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Accounts

Overview

This page contains User Guidelines for a Google Account.

Since our services are based upon Google Apps, it is necessary to have a Google Account to access many of the services.  In particular, you must have a Google Account in order to access any services whose permissions are not 'Public', and in order to edit or manage any of the services.

If you already have a Google Account (gmail) and are a non-volunteer, you're all set.  If don't have a Google Account, or you're a volunteer who leads activities, read on to see what type of account will be most suitable for you.

There are several types of Google Accounts providing options for the individuals in our community:
  1. Google Apps Account - gmail uses our domain address: bob@orgname.com, available to active volunteers on an as needed basis.
  2. Consumer Google Account - with gmail address: tom@gmail.com
  3. Non-Gmail Google Account - can login to Google but use your existing non-Google email.
  4. No Account - limited access to public items and email groups only.
The table below provides a detailed comparison of these account types.

ORG-specific

The organization (ORG) has deployed this service in the following specific manner to address our requirements.

This table pertains to a nonprofit organization with Organization Volunteers as leaders, and a General Membership (who are more passive consumers of information), Google Account options exist in several different flavors, including not having one.   The type of account which each member uses may impact the services available to that member.  A member will fall into one of these categories:

Account Type / email

Description

Organization Volunteer (Leaders)

General Members

Google Apps Account John.Doe@orgname.com

An account created by the organization’s Google Apps system administrator and owned by the entity. 

Alias nicknames such as President@orgname.com can be added to accounts (send/receive email with either address).

 

RECOMMENDED for Activity Leaders and Officers

-   Create Groups, Calendars, Sites, Drive folders, etc.  These are ‘owned’ by the organization.

-   Manage permissions *

-   Manage list groups *

-   Lead or belong to an Activity leadership team

-   Join/manage Groups *

-   Edit content (Sites, Calendars, Drive…) *

Also:

-   All actions available to ‘General Member’ with a consumer account. î

NA

Consumer Google Account

JohnSmith@gmail.com

A free consumer account any person can create.  By default these include Gmail email service. Here’s the URL to sign up: https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount


TYPICAL VOLUNTEER

-   Join Groups

-   Belong to an Activity leadership team 

-   Join/manage Groups *

-   Edit content (Sites, Calendars, Drive…) *

-   Manage permissions *

-   NOT RECOMMENDED: Any calendars, Sites, Drive folders this user creates are ‘owned’ by this user, not the organization.

Also:

-   All actions available to ‘General Member’ columnè

 

Join Groups

-   General distribution lists

-   Activity-specific Group for Participants (e.g., Chorus)

 

-   Groups appear in your Google Groups list

-   Control your email delivery preferences for each group

 

You get the permissions granted to the group, such as:

-   View Group web access, Calendar, Site, participant Drive folder/files *

Also:

-   Add organization calendars to your Google Calendar screen

Non-Gmail Google Account

JohnQPublic@yahoo.com or any other email address

A free consumer account that uses the person’s pre-existing email service and does NOT create a new Gmail email address. Otherwise provides access to Google services.  Here’s the URL to sign up: https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount

 

This is similar to signing up for a DropBox, Flickr, or Shutterfly account.

No Account

JaneDoe@comcast.net or any other email address

A person with email, but NO Google account.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Also:

-   All actions available to ‘General Member’ columnè

 

- No access to any Google services requiring a sign-in

- May view public information (Sites, Calendars).

- Can be a member of group(s) (Joining via: member join, manager invite or manager ‘direct add’) but user can only send/receive email

* a person’s ability to perform any specific task (view, edit, manage) are based upon permission settings granted to their account (or their group memberships), as configured by item’s manager.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

None.
If permissions for this service are restricted such that only specified individuals or groups can access the content, then you must have a Google Account and must be logged into the account to access the content.  Refer to User Help -> Accounts for help with account options.

Initial Setup

Here's what to do if you need to setup a Google Account:

Google Apps Account

If you would like to obtain a organization Google Apps account, please contact the system administrator.

Consumer Google Account

Here’s the URL to sign up: https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount 

Non-Gmail Google Account

Here’s the URL to sign up: https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount 

Using an Account

Sign in

To Sign in (Login) to your Google account, go to www.google.com and click on the 'Sign in' button.  Alternatively you can use the 'Sign in' button or dialog box that appears on many other Google webpages.

Learn More

Here are some links to Google Help and Learning for this service:
Additional Google Apps help and learning resources are listed on our Google Apps Help page.
Subpages (1): New Account