Google Forms & AutoCrat
Mail Merge on Steroids!
https://www.smore.com/gh8z7
Housekeeping Note for HISD Training:
If your computer is not signed in, please use the following:
username: teacher
password: Hudson2016
Google Forms & AutoCrat - A match merged in heaven!
Creating a Google Form will automatically create a Google Sheet to store data from the form.
When you install AutoCrat on the Google Sheet, you open a new world of opportunities to merge data from the Sheet into Google Docs or other Sheets.
Step 1 - Create New Folder in Google Drive
Step 2 - Create Template for Mail Merge
The way the template links to your form data is by bracketing words <<thusly>>. If you need to collect three items from your form, you will place each item within the brackets in the spot where you want the data to exist.
Example Variables:
<<FirstName>>
<<LastName>>
<<Email>>
Example Template:
<<FirstName>> <<LastName>>'s email address is <<Email>>.
The template would output the following for the user:
John Smith's email address is j.smith@hudsonisd.org.
Step 3 - Create Google Form
If you will only need to get a person's name for this project, be sure that you also ask for their email address so you can send them an email through the Mail Merge.
***This video uses the NEW Google Forms.*** Many of the videos around YouTube use the older Google Forms; the NEW Google Forms has only been around for a short time. If your Google Forms does not look like this video, you will probably be prompted to "try" the new Forms, and I would suggest you go for it! Eventually the "new" Forms will be the standard!
Step 4 - AutoCrat Magic
What is AutoCrat?
Merging Data with AutoCrat
Step 4 (cont.)
Firing Up AutoCrat
Go to Add-Ons -> Get add-ons
Scroll through the list and find AutoCrat
Choose AutoCrat
Click Install
You will have to give AutoCrat permissions to edit your spreadsheet; do so.
Once AutoCrat is authorized, you can access it by choosing:
Add-Ons -> AutoCrat -> LAUNCH
Click the icon seen below.
Since you have already created your template, you will choose "DRIVE" and find the template in your Google Drive.
Output Options for Your Data
Tags will be created to coincide with the fields on the form and spreadsheet. You can utilize these variables by using $tags, as seen below.
$Name-$timestamp to produce:
RonnieRoss01-19-16.pdf
Click ADVANCED SETTINGS and choose the destination folder where you would like to store the folders. Perhaps you are creating files that you want to share with someone else. You could easily share that folder from within Google Drive to anyone!