View source for Software:Google Sites

{{short description|Structured wiki- and Web page-creation tool}}

'''Google Sites''' is a structured [[Wiki|wiki]] and [[Web page|web page]] creation tool included as part of the free, [[Web application|web-based]] [[Software:Google Docs Editors|Google Docs Editors]] suite offered by [[Company:Google|Google]]. The service also includes [[Software:Google Docs|Google Docs]], [[Software:Google Sheets|Google Sheets]], [[Software:Google Slides|Google Slides]], [[Software:Google Drawings|Google Drawings]], [[Software:Google Forms|Google Forms]], and [[Software:Google Keep|Google Keep]]. Google Sites was only available as a [[World Wide Web|web]]. The sites allows users to create and edit files online while collaborating with other users in real-time.
{{Infobox software
| name = Google Sites
| logo = Google Sites 2020 Logo.svg
| logo_size = 70px
| screenshot = File:Screenshot of Google Sites editing.png
| caption = Screenshot of the editing mode in the<br>New Google Sites.
| developer = [[Company:Google|Google]]
| released = {{start date and age|2008|2|28}}
| platform = [[World Wide Web|Web]]
| genre = Website creation <div>[[Collaborative software]]</div>
| license = 
| website = {{URL|https://sites.google.com/new}}<br>(New version) <br>{{URL|https://sites.google.com/site}}<br>(Classic)
}}

== History ==
Google Sites started out as '''JotSpot''', the name and sole product of a software company that offered enterprise social software.{{Citation needed|reason=A reliable source for JotSpot, its history, its offering, and its target sales demographic are needed for this to be verifiable|date=July 2022}} It was targeted mainly at small-sized and medium-sized businesses. The company was founded by Joe Kraus and Graham Spencer, co-founders of [[Company:Excite (web portal)|Excite]].

In February 2006, JotSpot was named part of Business 2.0, "Next Net 25",<ref>{{cite web |url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2006/03/01/8370596/index.htm
|title=CNN's – The Webtop
|publisher=con Mindy con mine.com |access-date=February 28, 2008 |date=February 28, 2008 |first=Eric |last=Schonfeld}}</ref> and in May 2006, it was honored as one of InfoWorld's "15 Start-ups to Watch".<ref>{{cite web |url=<!-- http://www.infoworld.com/archives/emailPrint.jsp?R=printThis&A=/article/06/05/15/77897_20FEstartups9_1.html -->http://www.infoworld.com/d/developer-world/jotspot-delivers-enterprise-wikis-and-mashups-327 |title=JotSpot delivers enterprise wikis and mashups |publisher=InfoWorld |access-date=February 29, 2008 |date=May 15, 2006 |first=Galen |last=Gruman}}</ref> In October 2006, JotSpot was acquired by Google.<ref>[http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/10/spot-on.html Spot on] – Google Blog, November 1, 2006</ref> Google announced a prolonged data transition of webpages created using Google Page Creator (also known as "Google Pages") to Google Sites servers in 2007. On February 28, 2008, Google Sites was unveiled using the JotSpot technology.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080228/tc_nm/google_sites_dc_1 |title=Google offers team Web site publishing service |publisher=Yahoo! News |access-date=February 28, 2008 |date=February 28, 2008 |first=Eric |last=Auchard |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080302210238/http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080228/tc_nm/google_sites_dc_1 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = March 2, 2008}}</ref> The service was free, but users needed a domain name, which Google offered for $10. However, as of May 21, 2008, Google Sites became available for free, separately from Google Apps, and without the need for a domain.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://groups.google.com/group/sites-help-suggestions/browse_thread/thread/b8ea11cfff75a45a |title=Google Sites Help Group |access-date=May 22, 2008 |date=May 22, 2008}}</ref>

In June 2016, Google introduced a complete rebuild of the Google Sites platform, named the ''New Google Sites,''<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/22/googles-redesigned-google-sites-goes-live/|title=Google's redesigned Google Sites goes live|last=Lardinois|first=Frederic|work=TechCrunch|access-date=January 11, 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://apps.google.com/index__siteseap.html|title=Google Apps for Work – Email, Collaboration Tools And More|website=apps.google.com|access-date=June 20, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160928014024/https://apps.google.com/index__siteseap.html|archive-date=September 28, 2016}}</ref> along with transition schedule from ''Classic Google Sites''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://gsuiteupdates.googleblog.com/2017/05/an-update-on-classic-google-sites.html|title=An update on the classic Google Sites deprecation timeline|work=G Suite Updates Blog|access-date=January 11, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> The new Google Sites does not use JotSpot technology.

In August 2020, the new Google Sites became the default option for website creation, while in November 2021, all websites made with classic Google Sites were archived.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Convert your classic Sites to new Sites - Sites Help |url=https://support.google.com/sites/answer/7035197 |access-date=2023-08-04 |website=Google Sites Help}}</ref>

==  Censorship ==
Following a Turkish regional court ruling in 2009, all pages hosted on Google Sites were blocked in Turkey after it was alleged that one of the pages contained an insult of Turkey's founder, [[Biography:Mustafa Kemal Atatürk|Mustafa Kemal Atatürk]]. In 2012, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled the blockage a breach of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (''Yildirim v Turkey'', 2012).<ref>{{cite web|author=1 Crown Office Row |url=http://ukhumanrightsblog.com/2013/01/16/turkish-block-on-google-site-breached-article-10-rights-rules-strasbourg/ |title=Turkish block on Google site breached Article 10 rights, rules Strasbourg |publisher=UK Human Rights Blog |date=January 16, 2013 |access-date=June 15, 2013}}</ref> The blockage was lifted in 2014.<ref>{{cite web |title=Google Transparency Report – Turkey, Google Sites |url=http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/traffic/disruptions/73/ |access-date=October 4, 2013}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}


[[Category:Proprietary wiki software]]
[[Category:Web applications]]

{{Sourceattribution|Google Sites}}