Google Apps collaboration tool gets new Sites feature

Google has extended its Google Apps collaboration service so that users can now work together to create websites.

Google Apps allows businesses, schools and other groups to work together using Google's email, documents and calendar tools. The new Google Sites tool allows groups to work together on webpages that can be seen by the world or limited to the group itself.

Users can create an entire website with no complicated programming knowledge or web design skills, as the tool has a range of point-and-click options. It's possible to add content from other Google services, such as Youtube, Picasa, Google Docs and Google Calendar to the webpages it creates, or to upload files such as Word documents and Powerpoint presentations.

Users can also send an email invitation to anyone else they want to edit the website.

Google said the application has several security settings to ensure that unauthorised users can’t make changes to the websites it creates. These include permission settings that designate users as owners, collaborators or viewers.

Administrators choose whether to publish the finished webpages for the world to see or to keep them private so that only users in the group can view them.

Only Google Apps users can use the new Sites tool, but Google's Page Creator is also available for invididuals who want to create a website.