If you had a previous Writely account and a Google Account that is different, then you have an option to your Writely documents to your Google Account. Log in with your Google Account and there is an option to import documents and settings from the older Writely registration.

I had to move my documents and it was really simple. I am glad Google/Writely thought about people having two different log-ins and gave such an easy way to migrate.

Sid wrote a Walk Through for Creating and Sharing Documents that should help you get started.

Assuming you are a Writely user or got an invite from a Writely user, logging in takes you to the following home screen. Here is a screenshot. Note: Some things have been marked out for privacy.

Creating a New Document/Sharing a New Document:

Simply click “New” and the below screen pops up asking for the name of the document and whether it has any collaborators.

If you do have collaborators, you can enter e-mail addresses to collaborate with and/or collaborate with people you have collaborated with in the past. Currently, you can only enter 20 e-mail addresses to collaborate with. “When you’re ready to notify them about this document, use ‘E-mail collaborators’ from the Collaborate tab within the editor.” This send out an invite to your collaborators with a username and a temporary password.

Sharing a Created Document:

To share an already created document, just open the document, click on the collaborate tab and again you can invite or add collaborators.

We have closed off new registrations until we move Writely to Google’s systems.

Please submit your e-mail address and we’ll send you an email when registration opens back up!

I thought this would come sooner or later, but not this soon. Writely was bought less than a month ago and they are already integrating with Google’s systems. I wonder if they will change the name? Google Office, Google Word, or something? What do you guys think?

Writely is a web-based word processor that was launched last August has been bought by Google. What does this mean? Officially, Writely’s founder says she doesn’t know yet. I personally think it is another step Google has taken to chip away at Microsoft’s dominance on PCs by navigating around the operaing system.  Web applications only need a broswer and can be used anywhere and on any platform.  Secondly, Writely was most likely going to be a paid service once it was out of beta. Now, it will probably be free.

Note: Writely is still in closed beta and there is a list to get on.  Sign up here.

What is Writely?

1. Share documents instantly & collaborate real-time: Pick exactly who can access your documents.
2. Edit your documents from anywhere: Nothing to download — your browser is all you need.
3. Store your documents securely online: Offsite storage plus data backup every 10 seconds.
4. Easy to use: Clean, uncluttered screens with a familiar, desktop feel.

• Can I … upload from Word? YES!
• Can I … save to my desktop? YES!
• Can I … publish on the web? YES!
• Can I … post on my blog? YES!

Source: News.com