Get Going with Google Apps for Education with a New Domain

Innovative Educators often ask me how to begin using Google Apps for Education. The first step is to set up a domain. Evan O'Donnell from Teaching Matters, Inc. shared this handy step-by-step guide on how to get started using Network Solutions.

4 Simple Steps to Setting Up a Domain with Google Apps for Ed

1. Purchase a domain:
   http://www.networksolutions.com/
   
   
2. Register this domain for Google Apps:
   http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/edu/index.html
• Completing this form will immediately launch a standard edition of google apps while google review your education application. You can continue setting up the domain in the meantime.
• Google will email you requesting more information regarding your application. Reply to the message with the required information. If in 48 hours google has not been upgraded, complete this form: http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/request.py?contact_type=nonprofit
  
  
3. Enable services for your domain and closely follow the instructions on-screen.
   
   
4. To setup email, you have to switch back to network solutions, manage your DNS records and add MX records:
• Login and click on "Manage Domain Names" under the "nsWebaddress" link on the left. Select the domain you want to edit and click the "edit DNS" button:
  
  

• Select "Manage Advanced DNS Records" from the next screen. DO NOT SELECT "Move DNS"
  
  
• Scroll down to the Mail Servers (MX Records) section and add the MX records that Google requires.

For all the other services you should change the URL of the services so your users can easily access their tools. Click on the service, and choose the "change URL" radio button. Follow Google's instructions for modifying cname records. You change the cname records on the same page as you add the MX records (see above image) - only in the cname section.

Once your services are set, the next step is to setup users and groups. Click on the Explore the different tabs in the control panel:

You can setup users one at a time here, or bulk upload users from an excel sheet using Google's template. If your school is migrating their email from another system, click on the advanced tools tab.

From the Users and Groups tab, you can also setup groups. These are like listserves (allstall) for the domain.

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Created by Evan O'Donnell, Teaching Matters