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[Google Page Creator closing]  (View post)

Ken B [PersonRank 1]

Monday, August 4, 2008
15 years ago11,213 views

[moved from "FeedBurner Integrated with Google Accounts"]

Google Page Creator is officially closing and replaced with Google Sites.

"We are no longer accepting new sign-ups for Page Creator because we have shifted our focus to developing Google Sites.

Consequently, we will be shutting down Page Creator later this year.
[] your pages will automatically be transitioned to Google Sites later this year.

Page Creator has always been a Google Labs project (Labs is our "technology playground" where we let users test-drive experimental products and give us feedback so we can innovate more quickly).

http://groups.google.com/group/GPC-How-to/browse_frm/thread/d322e5d60fd7d2f6

Mrrix32 [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

What? Awww.... No fair!

I think the two running side-by-side was good, as each had features the other didn't. (eg. Sites has collaboration, Pages lets you have Javascript)

Tony Ruscoe [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Google Page Creator also lets you upload whatever files you like. This will be a big blow to anyone who did use Google Pages. I wonder what they'll do with the URLs too. Redirect or change Google Sites to allow googlepages.com subdomains?

Ken B [PersonRank 1]

15 years ago #

I think you can upload any type of file format, maybe except for .exe-files. Google Page Creator (GPC) has probably the same restrictions. When Google later this year transfer GPC-accounts to Google Sites, I hope they offer some javascript, iframes, RSS-feeds and more templates like Blogger.

I never really liked GPC much, it was buggy and didn't give much design choices. Alternative designs had to use e.g. blogger or CSS, which kind of loose all meaning of GPC (simplicity).

DPic [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

I think the two running side-by-side was good, as each had features the other didn't.

I disagree-- it would be better to have one with all the features.... although, yeah, it sucks that we lose what google pages offered and sites doesn't (yet. i really hope sites gets a big update with this)

Colin Colehour [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

It would be nice if the best features of both were merged into Sites since they are going to close Page Creator.

It never makes sense to keep 2 similar competing sites running long term. Yahoo had to make a similar decision with Flickr and Yahoo Photos.

Above 6 comments were made in the forum before this was blogged,

Gyulus [PersonRank 1]

15 years ago #

You can't upload .html, or .js or even .xml files (and maybe others) to Google Sites, and this is very sad thing. So the two services are not the same.

Tomi Häsä [PersonRank 5]

15 years ago #

Too bad you can't tell search engines about your new pages in GPC (I'm one of the authors of the unofficial google.public.support.general FAQ page and also I have an unofficial Google Groups FAQ page) unless you have uploaded your pages instead of creating them with the GPC Page Manager. With some sites you can use the HTTP 301 Moved Permanently redirection, but with GPC sites (with uploaded pages) the only option seems to be the Meta Refresh redirection:

http://www.tamingthebeast.net/articles3/spiders-301-redirect.htm

I might use the automatic transition and see if there will be a 301 redirect from my old URLs to the new URLs, but I doubt it. Oh well, my pages have been a hobby of mine and I have never used any advertisements on my pages, so I don't lose any money...

Reyhan Dhuny [PersonRank 1]

15 years ago #

I use Google Page Creator to host various images for blog posts. I hope these will not be broken/deleted when GPC is deactivated!

Joe DiPilato [PersonRank 1]

15 years ago #

Not being able to upload HTML files is a huge let down.

michael [PersonRank 0]

15 years ago #

This is very sad. There is a petition hoping Google will reconsider

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/googlepagesalive/signatures.html

Ahab [PersonRank 5]

15 years ago #

Also the debate is still going on: http://groups.google.com/group/GPC-Suggestions/browse_thread/thread/908f2a5cca6ee9d2

It appears there are quite a lot of Google Page Creator users that find a transition to Google Sites will wreck their pages.

Ken B [PersonRank 1]

15 years ago #

How do they know a transition will brake their pages?

In the future when the transition takes place, will Google sites offer much more than now, especially if Google can focus their efforts on only one project instead of two.

Tomi Häsä [PersonRank 5]

15 years ago #

Ahab, in the URL you mentioned, I can't sign in to the petition. I get "You do not have the permission required to post." Are they closing the forum or something, because I can post in other official Google forums...

Ahab [PersonRank 5]

15 years ago #

[put at-character here]Ken B
"How do they know a transition will brake their pages?"

The statement made by the Google Guide Mike does not make clear they won't. Also Google Page Creator is explicitely called part of a [Google Labs] "technology playground" 'where we let users test-drive', which seems to imply users should have considered themselves guinee pigs from the start.

Also my intensive experience with another Google product – Google Docs – tells me that refining an existing product has a lower priority at Google than forking out new features for it.

The problem that people panic is entirely caused by Google not being clear about the implications of Google Page Creator transitioning to Google Sites; keeping users in the dark if their pages will function after they've become part of Google Sites by issuing ambiguous statements is 'evil'!

Ahab [PersonRank 5]

15 years ago #

The Google Page Creator and Google Sites teams are getting the message: http://groups.google.com/group/GPC-How-to/browse_thread/thread/799f7251fefe36b0#

However (as usual?) the wording is ambiguous again:
"Another concern we've heard is that the features and level of control
offered by Google Page Creator is different than Google Sites. We are
continually working on adding features to Google Sites which make
website creation both easier and more customizable. Specific to the
transition we are working on adding themes and layouts which Google
Page Creator offered to Google Sites."

It's the level of control that makes Google Page Creator stand out over Google Sites and again this point is ambiguously addressed: "We are continually working on adding features to Google Sites which make website creation both easier and more customizable."

Personally I really doubt that the concern most users had was about the Google Page Creator themes and layouts. But of course this point was addressed unambiguously: "Specific to the transition we are working on adding themes and layouts which Google Page Creator offered to Google Sites."
Someone must have thought: 'throw them a bone, so they will stop barking that hard...'

[put at-character here]Tomi Häsä
The link I mentioned (http://groups.google.com/group/GPC-Suggestions/browse_thread/thread/908f2a5cca6ee9d2) was part of the 'Suggestions and Ideas' forum of Google Page Creator. This forum is now only available as an archive (the official reading on this probably will be suggestions and ideas for Google Page Creator are no longer accepted :|).
Closing down the 'Suggestions and Ideas' ideas forum while there was such a vehement discussion going on about the transition to Google Sites seems undiplomatic ; I'm sure the Google Guides are great people which can handle a lot of stress and that really are trying to help people, but they really should follow some seminars about communicating and customer relations as shutting down a discussion right in the middle of it is 'evil'.

Tomi Häsä [PersonRank 5]

15 years ago #

In case other people are also having problems using the official Google Page Creator forum, here are a few unofficial places to discuss about the transition (should you wait, should you find another service, etc.):

http://www.googlecommunity.com/forum/other-google-features/
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.internet.services.google/topics
http://groups.google.com/group/GooglePagesGuide/topics
http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Problems/topics

Karen [PersonRank 0]

15 years ago #

Tomi..

Thanks for those links...

totally appreciate it..

when.do.we.leave.googlepages.com

[Unlinked – Tony]

Tomi Häsä [PersonRank 5]

15 years ago #

I've noticed on some blog comments people mention Google Sites is better than Google Page Creator. I feel the contrary. With Google Page Creator you could upload HTML files and it was much easier to make your pages look exactly the way you wanted using uploaded HTML files and CSS files (or CSS in HTML). With Google Sites you can’t use uploaded HTML files with CSS and you can’t use scripting either.

When I tried moving my Google Page Creator pages to Google Sites, I had to copy and paste the HTML source from the HTML files and change and tweak the HTML and it still looks disgusting. Also, my week old Google Sites website got banned, because its spam filter sucks so I had to contact the Google Sites team to get my Google Sites website back. Now my pages are back to Google Page Creator and I’m not sure what I should do. Google Sites is definitely Beta and should be told on every page on that service.

/pd [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

Ok How do I backup all my files that have on pages ? I want to pull them off this property.. I dont like sites and will not use it

Ionut Alex. Chitu [PersonRank 10]

15 years ago #

[put at-character here]/pd:
I made a small script that exports your files (it requires a download manager):
http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/08/export-files-from-google-page-creator.html

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