13 Instructions for Creating your ePortfolio

The ePortfolio will use a website building platform called Google Sites. You will have several assignments throughout the school year that will give you instructions and prompts to guide you through updating your Google Site as you are learning from your internship. We have a template for you to easily set up the ePortfolio with the correct pages, headings, and even the prompts right on the page. Follow these steps to get started.

Leave Canvas open to access the tutorials, open a new tab or browser window to start your Google Site. Google Sites editing works best on Chrome.

Step 1: Create your Google Site

1. Go to sites.google.com
2. Make sure you are logged into your IU account by clicking your profile in the upper right corner and selecting the @iu.edu profile
3. Click on Template Gallery in the upper right, and under Indiana University select “LHSI ePortfolio template.”
4. In the top left hand corner of your screen you can see your Google site titled “[Your Name]’s ePortfolio” Click and type to change this to be your first and last name’s ePortfolio. Ex: John Smith’s ePortfolio

Step 2: Publish your Google Site and change privacy settings

1. Click the Publish button on the icon bar in the top right corner of the editor
2. type your first name and last name into the web address text. Add a couple of numbers at the end or your middle initial if the address is already taken
3. Under Who Can View My Site, click “Manage”
4. Click “Change” next to “Links vary”
5. Next to Published Site, click the down arrow and select “Public”
6. Click “Done” and then click “Publish”

After you’ve published, you can adjust these settings by clicking the person with a + sign (Share with Others) icon. The Published Site option should be set to Public.

Important note about publishing your site: Like other Google services, any edits to your site are automatically saved within the editor. The draft is viewable to you when you’re signed in but not in the public link. To make changes public on your website, you must click the Publish button on each page after you make edits. If we say we can’t see updates throughout the year and you know you’ve been adding content, make sure you’ve published each page (we don’t want all that hard work to go to waste!).

Step 3: submit your link

1. After you publish your site, you can share the published site by clicking Copy link Copy link
2. Submit the link to the assignment in Canvas

Please note that the link in the address bar is not the published link and should not be the link submitted to the assignment. It will show up as a broken link if we click it. That link will work for you because it’s under your account. To check that the link works for us, paste it into a private or incognito browser.

Step 4: website design

Would you prefer to change the look and feel of your Google Site before we move on? This is optional, and you can always return to these instructions to make changes throughout the year.

Change the theme and font style:

1. In the top-right corner, click Themes.
2. Select a theme option and choose a color.
3. Click Font style and select a style.

Change the header type:

1. Point to the background image and click Header type .
2. Choose an option:

• • Cover
  • Large banner
  • Banner
  • Title only

Learn other ways to customize your Google Site. Don’t forget to click publish to make the changes viewable to visitors.