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Getting started (Google Colab)

Follow these steps to start writing essays on Google Colab within a few minutes.

Copy an essay template

Important

To use Colab, you need a Google account. To create one, visit the Google Account sign in page and follow the instructions.

  1. Log in to your Google account
  2. Click one of these links to open a template in Colab:
  3. In the template, click File->Save a copy in Drive to save a copy to your Google Drive.
  4. In your copy of the template, click File->Rename to rename the copy. Use a descriptive name relating to your essay.

Info

The first code cell of each template essay notebook installs the necessary software when running the notebook in Colab.

Write the essay

Now that you have saved and renamed a copy of the template, you can start writing your essay in Colab.

For how to use Jupyter notebooks in Colab, read through the Overview of Colaboratory Features.

For guidance on writing algorithmic essays, see our writing and coding guides.

Share the essay

When you are ready to share the essay with others, do the following:

  1. Click the Share button in the top right corner of your essay. A small window will appear in the middle of the screen.
  2. In the General access section of the window, select Anyone with a link from the drop-down menu, and commenter as the role from the new drop-down menu on the right.
  3. Click the Copy link button to put the link in your clipboard.
  4. Click Done to close the window and share the link with your peers.

For suggestions on how to ask for feedback on your shared essay, see our feedback guide

Comment on essays

Once an essay has been shared with you, you can comment on it. See our guide on how to leave feedback.

In Colab, comments are attached to a cell and are displayed next to the cell they refer to.

If you have edit or comment permissions, you can comment on a cell in one of three ways:

  1. Select a cell and click the comment button (speech bubble) in the toolbar above the top-right corner of the cell.
  2. Right-click a text cell and select ‘Add a comment’ from the pop-up menu.
  3. Press Ctrl+Alt+M to add a comment to the currently selected cell.

You can resolve and reply to comments, and you can target comments to specific collaborators by typing @[email address] (e.g., @user@domain.com). Addressed collaborators will be emailed.

The Comment button in the top-right corner of the page shows all comments attached to the notebook.