Form setup

The next chapter in our story is the form. You have your data spreadsheet with name, homeroom, email address, etc, right? OK, good.

We want that form to be set up so that you can merge it into a document later, and possibly email the document as well.

Google forms will store the responses in the form, but you can also opt to also have them loaded into a spreadsheet. We'll definitely do that, but not yet!

The first questions on the Google Form are the ones we're going to "pre-fill." The question type will be "short answer" for these. For example:

• first name
• last name
• homeroom
• parent email address

If you're making your own form, remember that each question you include will become the head of a column on the spreadsheet, so try to be brief. It's also handy if you decide to type your question beginning with a capital or not, and then follow the same rule with all questions. This prevents confusion later when you want to "merge tags."

For most questions that will be answered by the respondent--that is, those that will not be pre-filled on the form--try to choose multiple choice, dropdown, checkbox, grid, or scale to maximize the consistency of your data.

autoCrat can merge all the data into a document, and attach that document to an email if you wish. If you'd like to send the merged document to the student/respondent, click the gear on the form (near top right in the edit mode). Under "General," choose "Collect email addresses." If this form will go only to people in your domain, the form will collect the email automatically. If this goes out to the public, the respondent will have to type in their own email.

When you're creating a form, you can collaborate with someone else if you wish. The "Add collaborators" button is under the "vertical ellipsis" at top right. (It used to be under "Send.")

Now in your form, go to Responses and click the tiny green spreadsheet. Choose "Select existing spreadsheet" as your response destination, then select the spreadsheet with your data--in this case, the sample spreadsheet you just copied. Now the two are linked.

My sample data sheet and form are below.