Google Sites is the one Google tool that allows you to use and leverage all of the other Google Tools in one place. You can use a Google Site as a Professional Development platform, a class website, or an e-portfolio for students. 

When you create a site, you need to give it a Name, a URL and a theme. 

Creating Pages:

Each page in a Google Site must be in one of five different categories: Web Page, Announcement, File Cabinet, List or Start Page.  

- Web Page: Standard Web like page, similar to Google Pages, with a WYSIWYG  editor and a few page lay out options.

- Announcements:  Announcement pages function much like a blog, where pages are listed in reverse chronological order, with the most recent announcement on top.  These pages can be used as personal blogs or journal entries, to list homework assignments or to document the progress on a group project.  Each entry also has the ability to comment, so a complete threaded discussion can be documented from a single announcement.  As with all other pages  within a Google Site, the owner of the page can make it 100% public or share only with those  people they wish to have access to it.   

- File Cabinet: File Cabinet pages allow users to create their own online file cabinet, with content from their own files or files from the Internet, by pasting the URL into the editor.  You  can also add folders to the file cabinet to create easier access to files for a particular course   or unit of a course.  

- List Pages:  The name really doesn't tell everything a list page can do.  It really is a way to collect data from multiple users.  There are a few templates for specific types of lists, or you can create your own, using the following types of fields: Check Box, Date, Drop Down, Text  or URL.  List Pages are a nifty way to collect data and make it accessible to a group of  people.

- Start Pages:  Start pages are new to the Google Sites package.  Start pages allow the owner of a site or a domain to create a page where visitors initially land on a Site and provide other tools that are encapsulated in their own area.  This is much like a locked in "iGoogle" page for a site.

More Actions:
In the 'More Actions' tab, which is visible to the owner or collaborators of a particular page, you can change the 'properties' of the page.  You can subscribe to the page settings, change the page settings, print the page, move the page to another place in the site, delete the page, share the site with others, or view the site map.  There is also an 'Advanced Settings' link at the bottom, which allows you to make the site globally significant.