Google Sites - Ex JotSpot - 10 GB Free Space « Avyaya

Google Sites - Ex JotSpot - 10 GB Free Space

One and a half year passed by and here we are with a new look and new version JotSpot which was laid hands on by Google. No new users were entertained, but existing users had been made available to use the portal. Now, Google has launched JotSpot with new features, new version capabilities and a new name “Google Sites”.

Graphically, there has been a leap in designing Google Sites, but the core functionality of
being a wiki has not been lost. As with any Google product, users can embed spreadsheets, presentations and word documents from Google Docs, favourite YouTube Videos, Picasa Albums as well as Google Calendars. The prior structured data templates introduced by JotSpot in July 2006 have been shelved and the users are provided to choose between just five basic templates- a standard wiki, a dashboard where google gadgets can be embedded, a blog-like template for announcements, a file cabinet for file uploads, and a page for lists of items.

Like Google Docs, Google Sites wikis can be made private, shared with others, or made
public. Users can select from a variety of templates, but cannot yet customize the look and feel of the site. Somewhere down the road, Google says, they’ll release an API for the new
service as well. Editing is done with a rich text editor that allows for basic formatting.
Google Sites is a free product, with limitations on support and storage (10 GB). Users can
upgrade their Google Apps account to a standard edition, also free, and map their own
domains to the site. A premier edition is also available for $50/user/year that includes a
service level agreement, support and more admin capabilities.

All wiki pages have RSS feeds associated with them to allow users to track any changes.
Existing Jotspot users will continue to be supported on the old platform for the near
future, and they will also be given instructions for porting their Jotspot wikis to Google
sites.

In an interview today, Google’s Management Director of Enterprise Matthew Glotzbach called the combined products under Google Apps a “Microsoft Sharepoint killer” because it’s allowing businesses to collaborate without all that expensive Microsoft software. It may not be a Sharepoint killer yet, but Google Apps constitutes 2-3% of Google’s total revenues.

Some point soon, its going to start hurting Microsoft.

Sample screenshots: