New From Google Docs: Email Forms

Here’s a new quick tip for Google Docs. If you want to get instant results from surveys or polls, you can use Google Docs and Spreadsheets to send out emails with checkboxes or radioboxes, text boxes, and then whenever recipients send in their answers, your Google spreadsheet is automatically updated.

So first you need a spreadsheet that you can use for sharing or collaboration. Click on the Share tab to start.

Then under “invite people” choose “to fill out a form“.

You will then be led automatically the the online form generator

Here we will have to fill in the information we would have to include in the poll. This includes the form title, the form question or description, and items you want to ask your respondents to answer. You have a choice of question types, from text, to check boxes, to radio buttons.

We can include as many questions or items as needed, and as many types as needed.

Then once we hit the “choose recipients” button, we then add the email addresses of the form respondents. As with Gmail, just keying in the first few characters of the name or email address of recipients in your address book, and you’ll be given a choice. Otherwise, you can input any valid email address.

You can include a custom message, where you can explain to the respondents what they have to do. Then when all is good, you send your questionnaire, and wait for people to answer.

As they send in their responses, your Spreadsheet will be automatically updated, with timestamp and with the responses. You will notice that Google will automatically add the questions you put in the form as headings/columns.

I can think of many uses for thihs, such as for surveys, questionnaires, for school projects, and the like.