New Google Docs feature makes mass surveys easy

Filed under: Business, Internet, E-mail, Productivity, Web services, Google, Social Software, web 2.0

New Google Docs feature makes mass surveys easy

by Danny Mendez Feb 7th 2008

It's already possible to make and distribute surveys through Google Docs, but the process can be a pain. As survey-takers log-in to edit the spreadsheet, sometimes they don't follow directions or they edit parts they're not supposed to edit. What's worse is that users have to register with Google in order to use Google Docs, but this new Google Docs feature, called "forms," makes survey distribution and information collection incredibly easy.

Forms are created in Google Docs spreadsheets via the share tab, where you'll need to make sure you select "to fill out a form." Multiple-choice or free-response questions can be added as you wish. Then add some email addresses, and wait for the responses to arrive. Survey-takers don't need to sign-in and can access the survey through an email message or a link. The responses will be added to your spreadsheet automatically.

[via Google Blogoscoped]

Tags: form, forms, google, google docs, GoogleDocs, information collection, InformationCollection, survey

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

todd lucier said 10:40AM on 2-07-2008

What most people seem to miss is the relevance of any news post. Your description of the update for Google's new forms tool is concise and clearly describes the benefits for users. How can I use this for my business?
Clearly you have trumped the other half-dozen mentions of this added forms utility to google docs. Well done.

donely said 3:21PM on 2-07-2008

so who will post a survey so we can check it out?

Hugh Nano said 2:27AM on 3-23-2008

This is indeed a great new feature that I didn't notice before reading this post. Thanks DLS!

However, I don't want to just e-mail a form to a few folk - I want to put a form up on the 'net that can be publically accessible without signing in. It looks as though this is possible, by using the "Go to live form" link on the "Preview and send form" page (the "Go to live form" link on the spreadsheet Share tab doesn't work this way - it asks for confirmation instead of giving public access to the form). My question (to any DLS team member or reader who may know) is how official is this? Is this something Google will support on an ongoing basis, or is it something they may change without warning and thus break any
publically available forms that a business or school (we're using Google Apps, Education Edition in my organization) may be relying upon
to collect data?

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