Creating a Google Docs account

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This is part of an occasional series of instructional posts on various topics.

If you want to use Google Docs but don't already have a Gmail or Google Docs account, you'll need to click the "Create an account now" link below the login box, which will take you to the account creation form. There, you need to enter the following:


  1. Your current email address. This does not need to be a gmail address, but must be a real address where you can get a confirmation email. Your wou.edu address is OK to use here. Note that this entire address will be the login name for your Google Docs account.

  2. A password. For security reasons, you should NEVER use your WOU password on a non-WOU server. Please create a password that you can remember; it must be at least eight characters long and ideally should include at least one number and punctuation mark. It is OK to write down this password as long as you keep it in a safe place, such as with your credit cards.

  3. Re-enter the password to confirm that there weren't any typos the first time.

  4. If you are likely to use publicly accessible or shared computers to log in to Google Docs, uncheck the "Stay signed in" checkbox. Otherwise, it is OK to leave it checked so you won't have to log in as often.

  5. Uncheck the "Enable Web History" button, unless you are comfortable with Google tracking and remembering searches that you make even when you are not logged in. Click the "Learn More" link for more information about this.

  6. Choose your location from the dropdown menu; if you are in the US, the menu will probably already be set to "United States".

  7. Enter your birth date. Make sure to use a four-digit year.

  8. Type in the verification word. This is necessary to show that you are a person and not some computer program trying to automatically create an account for some sneaky purpose. Unfortunately, their verification words are rather hard to read, because Google is attacked often by hackers and they have to be very sure you are indeed a human. Sometimes the letters are extremely narrow and squashed between two others, but luckily it doesn't matter whether you type them in capitals or lowercase. If you have trouble with the visual verification, turn on your speakers and click the handicapped icon. After a few moments, you will hear three beeps followed by a slowly spoken series of numbers with a computer-generated random muttering in the background. Sometimes you will hear non-number syllables like "oway", "no", or "yow" in the foreground; ignore those and pay attention to the numbers alone. You will hear the words "once again" and the code will be repeated.

  9. If you are so inclined, read the Terms of Service. A more readable version may be found at "http://www.google.com/accounts/TOS?hl=en". Here are some important points:

    • You agree to do nothing illegal, nor attempt to hack or otherwise mess up any of Google's services.

    • You agree that Google can change the features of their service without notice.

    • You agree that Google isn't legally responsible for what you do with your account, and that you can't blame Google if you see anything objectionable.

    • You agree that Google does not guarantee that their service will be available 100% of the time

    • Google agrees that you retain any intellectual property rights to content you upload.

    • You agree that Google has a license to display your uploaded content as part of its services, i.e. if you share content with anyone, Google is legally allowed to show it to them. This is the infamous "Section 11.1" which looks very scary when read by someone not versed in legal technicalities; you can find more information at "http://docs.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=82366". The key point is that the license granted in Section 11.1 is limited by the Google Docs Privacy policy which states that your information is only shared with people whom you designate. Click here for an independent opinion. Further information can be found by doing a web search for "Google Docs Terms of Service Section 11.1" without the quotes.

  10. Assuming you are satisfied with the terms of service, click the button below them that tells Google that you agree and want your account created. You may need to retry once or twice to get the verification text right.

Once you are done with the form, you will get a confirmation email at the address you gave in step one. The subject line will be "Google Email Verification" and it will be sent from "account-verification-noreply@google.com", so make sure your spam filters are set to allow the message through. You should save this message, because you may need it again if you forget your account name or password. Consider saving it as a file in your home directory, so you have a backup in case the email is accidentally deleted.

Click the verification link near the top of the email. You'll be taken to a page that confirms that your account is now active and gives you several options and informational links. It is not necessary to link your account to a gmail address or a mobile phone, but you can do so if you want to. However, instructions for those actions are beyond the purpose of this document.

The "Click here to continue" link will take you to Google Docs itself, which I will cover in another document.

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This page contains a single entry by published on August 16, 2010 9:29 PM.

Web updates not showing up? was the previous entry in this blog.

Google Docs Basics: uploading and sharing. is the next entry in this blog.

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