why am I repeatedly getting prompted for my password?    282 Conclusion    283 CHAPTER 10    Integrating Google Contacts with Other Software and Services    285 A Quick Look at Several Contact Synchronization Programs    285 Query Google Contacts with GCALDaemon    286 Automatically Sync Apple Address Book and Google Contacts with Spanning Sync (and Others)    287 Develop Your Own Contacts Tool with the Google Contacts API    289 Solving Common Problems    289 Why Does Everyone I Email Show Up in my Google Contacts?    289 How Can I Quickly Edit Contact Names?    290 How Can I Make the Boxes into Which I Enter Info Bigger?    290 Is There Any Way I Can View Contacts Without Having to Log In to Gmail?    292 Help! My Contacts Won’t Load!    292 Conclusion    293 Further Reading    293 PART III    Google Calendar    295 CHAPTER 11    Setting Up Google Calendar    297 General    297 Your Current Time Zone    297 Location    297 Show Events You Have Declined    298 Automatically Add Invitations to My Calendar    298 Change Password    298 Calendars    299 My Calendars    299 Other Calendars    304 Mobile Setup    305 Solving Common Problems    305 When I Share Calendars, Why Am I Limited to Showing Free/Busy Times?    305 Conclusion    306 CHAPTER 12    Things to Know About Using Google Calendar    307 Adding Events    307 Replacing Evite    309 Searching for Events    309 Speeding Things Up with Keyboard Shortcuts    310 Conclusion    311 Further Reading    312 CHAPTER 13    Integrating Google Calendar with Other Software and Services    315 Accessing Google Calendar in a Desktop Calendar Program    316 Generic Instructions    316 Evolution    316 iCal    317 KOrganizer (and Kontact)    318 Outlook 2003    319 Outlook 2007    319 Sunbird and Thunderbird with Lightning    320 Windows Calendar    321 Working With Google Calendar on a Mobile Device    322 Generic Instructions    322 BlackBerry    322 iPhone    323 Windows Mobile    325 Synchronizing Google Calendar with a Desktop (or Mobile) Calendar Program    325 A Quick Look at Several Calendar Synchronization Programs    325 Using CalDAV to Synchronize Apple iCal with Google Calendar    327 Receiving Notifications About Events    330 Securing Your Calendar    331 Changing Google Calendar’s Appearance    331 Giving Google Calendar a New Skin    332 Collapsing the Header and Sidebar    333 Wrapping Text in Events    334 Adding New Features    334 Adding To-Do’s to Google Calendar    334 Integrating Google Calendar with Gmail    335 Solving Common Problems    336 Can I Access and Use Google Calendar Offline in a Web Browser?    336 How Do I Copy an Appointment from one Google Calendar to Another?    337 My Calendar Entries Disappeared! Where Did They Go?    337 Conclusion    338 PART IV    Google Docs    339 CHAPTER 14 Things to Know About Using Google Docs    341 Google Docs    342 Getting Schooled with Google Docs    342 Saving Time with Templates    344 Going Offline with Google Gears    346 Sharing, Collaborating, and Publishing    349 Documents    353 Changing Styles    353 Printing Page Numbers    356 Keyboard Shortcuts    357 Spreadsheets    358 Leveraging Formulas and Functions    359 Filling in Forms    367 Clarifying with Charts    371 Embedding Gadgets    373 Keyboard Shortcuts    376 Presentations    377 Delivering Presentations    378 Rearranging Slides    379 Resizing Objects    380 Keyboard Shortcuts    381 Solving Common Problems    382 When I Right-Click in Firefox, the Google Docs Menu Is Covered Up by the Web Browser’s Menu!    382 Conclusion    382 Further Reading    382 CHAPTER 15    Integrating Google Docs with Other Software and Services    385 Working with Google Docs Using OpenOffice.org or Star Office    385 OoGdocsIntegrator    386 OpenOffice.org2GoogleDocs    386 Accessing Google Docs on a Mobile Device    388 Generic Instructions    388 BlackBerry    388 iPhone    388 Getting Documents into Google Docs    389 Using Firefox    390 Using Windows    393 Using Mac OS X    393 Encrypting Your Connection    393 Searching Your Docs from Your Mac OS X Desktop    394 Defaulting to Google Docs    395 Solving Common Problems    395 My docs disappeared! Where did they go?    395 How can I use all of Google Docs’ features in Safari?    396 Conclusion    396 PART V    Google Sites    397 CHAPTER 16    Setting Up Google Sites    399 Sharing    400 Appearance    401 Themes    401 Site Elements    401 Colors and Fonts    403 Other Stuff    404 Statistics    404 Web Address Mapping    404 Google Webmaster Tools Verification    406 Delete This Site    406 Solving Common Problems    406 Why Can’t I Share My Site with People Outside My Domain?    407 Conclusion    407 Further Reading    407 CHAPTER 17    Things to Know About Using Google Sites    409 Thinking About How Google Sites Fits into Google Apps    409 Creating Several Kinds of Pages    411 Inserting Other Content into Your Pages    412 Utilizing the More Actions Menu    414 Worrying About Security    415 Conclusion    416 PART VI    The Other Services    417 CHAPTER 18    Things to Know About Using Google Talk    419 The Four Versions of Google Talk and Their Features    419 Voice Calls    422 AIM Integration    422 Go Invisible    422 Sending and Receiving Offline Messages    423 Chat History    423 Off the Record    423 Multiuser (Group) Chats    424 Emoticons    424 Sending and Receiving Voicemail    424 File Transfer    425 Video and Image Embedding    426 Music Status Messages    427 Themes    427 Accessing Google Talk in a Desktop Program    427 Using an SSB (Site-Specific Browser)    428 Adium    431 Firefox    431 iChat    432 Kopete    432 Meebo    433 Pidgin    433 Psi    434 Trillian Pro    435 Accessing Google Talk on a Mobile Device    436 BlackBerry    436 iPhone    436 Securing Your Chats    436 Client-to-Server Encryption    437 End-to-End Encryption    437 Solving Common Problems    438 I Have More Than One Google Apps Account and Would Like to Chat Using Two or More at the Same Time    438 Why Can’t I Connect to Google Talk?    439 How Do I Block Google Talk on My Network?    439 Google Talk: How Can I Record Voice Conversations?    439 Google Talk Gadget: One of My Chat Tabs Disappeared!    440 Google Talk Gadget: Why Can’t I Copy and Paste?    440 Conclusion    441 Further Reading    441 CHAPTER 19    Things to Know About Using Start Page    443 Decorating with Themes    443 Going Ga-Ga for Gadgets    444 Collaborating with Gadgets    445 Solving Problems with Gadgets    446 Keeping Track of Customers    446 Managing Projects    447 Accessing Backed Up Files    448 Keeping Track of Tasks    449 Limiting the Gadgets Users Can Add    450 Accessing Your Start Page from a Mobile Device    451 Trying Out the New Start Page    452 Solving Common Problems    455 Why Can’t I Add Certain RSS Feeds to My Start Page?    455 How Do I Reorder My Tabs?    455 Conclusion    455 Further Reading    456 CHAPTER 20    Things to Know About Using Message Security and Recovery    457 Features of Message Security and Discovery    457 Policy Management    458 Message Recovery    458 Message Discovery    458 Using Message Security and Discovery    459 Administration Console    459 User Overview    459 User Access    461 Reports    461 Conclusion    462 Further Reading    462 CHAPTER 21    Things to Know About Using Google Video    465 Changing Control Panel Settings    466 Using Google Video    468 Home    468 My Videos    468 Upload    468 Viewing Videos    470 Accessing Google Video on the iPhone    472 Solving Common Problems    472 Why Can’t I Upload Any Videos?    472 Conclusion    472 Further Reading    472 PART VII    Appendices    475 APPENDIX A    Backing Up Google Apps    477 Backing Up Gmail    477 Backing Up Google Contacts    479 Backing Up Google Calendar    479 Backing Up Google Docs    479 Backing Up Google Sites    480 Backing Up Google Talk    484 Backing Up Start Page    484 Backing Up Google Video    485 Conclusion    485 APPENDIX B    Dealing with Multiple Accounts    487 The Problem Without a Good Solution    487 The Solvable Problem    489 Solutions    490 Working in Separate Web Browsers    490 Creating Multiple Instances of Internet Explorer    490 Getting Specific with an SSB (Site-Specific Browser)    490 Hiding with Google Chrome’s Incognito Mode    491 Running the IE Tab Extension for Firefox    492 Creating Separate Firefox Profiles    493 Swapping Cookies with the CookieSwap Extension for Firefox    497 A Few Gmail-Only Solutions    498 Conclusion    499 APPENDIX C Google Chrome: A Browser Built for Cloud Computing    501 Why?    502 Features    504 Omnibox    504 V8    507 Dynamic Tabs    507 Application Shortcuts    508 New Tab Page    510 Crash Control    511 Incognito Mode    512 Safe Browsing    512 User Interface Niceties    513 Looking at the About: Pages    513 Solving Common Problems    515 How Do I Block Ads?    515 Can I Change How Chrome Looks?    516 Where Are the Chrome Plugins?    516 How Do I Back Up Chrome?    517 How Do I Update Chrome?    517 Does Google Chrome’s EULA Say That It Owns Everything I Do with Chrome?    518 Conclusion    518 Further Reading    519 Index    521  

About the Author :
Scott Granneman is an author, educator, and consultant. Scott has written three books (Don’t Click on the Blue E!: Switching to Firefox, Hacking Knoppix, and the seminal Linux Phrasebook), co-authored one (Podcasting with Audacity: Creating a Podcast With Free Audio Software), and contributed to two (Ubuntu Hacks and Microsoft Vista for IT Security Professionals). In addition, he is a monthly columnist for SecurityFocus, with op/ed pieces that focus on general security topics, and for Linux Magazine, in a column focusing on new and interesting Linux software. He formerly blogged professionally on The Open Source Weblog and Download Squad.   As an educator, Scott has taught thousands of people of all ages–from preteens to senior citizens–on a wide variety of topics, including literature and technology. He has worked to educate people at all levels of technical skill about open source technologies, such as Linux and Firefox, and open standards. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at Washington University in St. Louis, where he teaches a variety of courses about technology, the Internet, and security.   As a Principal of WebSanity, he works with businesses and non-profits to take full advantage of the Internet’s communications, sales, and service opportunities. He researches new technologies and manages the firm’s UNIX-based server environment, thereby putting what he writes and teaches into practical use, and works closely with other partners on the underlying WebSanity Content Management System (CMS).