Google: New offline apps; Docs: Fullscreen, templates
Posted by Jacque on July 18th, 2008
Offline support for Gmail, GCal
Gmail and Google Calendar are expected to join Google Reader and Google Docs with offline support in about 6 weeks, according to Google Operating System blog. Offline support is achieved with Google Gears.
Google Docs adds fullscreen mode
Now there is a fullscreen editing mode for Google Docs without the need for a Greasemonkey script. Check out the “View” menu.
Lifehacker says that combined with Firefox 3’s serious fullscreen capabilities and GDocs’ fixed-width page view, “you can turn the online office suite into a no-distraction writing environment.” Zoho Writer also has a similar “Maximize editor” function.
Google Docs templates
There are an amazing number (>300) of templates for all kinds of document needs that can be found at the new Google Docs directory. Try the “preview” link to see what your document, presentation or spreadsheet would look like.
“Each template has boilerplate content and preset design styles that are meant to be reused. (…) You can then edit the document, replacing boilerplate text and images with your own,” explains Google.
The option to use a template is available in Google Docs when you click on New > From template and the list of templates that you’ve recently used will appear.