Google Sites is a service that allows consumers to easily create web pages by using an editor that is about as easy to use as a word processor. You do not need to know any HTML code at all in order to create great-looking web pages. (A little knowledge of HTML won't hurt, however.)
Each free web site also includes 10 gigabytes of storage which should be more than enough for 99% of all personal web sites. You could create tens of thousands of pages on your web site, if you wish. Google doesn't specify any maximum for the number of pages but all the pages must fit within the 10 gigabyte storage maximum. You can also upload files up to 10 megabytes in size.
Google Sites is integrated with other Google products, so you can insert videos, docs, spreadsheets, presentations, photo slide shows, and calendars directly onto your Google Sites pages, all without using any HTML code.
Collaboration with others is also simple. The "Work together" and "share our" permission settings let you designate owners, viewers and collaborators (meaning they can edit pages) for your site. You can optionally give other people permission to edit just part or even all of your site, as you wish. You can make your Google Sites visible to just a few people, to your entire organization, or to the world. Want to have a few pages that are restricted to access only by club members? Add a password to those pages and then the only people who can access those individual pages are those to whom you give the password.
One of the easy features to implement on Google Sites is a search box. Anyone can enter a search term into the box and quickly find any specific words of phrases on your web site. Of course, the search is powered by Google and uses the same syntax and technology as regular Google searches. Information added to a Google Sites web page usually gets indexed by Google within a very few hours.
You can find many other providers of free web sites but most insert their own advertising into your web pages. In contrast, Google's free web pages have no advertising. That may make a difference in your planning for your own web site or that of a church group or a genealogy society. (You can insert your own ads, if you wish.)
Google has now introduced even more features to Google Sites. Starting this week, web site creators can now upload pictures to Picasa, then easily use those images on Google Sites with having to copy any files or writing any HTML code. Google Sites has also added direct data import from Google Docs: write your text in a word processor and then use it to build your web site. The site can now also display RSS feeds.
If you don't have an artistic eye, you can use pre-defined templates to build an attractive web site within minutes. You can also modify existing templates or create your own, then save the new template and use it for all your web pages.
The standard URL for a Google site is http://sites.google.com/a/example.com/yoursite. This can be changed through the Google Apps control panel to your own personalized URL, such as: http://www.example.com. Nobody will know that your personal web site is hosted on Google Sites.
Not bad for a free service!
Google Sites doesn't allow for CSS or JavaScript, however. Then again, if you are not familiar with those terms, don't worry about it! You wouldn't be using those anyway. Google Sites also cannot easily be created with another HTML editor (FrontPage, Dreamweaver, etc.) and then copied-and-pasted to the website. If you are an experienced web developer with expertise in these advanced tools, Google Sites probably is not the best choice for you. It is easier to perform all editing in Google's built-in editor.
The web is yours. Add whatever information to the World Wide Web and Google will index it and make the information available to everyone in the world with an Internet connection. (There are some strict rules about pornography and spam, however.)
Google Sites strikes me as a great alternative to some of the better-known free hosting services. You can build web sites as big as you want, within reason, and publish whatever information you wish. Best of all, there are no ads other than any ads that you might insert. For those who own their own domain names, you can have the pages display at your web address, such as at: http://www.my-domain-name.com. This is free grassroots publishing at its best.
If you would like to build a personal web site for genealogy or for any other personal project or for a genealogy society or a historical society or for your son's Boy Scouts troop or for your bowling league or for a school project or for work or just about any other purpose, go to http://sites.google.com.
I found Google Sites to be fairly easy to use. I'm self-taught on computers and, after some time experimenting with it, made my own small site with some of my family history.
Albert Riezebos
reseaching : Riezebos,Tromp,Lambert,Savard and many many more.
http://sites.google.com/site/albertriezebos/
Posted by: Albert Riezebos | October 09, 2009 at 06:51 PM
You can do the same thing at several other places with no website knowledge and for FREE. Some have unwanted ads, some you can upgrade for a small fee and get more widgets and such. These other sites say they allow you to make blogs, as opposed to just regular websites, but it amounts to more or less the same purpose mentioned in your article and gives you more opportunity to invite friends/family via social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Some would even allow RSS Feeds of Dick Eastman's website or RootsTV (embedded video). They can either be private and by inviation only, or open to the universe. I don't advocate any of them personally but here's a list:
https://www.blogger.com/start (the best & easiest, IMAO)
http://www.ning.com/
http://wordpress.com/
Terri England
Posted by: Terri England | October 10, 2009 at 07:08 AM
Great article and an excellent way to create a website. One thing not mentioned, is the fear that once I'm worked hard to create a genealogy site, the hosting company goes belly-up, like so many other hosting sites recently. I doubt Google will ever go belly-up any time soon, so the sites we create at Google are well protected during these economic times.
Posted by: Robert Johnston | October 10, 2009 at 09:39 AM
I am a Mac user, use Reunion as my genealogy database, and have a few ancestor pictures stored on iPhoto. Will I find it relatively easy to post pictures or information from my database on a website at Google? I don't have a website, but want one.
Posted by: Sharon | October 10, 2009 at 11:36 AM
Yes. Creating web sites with a Mac is always as easy as doing it in Windows, often easier. The Mac works great with Google Sites.
By the way, the www.eogn.com web site was created with a Mac although hosted on Linux (although not on Google Sites).
- Dick Eastman
Posted by: Dick Eastman | October 10, 2009 at 12:17 PM
Google search engine returns results from just 5% of the information on the web. Do you know if a web site hosted by Google sites has a better chance to be scanned/indexed by Google search engine?
Posted by: Jean-Pierre Stroweis | October 10, 2009 at 03:24 PM
I was hoping I could move my existing website to Google Sites, but after spending several hours on it, it appears as if I would have to start from scratch and rebuild it. Is that the case, or am I missing something?
Posted by: Marilyn Hesse | October 10, 2009 at 06:00 PM
How is this different than a blog?
Posted by: Nancy. | October 10, 2009 at 11:25 PM
You can use Google Sites to create a blog or most any other kind of web site. It is not limited to blogs.
Posted by: Dick Eastman | October 11, 2009 at 12:27 AM
I started a site. How do you change the URL?
Posted by: Dennis | October 11, 2009 at 06:52 AM
It's really interesting that Google Sites isn't really "big" yet - perhaps free webhosts spend there advertising dollar from 'premium hosters' to rope people in - a loss leader.
Perhaps we all need to write more about Google sites; turn it into the next 'Blogger'
Posted by: Ed Fry | October 11, 2009 at 09:18 AM
---> I started a site. How do you change the URL?
Step-by-step instructions are available at http://googlesitesblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/google-sites-on-your-domain.html
Posted by: Dick Eastman | October 11, 2009 at 11:10 AM
Thank you for posting this information. I've been looking for an easy way to post information I've gleaned for hundreds of Irish migrants on their places of birth. In the past 2 days, I've posted 14 of 68 pages. See
http://sites.google.com/site/irishgleanings/
Posted by: Sheila Strickland | October 11, 2009 at 01:20 PM
Does anyone know if a GEDCOM can be downloaded on a google genealogy site? I would want to put a family tree on the site if I used google sites.
Posted by: denise Richmond | October 12, 2009 at 01:36 PM
I've revamped my site using the new features if anyone who looked before wants to see the difference. As far as i know, you only get 100 mb for an individual account; i think the 10 g is for groups, etc. With most of my pictures now on Picasa and Panoramio, i'm only using 36% of my 100 mb.
Albert Riezebos
reseaching : Riezebos,Tromp,Lambert,Savard and many many more.
http://sites.google.com/site/albertriezebos/
Posted by: Albert Riezebos | October 18, 2009 at 03:18 AM