Building an Intranet in Google Workspace


Introduction

This article describes how to build an Intranet in Google Workspace for Education using Google Sites and Google Drive shared drives.

Contents

Instructions

Intranets have been used by organizations for a few decades now to share information and business-related content, such as organization news, announcements, events, etc., with their employees. It is also a place where managers and leaders can gather information from their employees to learn about the culture and to encourage process improvements. In the last few years, new tools have become available to create Intranets quickly and effectively.

Building an Intranet with Google Workspace starts with a site, a single location where members can go to interact with the Intranet content. The site is not required to have an internet presence or use a browser to access, but it does have to be easily accessible to all members requiring access. For the purposes of this build guide, we will assume the primary access will be through a browser.

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Create a Site

Google provides a method to create an Intranet with an internet presence through Google Sites. With Google Sites, you can embed other Google Workspace application elements such as calendars, documents, slides, and forms to build a rich Intranet site. To create a Google Site,

  1. Log in to your VT Google Workspace Account at www.google.com.
  2. Clicking on the Google Waffle at the top right corner of the window.

  3. Click on the Google Sites icon.


  4. On the Google Sites page, you may choose to either use a template or create a blank site:
    • To create a blank site, click on the Blank option.

    • To use a template, click on the Template gallery expansion option.

  5. Choose a concise site name by clicking on Untitled site and entering a name.

  6. Change the title by clicking in Your page title and entering a new title.

  7. Choose a theme by clicking on the Themes tab in the upper right and selecting an appropriate theme.

  8. Your site has been created and you are ready to add content.
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Connect to Content

When you embed content, you want to embed content stored in a shared drive. You should store all published material in this location for easy access and permission control. To embed the contents of your shared drive on the site,

  1. Be sure you are on the Insert tab

  2. Click on the Drive menu option below the tabs

  3. Select the SHARED DRIVES tab

  4. Click on the appropriate shared drive.
  5. Click the INSERT button



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Add Content

You want your intranet to be the single source for information related to your organization or group. It should be a place where information is available for the benefit of all employees within the organization (such as the news, announcements, events, policies, etc.).

You can directly embed documents, slides, sheets, and charts. To do so,

  1. Be sure you are on the Insert tab

  2. Click on the Drive menu option below the tabs

  3. Select SHARED DRIVES



    • Alternatively, you may also scroll down and select specific element types (docs, slides, sheets, forms, etc.).



  4. Click on the item to embed
  5. Click the INSERT button



  6. Move the item on the page until it is placed appropriately
  7. Click Publish in the top right corner of the window



  8. Enter a concise web address if asked and click the Publish button.



  9. You may manage site visibility and who has access to your site. Under Who can view my site click MANAGE.



  10. Add any users in the Add people and groups field. Remember to set the appropriate membership for each user if necessary.



  11. Click on Links to edit the visibility of the site



  12. Choose the visibility setting for the site's drafts





  13. Choose the visibility setting for the published site





  14. Click the Done button



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Collect Information

Intranet sites should be more than just repositories of information. It should enable an organization to both gather and share information. For example, let’s say registration for an event, you can embed forms. To embed a form on a new registration page,

  1. Create a new page

    1. Click on the Pages tab in the upper right



    2. Click the New Page icon at the bottom



    3. Name your page appropriately



    4. Click Done



    5. (Optional) reorder it in the list to give it the appropriate priority



  2. Add a form
    1. Be sure you are on the Insert tab



    2. Scroll down and select specific element types (docs, slides, sheets, forms, etc.)



      1. You may also go to the specific shared drive to for an alternate way of located the desired form.



    3. Click on the form to embed
    4. Click INSERT



    5. Move the item on the page till it is placed appropriately
    6. Click Publish in the top right corner of the window



    7. Enter a concise web address if asked and click Publish

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Recognizing or Highlighting Content

If you want to recognize a team member for a significant contribution as part of the organization’s recognition program, you can easily do that through the Embed menu item. This feature allows you to embed links into your site. To embed an external link,

  1. Click on the Embed menu item.



  2. Paste the URL



  3. Click Insert



  4. Move the item on the page till it is placed appropriately
  5. Click Publish



  6. Enter a concise web address and click Publish
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Additional Information

Google provides additional information through the Google Workspace Learning Center that might help when creating your Intranet.

https://gsuite.google.com/learning-center/products/sites/get-started/#!/

https://gsuite.google.com/learning-center/tips/sites/#!/

There is also an Introduction to Google Sites video. Time: 0m 59s

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