So today I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Google Operating System, and I saw an interesting development on the Google Docs front.
Google Spreadsheets has a new feature that lets you create a form to accept data. When you go to the Share tab, there's a new option to "invite people to fill out a form". The form is very simple and can be customized by changing the order of entries, their labels and the type of answers. It's also a nice way to get feedback people who wouldn't normally collaborate on a spreadsheet.
This is really exciting stuff, especially for many of my clients that just want a quick and dirty form to ask a couple questions of their customers. The bonus is that it comes out in the format everybody wants. Microsoft Excel! Here is what the Offical Blog Post had to say:
Responses are automatically added to your spreadsheet. You can even keep a closer eye on them by adding the Google Docs forms gadget to your iGoogle homepage, created by software engineers Valerie Blechar and Sarah Beth Eisinger (in her first month at Google!). It lists your recent active forms, with new responses highlighted. Add this gadget to your iGoogle page:
To test this out I created my own survey for my readers to tell me how I am doing? Located at: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pmGAQxFEGHWGV6o0976XeJQ
I found that you can use/host the forms in the following ways:
- In an <iframe /> with this URL http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key={your key}
- On your own page with a standard form POST to http://spreadsheets.google.com/formResponse?key={your key}
- In Emails with a standard form POST to the same URL as in number 2
So I see an immediate impact on my life in rolling out custom forms to my clients to help them gather the information that is important to them. Also if you have the time there are some questions that are important to me. So if you wouldn't mind please click here or on the left in the navigation bar: How is Coder Journal doing?