Immediately after I finished writing a blog post about how my students use Google Sites as digital portfolios, I jumped into Feedly and found three announcements from Google regarding Google Sites. One of the updates that my students will like, one that I like, and the third is one that someone will like, although I’m not sure who. (Note that these all apply to the current version of Google Sites and not to the classic version).
More customization options
In the coming week, users of Google Sites will see options to add captions to images in their embedded image carousels, see more options for buttons on their sites, and have new design options for the table of contents. My students will like these updates because they will give them more creative control over their sites. Read more about these updates here.
Version history
The old version of Google Sites included a version history feature that could be used to see changes to sites over time, as well as version history in Google Docs. That feature will finally be added to the current version of Google Sites in 2020. This is great for seeing changes to the site over time. This feature is only available in March at the earliest. Read more about this.
Cloud search
Cloud Search is a function that allows users to add a new search function to their sites. Instead of just searching the site, Google Sites may soon have a search tool that can be placed anywhere on the site. Cloud Search contains search options that are similar to what you would find with a standard Google search. Read more about this.
