U-M Google Updates

Google has announced that soon you will be able to start conversations in Google Chat with people outside the University of Michigan! You will be able to chat with them by either sending a direct message or adding them to a room. However, while you can add external users to rooms and direct messages, you cannot include external users in group messages.

Furthermore, any one-to-one conversations you have had with external users in classic Google Hangouts will now also appear in Google Chat as new messages are sent.

To use Google Chat, people outside the University of Michigan need to have a Google account. These users will have an “External” badge in Chat, so you will always know whether you’re sharing information with the right people.

Additionally, you’ll need to designate a room as "External" when you create it. You will not be able to change this setting after the room is created. This means you won’t be able to add external users to any rooms created before this launch, as those will remain "internal." 

To designate a room as “External” when creating it, check the box next to “Allow people outside your organization to join”.

To learn more about Google Chat and its features, see Getting Started with Google Chat.

According to Google, the external chat feature began showing up in U-M Google on May 26, 2020. The classic Hangouts feature began showing up on May 18, 2020. Each could take 15 days or longer to become fully visible.

Google has announced they are updating the interface you use to share files from Google Drive (Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms) on the web. This will replace the previous interface used to share files and manage members of shared drives.

Major changes include:

• Separated, task-focused interface: The new sharing dialog highlights common tasks like sharing a file, changing permissions, and viewing file access. The redesign visually separates link sharing with people versus groups to help prevent accidental changes to link permissions.
• Quick “Copy link” button: A “Copy link” button has been added to make it easier to get the link without worrying about accidentally changing link permissions. 
• Easily see current access: The new interface more clearly shows who currently has access to the file, making it easier to quickly review and change permissions as needed. 

According to Google, this feature should begin showing up in U-M Google on May 26, 2020 and could take 15 days or longer to become fully visible.

To learn more about Drive sharing at U-M, see Best Practices for Sharing in Google Drive.

Google has changed the default landing page for Google Sites. Now when you visit sites.google.com, instead of taking you to classic Sites, you will be taken to new Sites.

If you want to continue to use or manage your classic Sites, you can still do so by visiting sites.google.com/classic or clicking the button in the lower-left corner of the new Sites page:

This change began showing up in U-M Google on May 20, 2020, but it may take some time to become fully visible to everyone in the domain.

Learn more about new Google Sites:

• New Google Sites Overview of Changes
• Get started with Sites
• Compare classic Sites & new Sites
• Sites cheat sheet
• Google Sites training and help

Google has released several new features for Google Meet that will make remote learning and collaboration more seamless.

Meeting control features:

You can now Mute or Remove/Hang Up a meeting participant if you are the meeting host. Only the meeting creator or Google Calendar event owner will be allowed to mute or remove/hang up other participants in a meeting. This ensures that the host can't be removed or muted by others participating in the Meet session. See Hangouts Meet improvements for remote learning for more information.

Tiled layout:

You can now see up to 16 people on your screen at the same time in Google Meet with the Tiled layout option. This feature is currently only available in Meet on the web.

To change the layout:

1. Click the three dots in the lower-right corner.
2. Select Change layout.
3. Select Tiled.

High-quality audio/video sharing:

You can now share high-quality videos with audio content in a Google Meet session by using the new Present option to share “A Chrome tab”. Now, when you use this feature with video content playing, everyone in the meeting will see and hear the video and audio being shared. Note: This feature does not work if you’re presenting a browser window or your whole computer screen. Visit the G Suite Learning Center to learn more about presenting videos during Google Meet sessions.

According to Google, these features should be available now in U-M Google.

Shortcuts in Google Drive make it easier to organize content and point collaborators to relevant information and files across various drives. Shortcuts are pointers to content that can be stored in another folder or drive, a shared drive, or an individual user's “My Drive.”

Shortcut visibility and sharing permissions 

Shortcuts are visible to anyone who has access to the folder or drive containing the shortcut. However, even if someone can see the shortcut, they can only open it if they have the appropriate access and permissions to the original file/folder.

Simplifying the appearance of files/folders in multiple locations 

In order to create a consistent experience for managing and viewing reference files across Google Drive, Google has changed the “Add to My Drive” icon option to “Add shortcut to Drive”.

Changes to Drive’s folder structure and sharing model

Starting September 30, 2020, it will no longer be possible to place a file in multiple folders in My Drive. From then on, every file will live in a single location. In addition, all files already living in multiple locations in My Drive will gradually be changed to shortcuts. There is no action needed on your part nor should you expect to run into issues during Google’s migration.

Visit the Google Drive Help Center for more information on how to use Google Drive shortcuts.

According to Google, this feature began showing up in the web version of U-M Google Drive on April 15 and could take 15 days or longer to become fully visible. The feature should already be available for use in the Google Drive iOS/Android mobile app, Google Drive File Stream, and Google Backup and Sync.