15 Most Requested Google Sites Features
Review the options most Google Sites users would love to see implemented for the Workspace site builder product. Development on the platform and the general roadmap isn't public knowledge, but we hope these settings might launch soon (some were even available back on the sunset Classic Google Sites product). We conducted Facebook surveys and polls with Google Sites designers, developers, end-users and admins to research and publish this list of features.
Written by Kyle H. on August 16, 2023; Updated November 2, 2023
Page Level Permissions
Site management feature
Just like we had in Classic Google Sites for Editors or Viewers
Include the feature that if you aren't at least a viewer on a page / subpage, you won't see it displayed in the default navigation.
Optional: Include the permission, individual can or can't Publish the site.
Related: Also per page publishing not all or nothing universal site publishing.
Useful for: Intranet | Website | Education
Blogging Support Features / Post Publishing
Content creation feature
Add Blog / Announcements page type, similar to Classic Sites for adding posts, articles, news, announcements, etc.
CMS for publishing
Optional: Recent Posts gadget, Archived posts, Draft Posts.
Most recent announcements widget to compliment this.
Could connect it with Google Spaces. New posts could be automatically added to a Google Space with a snippet and link. This would foster internal communications and collaboration.
Related: Keywords, Tagging, Filters, Sorting support
Useful for: Intranet | Website | Education
Google Spaces / Chat Integration
Workspace feature
Embed Google Spaces into Google Sites because we lost similar functionality from Google Plus Communities, Google Currents. Google Groups for Business isn't good enough for active collaboration.
Optional: Link the blog/announcements feature with Google Spaces for cross-posting.
Idea: Floating/Sticky button or sidebar slideout to display it. Even imagine an AI bot, or support chat for intranets, onboarding sites, new employee handbooks / playbooks.
Useful for: Intranet | Education
Generative AI Support in Google Sites
Developer feature
GenAI and its impact on web design is undisputed by this point, certain platforms are advertising complete buildouts from a few prompts.
Integrate what we see for Docs and Slides and you'll see Sites take off on this bandwagon
Bard, Duet, Gemini, Text, Images, Video AI generated or assisted content creation
Table of Contents
Text Boxes & Insert Tables
Design Feature
Allow editing of text block for padding, margins,
Styling for background color, all border options, border radius, box shadow
Like the Google Docs Insert Table
Support for card or bento style layouts
Useful for: Intranet | Website | Education
Examples of HTML/CSS Embedded Tables:
Example of styling options for a block within Framer
Example from Squarespace
Template Marketplace
Content Creator Feature
Share custom Google Sites theme and templates with the public
Useful for: Intranet | Website | Education
Google Sites API Access
Developer feature
Tons of potential for options
Automate page creation, migration, widgets, extracting and serving information from Sites.
Useful for: Intranet
Code Injection of HTML/CSS/Javascript
Developer Feature
Google Tag Manager and other custom code to embed in <head> section.
Increases creativity and customization
Useful for: Intranet | Website | Education
More Supported Image Formats
Designer Feature
Lower site loads times, improved image quality
Support .webp, .svg formats, probably others I'm missing
Useful for: Intranet | Website | Education
Gadgets, Widgets, Plugins Directory Marketplace
Developer Feature
Like directory of embed code apps
Useful for: Intranet | Website | Education
More Navigation features, controls, hover effects
Design Feature
Navigation bar height to influence a relatively small logo height dimension.
Nav link item spacing, alignment.
Logo alignment, left, center, right
Top navigation alignment, float right, under logo bar, remove logo and far left.
Could treat similar to Custom Theme "Spacing" with presets at comfortable, cozy, compact.
Useful for: Intranet | Website | Education
Animations for Images, Texts & Elements
Design Feature
Fade in, Drop in, slide in, highlight, underline, that kind of thing
Look to Google Slides for inspiration, image treatments
Useful for: Intranet | Website | Education
Full Content Block Image Carousel
Design Feature
Current image carousel can be adding into content area.
Allow content block as carousel which fills 100% similar to how background images work
Button Styling
Design Feature
padding, rounding, text sizing & decoration
Square / Rounded / Pill styles
Flat, Shadow styles
Hover effects
Could treat similar to Custom Theme "Spacing" with presets at comfortable, cozy, compact.
Sitemap Support XML Sitemap
SEO Feature
Submission support for Google Search to aid in thorough indexing of large Sites.
Auto-generate a sitemap.xml URL for the site
If used, automatically assign custom domain as the canonical version of the site
Useful for: Website
Meta Data and Better SEO Controls
SEO Feature
Add Meta descriptions
Way of identifying displayed navigation title vs. full SEO page title (current workaround with adding URLs)
301 redirect support
Stable permanent image URLs for image indexing in Google Search
Option to add rel="canonical" to custom domains
Useful for: Website