Google Apps Deciphered

Scott Granneman is an author, educator, and consultant. Scott has written three books (Don’t Click on the Blue E!: Switching to Firefox, Hacking Knoppix, and the seminal Linux Phrasebook), co-authored one (Podcasting with Audacity: Creating a Podcast With Free Audio Software), and contributed to two (Ubuntu Hacks and Microsoft Vista for IT Security Professionals). In addition, he is a monthly columnist for SecurityFocus, with op/ed pieces that focus on general security topics, and for Linux Magazine, in a column focusing on new and interesting Linux software. He formerly blogged professionally on The Open Source Weblog and Download Squad.   As an educator, Scott has taught thousands of people of all ages–from preteens to senior citizens–on a wide variety of topics, including literature and technology. He has worked to educate people at all levels of technical skill about open source technologies, such as Linux and Firefox, and open standards. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at Washington University in St. Louis, where he teaches a variety of courses about technology, the Internet, and security.   As a Principal of WebSanity, he works with businesses and non-profits to take full advantage of the Internet’s communications, sales, and service opportunities. He researches new technologies and manages the firm’s UNIX-based server environment, thereby putting what he writes and teaches into practical use, and works closely with other partners on the underlying WebSanity Content Management System (CMS).  

Foreword    xxv

Preface    xxvii

Acknowledgments    xxxi

About the Author    xxxiii

INTRODUCTION    Computing in the Cloud    1

The Rise of Cloud Computing    3

Further Reading    7

PART I    Getting Started with Google Apps    11

CHAPTER 1    Choosing an Edition of Google Apps    13

Standard    15

Premier    15

Team    15

Education (and Nonprofits)    16

Partner    17

Conclusion    17

Further Reading    18

CHAPTER 2    Setting Up Google Apps    21

Signing Up for the Various Google Apps Editions        21

Signing Up for the Standard Edition    21

Signing Up for the Team Edition    25

Signing Up for the Premier Edition    27

Signing Up for the Education (and Nonprofit) Edition    29

Enabling Additional Services    30

Enabling Web Pages    31

Enabling App Engine    31

Enabling Message Security and Recovery    31

Configuring DNS    33

Verifying Domain Ownership    33

Creating Custom URLs    36

Setting Up MX Records for Email    40

Setting Up SRV Records for Google Talk Federation    43

Setting Up MX Records for Policy Management and Message Recovery    46

Fighting Spam with SPF Records    48

Using a Domain Purchased Through Google    50

Buying a Domain Through Google    51

Accessing Advanced DNS Services    55

Should You Purchase Your Domain Through Google?    56

Creating Users    58

Adding Users Manually    58

Adding Users in Bulk    59

Syncing with Your Active Directory or LDAP Server    61

Canceling Google Apps    62

Solving Common Problems    62

I Can’t Get Back to the Control Panel!    62

I Lost the Admin Password!    63

Conclusion    64

Further Reading    64

CHAPTER 3    Migrating Email to Google Apps    67

Plan Carefully Before Migrating    69

Molding Your Email Folder Structure into the One Used by Gmail    69

Processing New Emails Arriving During the Migration    72

Dealing with Emails You Send During the Migration    74

Manually Migrate Email Using IMAP    78

Outlook-Specific Settings    80

Automatically Import from IMAP Servers Using Google’s IMAP Migration Tool    81

Automatically Migrate from Exchange Server    88

Develop Your Own POP Tools with Google’s Email Migration API    89

Manually Move Messages from a Preexisting mbox File or Maildir Store    90

Automatically Move Messages from a Preexisting mbox File    91

Automatically Move Mail from a Client with the Google Email Uploader    92

Automatically Transfer Mail from Thunderbird with the Mail Redirect Extension    95

Migrate Mail from Gmail to Google Apps Premier Edition    96

Manually Migrate from Hotmail (or Live Mail) Using the Microsoft Office Outlook Connector    97

Migrate from Web-Based Email Systems Using Thunderbird and the WebMail Extension    98

Migrate from Web-Based Email Systems    104

FreePOPs    105

MacFreePOPs    105

YPOPs    106

Solving Common Problems    106

Why Can’t I Use Gmail’s Mail Fetcher to Import Email?    107

I Want to Pay for Software or Hire Someone to Do the Work for Me! Where Do I Look?    107

Conclusion    107

Further Reading    108

CHAPTER 4    Migrating Contacts to Google Apps    109

Preparing to Migrate Contacts    110

Manually Importing a CSV File into Google Contacts    112

Working with the CSV File    113

Exporting Contacts from AOL    117

Exporting Contacts from Apple Mail    117

Exporting Contacts from Eudora    118

Exporting Contacts from Evolution    118

Exporting Contacts from Gmail    118

Exporting Contacts from Hotmail and Windows Live Hotmail    118

Exporting Contacts from KAddressBook    119

Exporting Contacts from Outlook    119

Exporting Contacts from Outlook Express    119

Exporting Contacts from Thunderbird    119

Exporting Contacts from Yahoo!    120

Developing Your Own Contact Migration Tools with Google Data APIs    120

Automatically Migrating from Exchange Server    121

Automatically Syncing Contacts with Plaxo    121

Automatically Syncing with Outlook Using OggSync    122

Automatically Syncing Your Apple Address Book and Google Contacts    123

Automatically Syncing Apple Address Book and Google Contacts with Spanning Sync    125

Automatically Syncing Your Thunderbird Personal Address Book and Google Contacts with Zindus Thunderbird Contact Sync    128

Automatically Copying Addresses with the Google Email Uploader    131

Solving Common Problems    131

While Importing into Google Contacts, I Keep Getting This Error Message: “Error saving data: Cannot have more than one contact with email address.” Why?    132

Conclusion    132

CHAPTER 5    Migrating Calendars to Google Apps    133

Preparing to Migrate Calendars    133

ICAL    134

CSV    136

Exporting Calendar Data from Software and Services    137

Exporting Calendars from AOL    137

Exporting Calendars from Apple iCal    138

Exporting Calendars from Evolution    139

Exporting Calendars from Google Calendar    139

Exporting Calendars from Hotmail and Windows Live    140

Exporting Calendars from KOrganizer    140

Exporting Calendars from Outlook    140

Exporting Calendars from Sunbird or Thunderbird with

Lightning    142

Exporting Calendars from Windows Calendar    143

Exporting Calendars from Yahoo!    143

Manually Importing Calendar Data    143

Developing Your Own Calendar Migration Tools with Google

Data APIs    144

Automatically Syncing Using ScheduleWorld    145

Automatically Syncing Using GCALDaemon    145

Automatically Syncing with Apple iCal Using Spanning Sync    146

Automatically Syncing with Outlook Using iCal4OL    147

Automatically Syncing with Outlook and Exchange Using

OggSync    151

Solving Common Problems    151

What Does a “Processed 0 events” Error Message Mean

When I’m Importing an ICAL or CSV File?    151

What Does It Mean That My ICAL or CSV Files Are Too Big

to Import into Google Calendar?    152

Why Are All My Imported Events Showing Up at the Wrong

Time?    152

Why Won’t My CSV File Import at All?    152

Conclusion    153

CHAPTER 6    Managing Google Apps Services    155

Dashboard    155

User Accounts    156

Users    156

Settings    157

Domain Settings    159

General    159

Account Information    160

Domain Names    160

Appearance    161

Advanced Tools    162

Service Settings    162

Start Page    162

Email    170

Chat    172

Calendar    173

Web Pages    176

Docs    177

Message Security and Discovery    178

Sites    178

Solving Common Problems    181

Why Do Administrators See Every Calendar My Users Have

Created?    182

Conclusion    182

Further Reading    182

PART II    Gmail    183

CHAPTER 7    Setting Up Gmail    185

General    185

Maximum Page Size    186

Keyboard Shortcuts    186

Snippets    186

Vacation Responder    187

Outgoing Message Encoding    187

Browser Connection    188

Accounts    188

Get Mail from Other Accounts    188

Send Mail As    190

Change Password    194

Labels    194

Filters    199

Forwarding and POP/IMAP    199

Forwarding    199

POP Download    200

IMAP Access    200

Chat    201

Chat History    201

Chat List Location    202

Auto-Add Suggested Contacts    203

AIM    203

Web Clips    203

Labs    204

Quick Links    205

Superstars    207

Fixed Width Font    208

Custom Keyboard Shortcuts    209

Mouse Gestures    209

Signature Tweaks    209

Random Signature    210

Custom Date Formats    211

Conclusion    211

CHAPTER 8    Things to Know About Using Gmail    213

Searching for the Exact Message You Need    213

Living with Labels    218

Filtering Messages Effectively    218

Speeding Things Up with Keyboard Shortcuts    221

Securing Your Email    223

Checking for Viruses    223

Stopping Image Spam    225

Finding Out Who’s Accessing Your Gmail Account    225

Preventing Phishing    226

Limiting How Many Emails You Can Send    226

Solving Common Problems    227

What the Heck Is a “Lockdown in Sector 4?”    227

How Do I Troubleshoot Gmail Problems?    227

Conclusion    228

Further Reading    228

CHAPTER 9    Integrating Gmail with Other Software and Services    231

A Note on Adding Scripts to Your Web Browser    231

Understanding the Implications of POP and IMAP    232

IMAP Versus POP    233

Using POP    233

Using IMAP    235

Accessing Gmail in a Desktop Email Program    241

Generic Email Configuration for IMAP    242

Apple Mail    243

Evolution    246

KMail (and Kontact)    248

Outlook 2003    250

Outlook 2007    251

Outlook Express    252

Thunderbird    253

Windows Mail    256

Accessing Gmail on a Mobile Device    257

Generic Instructions for Mobiles    258

Blackberry Internet Service (BIS)    258

iPhone    259

Receiving Notifications    261

Receiving Notifications About New Emails    261

Receiving Notifications That Sent Mail Has Been Read    262

Securing Your Email    264

Encrypting Your Email    264

Backing Up Your Email    265

Changing Gmail’s Appearance    266

Giving Gmail a New Skin    266

Hiding Ads    268

Making Labels Look Like Nested Folders    269

Always Showing CC and BCC    270

Highlighting Conversations as You Mouse Over Them    271

Displaying Attachment Icons    272

Hiding the Chat Box    272

Displaying the Unread Count First on a Tab or Title Bar    273

Showing Message Details    273

Adding New Features    274

Providing More Keyboard Shortcuts    274

Using Gmail with the Getting Things Done System    276

Posting on the Bottom of Replies    276

Creating More Effective Filters, Faster    277

Adding Attachments by Drag and Drop    278

Defaulting to Gmail    279

Making Gmail the Default for Your Windows PC    279

Making Gmail the Default on Your Mac    279

Making Gmail the Default on Your Linux Box    280

Solving Common Problems    281

Why is Gmail so slow?    281

How can I check more than one Google Apps Gmail account

in the same browser?    282

Why do my non-English folders look funky in Outlook and

Outlook Express?    282

Why is my desktop email client crashing when I download my

email?    282

Why am I repeatedly getting prompted for my password?    282

Conclusion    283

CHAPTER 10    Integrating Google Contacts with Other Software and Services    285

A Quick Look at Several Contact Synchronization Programs    285

Query Google Contacts with GCALDaemon    286

Automatically Sync Apple Address Book and Google Contacts with Spanning Sync (and Others)    287

Develop Your Own Contacts Tool with the Google Contacts API    289

Solving Common Problems    289

Why Does Everyone I Email Show Up in my Google Contacts?    289

How Can I Quickly Edit Contact Names?    290

How Can I Make the Boxes into Which I Enter Info Bigger?    290

Is There Any Way I Can View Contacts Without Having to Log In to Gmail?    292

Help! My Contacts Won’t Load!    292

Conclusion    293

Further Reading    293

PART III    Google Calendar    295

CHAPTER 11    Setting Up Google Calendar    297

General    297

Your Current Time Zone    297

Location    297

Show Events You Have Declined    298

Automatically Add Invitations to My Calendar    298

Change Password    298

Calendars    299

My Calendars    299

Other Calendars    304

Mobile Setup    305

Solving Common Problems    305

When I Share Calendars, Why Am I Limited to Showing Free/Busy Times?    305

Conclusion    306

CHAPTER 12    Things to Know About Using Google Calendar    307

Adding Events    307

Replacing Evite    309

Searching for Events    309

Speeding Things Up with Keyboard Shortcuts    310

Conclusion    311

Further Reading    312

CHAPTER 13    Integrating Google Calendar with Other Software and

Services    315

Accessing Google Calendar in a Desktop Calendar Program    316

Generic Instructions    316

Evolution    316

iCal    317

KOrganizer (and Kontact)    318

Outlook 2003    319

Outlook 2007    319

Sunbird and Thunderbird with Lightning    320

Windows Calendar    321

Working With Google Calendar on a Mobile Device    322

Generic Instructions    322

BlackBerry    322

iPhone    323

Windows Mobile    325

Synchronizing Google Calendar with a Desktop (or Mobile)

Calendar Program    325

A Quick Look at Several Calendar Synchronization Programs    325

Using CalDAV to Synchronize Apple iCal with Google Calendar    327

Receiving Notifications About Events    330

Securing Your Calendar    331

Changing Google Calendar’s Appearance    331

Giving Google Calendar a New Skin    332

Collapsing the Header and Sidebar    333

Wrapping Text in Events    334

Adding New Features    334

Adding To-Do’s to Google Calendar    334

Integrating Google Calendar with Gmail    335

Solving Common Problems    336

Can I Access and Use Google Calendar Offline in a Web Browser?    336

How Do I Copy an Appointment from one Google Calendar to Another?    337

My Calendar Entries Disappeared! Where Did They Go?    337

Conclusion    338

PART IV    Google Docs    339

CHAPTER 14 Things to Know About Using Google Docs    341

Google Docs    342

Getting Schooled with Google Docs    342

Saving Time with Templates    344

Going Offline with Google Gears    346

Sharing, Collaborating, and Publishing    349

Documents    353

Changing Styles    353

Printing Page Numbers    356

Keyboard Shortcuts    357

Spreadsheets    358

Leveraging Formulas and Functions    359

Filling in Forms    367

Clarifying with Charts    371

Embedding Gadgets    373

Keyboard Shortcuts    376

Presentations    377

Delivering Presentations    378

Rearranging Slides    379

Resizing Objects    380

Keyboard Shortcuts    381

Solving Common Problems    382

When I Right-Click in Firefox, the Google Docs Menu Is Covered Up by the Web Browser’s Menu!    382

Conclusion    382

Further Reading    382

CHAPTER 15    Integrating Google Docs with Other Software and Services    385

Working with Google Docs Using OpenOffice.org or Star Office    385

OoGdocsIntegrator    386

OpenOffice.org2GoogleDocs    386

Accessing Google Docs on a Mobile Device    388

Generic Instructions    388

BlackBerry    388

iPhone    388

Getting Documents into Google Docs    389

Using Firefox    390

Using Windows    393

Using Mac OS X    393

Encrypting Your Connection    393

Searching Your Docs from Your Mac OS X Desktop    394

Defaulting to Google Docs    395

Solving Common Problems    395

My docs disappeared! Where did they go?    395

How can I use all of Google Docs’ features in Safari?    396

Conclusion    396

PART V    Google Sites    397

CHAPTER 16    Setting Up Google Sites    399

Sharing    400

Appearance    401

Themes    401

Site Elements    401

Colors and Fonts    403

Other Stuff    404

Statistics    404

Web Address Mapping    404

Google Webmaster Tools Verification    406

Delete This Site    406

Solving Common Problems    406

Why Can’t I Share My Site with People Outside My Domain?    407

Conclusion    407

Further Reading    407

CHAPTER 17    Things to Know About Using Google Sites    409

Thinking About How Google Sites Fits into Google Apps    409

Creating Several Kinds of Pages    411

Inserting Other Content into Your Pages    412

Utilizing the More Actions Menu    414

Worrying About Security    415

Conclusion    416

PART VI    The Other Services    417

CHAPTER 18    Things to Know About Using Google Talk    419

The Four Versions of Google Talk and Their Features    419

Voice Calls    422

AIM Integration    422

Go Invisible    422

Sending and Receiving Offline Messages    423

Chat History    423

Off the Record    423

Multiuser (Group) Chats    424

Emoticons    424

Sending and Receiving Voicemail    424

File Transfer    425

Video and Image Embedding    426

Music Status Messages    427

Themes    427

Accessing Google Talk in a Desktop Program    427

Using an SSB (Site-Specific Browser)    428

Adium    431

Firefox    431

iChat    432

Kopete    432

Meebo    433

Pidgin    433

Psi    434

Trillian Pro    435

Accessing Google Talk on a Mobile Device    436

BlackBerry    436

iPhone    436

Securing Your Chats    436

Client-to-Server Encryption    437

End-to-End Encryption    437

Solving Common Problems    438

I Have More Than One Google Apps Account and Would Like to Chat Using Two or More at the Same Time    438

Why Can’t I Connect to Google Talk?    439

How Do I Block Google Talk on My Network?    439

Google Talk: How Can I Record Voice Conversations?    439

Google Talk Gadget: One of My Chat Tabs Disappeared!    440

Google Talk Gadget: Why Can’t I Copy and Paste?    440

Conclusion    441

Further Reading    441

CHAPTER 19    Things to Know About Using Start Page    443

Decorating with Themes    443

Going Ga-Ga for Gadgets    444

Collaborating with Gadgets    445

Solving Problems with Gadgets    446

Keeping Track of Customers    446

Managing Projects    447

Accessing Backed Up Files    448

Keeping Track of Tasks    449

Limiting the Gadgets Users Can Add    450

Accessing Your Start Page from a Mobile Device    451

Trying Out the New Start Page    452

Solving Common Problems    455

Why Can’t I Add Certain RSS Feeds to My Start Page?    455

How Do I Reorder My Tabs?    455

Conclusion    455

Further Reading    456

CHAPTER 20    Things to Know About Using Message Security and Recovery    457

Features of Message Security and Discovery    457

Policy Management    458

Message Recovery    458

Message Discovery    458

Using Message Security and Discovery    459

Administration Console    459

User Overview    459

User Access    461

Reports    461

Conclusion    462

Further Reading    462

CHAPTER 21    Things to Know About Using Google Video    465

Changing Control Panel Settings    466

Using Google Video    468

Home    468

My Videos    468

Upload    468

Viewing Videos    470

Accessing Google Video on the iPhone    472

Solving Common Problems    472

Why Can’t I Upload Any Videos?    472

Conclusion    472

Further Reading    472

PART VII    Appendices    475

APPENDIX A    Backing Up Google Apps    477

Backing Up Gmail    477

Backing Up Google Contacts    479

Backing Up Google Calendar    479

Backing Up Google Docs    479

Backing Up Google Sites    480

Backing Up Google Talk    484

Backing Up Start Page    484

Backing Up Google Video    485

Conclusion    485

APPENDIX B    Dealing with Multiple Accounts    487

The Problem Without a Good Solution    487

The Solvable Problem    489

Solutions    490

Working in Separate Web Browsers    490

Creating Multiple Instances of Internet Explorer    490

Getting Specific with an SSB (Site-Specific Browser)    490

Hiding with Google Chrome’s Incognito Mode    491

Running the IE Tab Extension for Firefox    492

Creating Separate Firefox Profiles    493

Swapping Cookies with the CookieSwap Extension for

Firefox    497

A Few Gmail-Only Solutions    498

Conclusion    499

APPENDIX C Google Chrome: A Browser Built for Cloud

Computing    501

Why?    502

Features    504

Omnibox    504

V8    507

Dynamic Tabs    507

Application Shortcuts    508

New Tab Page    510

Crash Control    511

Incognito Mode    512

Safe Browsing    512

User Interface Niceties    513

Looking at the About: Pages    513

Solving Common Problems    515

How Do I Block Ads?    515

Can I Change How Chrome Looks?    516

Where Are the Chrome Plugins?    516

How Do I Back Up Chrome?    517

How Do I Update Chrome?    517

Does Google Chrome’s EULA Say That It Owns Everything

I Do with Chrome?    518

Conclusion    518

Further Reading    519

Index    521