Working on this project has been particularly daunting at two major breakpoints, no pun intended: We had the courage–perhaps the folly– last year of working on the development of our Google Apps integrations right at the juncture when Google made enormous changes to the underlying architecture of its core Google Apps, including Gmail, Calendar and Docs. (Anyone who was an active Google Apps user last year understands how significant the changes–hundreds of them–were made.) Those architectural changes in short order broke our project code. We rolled with it and spent additional months refactoring the code.

In March, we rolled out in sequence our updated code set to our entire organization with integrations of Gmail, Calendar and Docs and Groups. A month later, Google rolls out Google Drive, its very impressive replacement for Google Docs. And, not so surprisingly given our earlier experience, Google’s changes with the new Google Drive architecture broke our Docs and Gmail integrations. Again. Presumably, this is because both our Docs and Gmail integrations have dependencies on file synchronization and share processes that have changed with the Google Drive architecture. We’re on it, but we will have to make further changes, again.

The price of progress. But looking at the long term, I think Google Drive is well worth the cost to our project.

Other posts of possible interest...

• How the Google Docs integration with Pika works
• The LSNC Google API Project
• Integrating Gmail and Google Groups with the Pika CMS
• Google and the Circle of Life

Here are some screenshots to give you a feel for how it works: First, you upload the files to Pika, which natively stores the files in its database. This shows how the uploaded files display within the Pika user interface:

Second, well, that’s it. You’re done. Really.

Without any further user interaction required, Google Docs synchronizes with Pika and adds those same files to the individual Google Docs accounts of all the users associated with the client case record. The synchronization process adds the files to a client-specific subfolder, with the client’s last name and case number, residing below an upper level folder called “My Cases,” which is itself a special folder within the Google Docs “Collections shared with me.” For example, here are the same files synchronized to Google Docs to the folder labeled “Collections shared with me > My Cases > Forcast – 10-11-00004″ (to state the obvious, this is not a real client):

Once the Pika case-related documents are synchronized to Google Docs, the users can use the documents from within Google Docs as they would any other: navigate to it, search for it, view it, share it, download it, whatever. For example, here is how a Word file orginally uploaded to Pika and then synced to Google Docs looks in the view mode from within Google Docs:

So, imagine you get a Gmail or Google Chat message from another advocate, asking if you have a good example of a motion to quash a subpoena, and you know you have one in the “Forcast” case. Hey, you’re already in your Google Apps, so you just go to Google Docs, navigate or search for the case or document, and there it is. You go ahead and do a Google Docs share to the person who made the request. Done. Without ever having to even open up Pika.

That’s the name of that tune.

Other posts of possible interest...

• Google Drive and the price of progress
• Integrating Gmail and Google Groups with the Pika CMS
• Screenshots of the Pika gadget integration with Google Calendar
• Google Calendar component of LSNC Google API Project posted

The file upload options for Google Docs improved dramatically last week, with what Google more than fairly characterizes as simpler file upload in Google Docs.

The problem with Google’s earlier file upload interface was, well, anything but that. It was not simple. While manageable, it was still a cumbersome UX design. To upload a file, one had to click several times to select, posit to a designated folder, select Google Docs conversion options, and then actually trigger the upload. The prior iteration did help by adding a big, fat drag-n-drop area to the upload interface, but that only minimally simplified the process. What it definitely was not was Dropbox dead simple.

And it still isn’t. Google Docs still lacks local file and folder synchronization, although Google Cloud Connect — a Google Docs must-have, now part of the LSNC desktop standard — gets users of Word, Excel and PowerPoint part of the way there.

That said, the new Google Docs upload functions offer more and better ways to upload files and folders to Google Docs. More sensibly, and vastly more intuitively, one can now simply drag-n-drop files into the Google Docs interface, both to a folder in the left-pane tree or, if viewing files within a Google docs folder, into the right-pane file list itself. (You know, like in an Explorer window.) The user is also now able to set default Google Docs conversion options and whether to be prompted about conversion each time one uploads a file.

It is fantastic that one can now upload entire folders directly to Google Docs, although this only works natively in Google Chrome. Although Google prompts the user to install a Folder Upload applet for other browsers, in my testing I could not install the applet successfully for Firefox 4. Your mileage may vary.

There is a new Google Docs help page that explains how uploading files and folders to Google Docs works.

Other posts of possible interest...

• Google Docs keyboard shortcuts
• Google Drive and the price of progress
• How the Google Docs integration with Pika works
• Underlined links: Does real-world usability trump the canonical view?

A big, gaping hole in the Google Apps platform is, of course, the lack of desktop and device synchronization, single or mulitple. If only Google would adds this functionality so that it is native to the platform! What I want for Google Docs, not surprisingly, is something as simple, polished and bugless as Dropbox. Yes, there are differing options that get me almost there, but in every instance the implementation, the bugs or simply the cost are problematic.

A case in point is Insync, which is apparently still in private beta but now asserts bragging rights for really significant Google Apps integration and is available on a user-limited basis at the Google Apps Marketplace. Contrary to all the five-star reviews there, when we tried it out we found that it worked, yes, but synchronization was pretty sluggish, including inexplicably long delays in synchronizing locally created folders to Google Docs. And despite the attempts of multiple users, no one could successfully get Insync to change its default folder location for the local sync. (In fairness to Insync, the problems we experienced may be attributable to major changes Google recently made to the Google Docs UI.) And there is still no telling what this service will cost.

But I did learn one thing: Once I did an Insync synchronization to my desktop, I checked to see the volume of all my synchronized files. I had well over a half GB, which tells me I am waaaaaaay Cloud dependent at this point.

Other posts of possible interest...

• Google Drive and the price of progress
• How the Google Docs integration with Pika works
• Using Google Docs shares to propagate tech help
• Google Apps Redux

Oddly, one thing the Google posts fail to mention is that you can also “convert, zip and download” one or all of your Google Docs folders, not just the individual files in them. Just select “My folders” in the left-hand tree pane, and in the right pane select the folders you want to download. Then select “More actions > Export” and have at it. If you export your Google Docs folders, you will be pleased to discover that the zip file you download preserves the same folder structure.

Other posts of possible interest...

• Google Drive and the price of progress
• How the Google Docs integration with Pika works
• Google Docs file uploads: Major improvements but still lacks local synchronization
• My Google Docs screen

Today we felt it was time to let our more ambitious users know how to do a bulk export of their Google Docs to their desktop or other location of choice. So we used Google Docs to create instructions on how to bulk export your Google Docs, with links to the applicable Firefox add-ons and a few basic screen captures to illustrate particular steps. The version of the document linked in this post is shared as a public web page, for illustrative purposes here, but internally what we actually do is simply make the document viewable by all within our domain, and then add a link to it to our endlessly exciting “Team Gizmo Updates” announcement page in Google Sites, plus link it to a special “Google Tools” page, also part of our Google Sites content.

All within our domain can now search for and/or navigate to the solution at our Google Sites. Fewer tech calls on this question. Everyone is happier.

Other posts of possible interest...

• Google Apps Redux
• Google Drive and the price of progress
• How the Google Docs integration with Pika works
• My Google Docs screen