This guide provides the basic process of using Google Drive to create Registration Forms.
If you have a Google Account, Drive has a really simple Forms system which allows you to create online registration forms for group events such as forums, workshops, field days, conferences etc. These forms are accessible via desktop, tablet or mobile, so are easy to access.
A really useful advantage is the fact you can give other people access to the live registration list without having to send regular emails.
There are a number of Sample Template forms already available via Google Forms, including an Event Registration Template, RSVP Form, Contact Form, and more.
See the Templates via the Forms Template Gallery.
To open the Template Gallery, go to your Drive folder, click New > Form > From Template. This will open the templates gallery.
Before you start to design the form, it is best to be clear on the information you need and want to collect.
Some information will be critical - so you need to force this to be supplied, and some will only need to be optional. The order you need the information, and how you will be using this later will impact on the questions - and it is best to have these worked out first.
Once you set the form to collect responses, the data will be recorded in the order of the questions - especially once you select to add to a spreadsheet. If you change questions and the order, this may not change in the spreadsheet.
Key questions to consider first include if you need in the information :
Some really useful questions to ask can include additional information that might help later, such as where they heard about the event, are they members, age brackets etc.
Also work out which information can be collected via pre-set choices, ie food preferences, where they heard etc. The more you can have selections from lists, the more likely you will get responses. Most questions have a 'Other' option as well.
If you need people to select from a choice of options, which do you use?
- Multiple Choice - allows one answer to be selected in a list, or Other text field to be added
- Checkboxes allow multiples to be selected, or Other text field to be added
- Dropdown allows only one answer to be selected - and no other option
Some questions are useful to include some form of check, particularly Email or phone numbers.
To add a data check to a question, click on the three dots bottom right, select Data Validation, which will add the section on the question.
For email, start with a short answer question, select Text from the left option, select Email from the second option. You can leave the error message default.
There are options to show or hide questions based on answers to other questions. This is not normally required for registrations, but for instructions, go here: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/141062?hl=en&ref_topic=6063584
The default form will keep the responses in the Responses section of the form. To see the results, open the form, click on Responses and view any data.
Once you have created the form and it has all the questions in the order you want, you can change the destination.
If you wish to create a spreadsheet with the responses, click on Responses, click on the green spreadsheet icon. This will create a new spreadsheet in the same section of Drive as you have the Form in. The spreadsheet will be named 'Form Name' Responses.
You can also opt to receive email notifications when someone fills out the form. Go to Responses, click on the More dots, select 'Get email notifications for responses'.
There are a few settings that allow people to either see the summary responses (not recommended), edit their response, or add another response. You can also edit the message they see when they have submitted successfully.
To check, click on the Settings (gear) icon top of the form page. Select the appropriate options.
Information here: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/2839588?hl=en&ref_topic=6063584
Once you have the form, you need to get it out to people. There are a few options. To select the appropriate ones, open the form, click on the Send button top right. This will open the send options, and select from:
Choose the one you want.
If you want to enable someone else to view and use the data, you can share the spreadsheet with them.
Go to the relevant Drive folder containing the sheet, right click on the spreadsheet name and click on Share.
Enter their email address in the People box, write a note to them about it which will be included in the email.
This can be set to Edit option so they can download or modify the data. If they do not have a Google Account, they will need to use the link in the email to access every time. If they have a Google account, the sheet will be visible in their Drive.
When the event is booked out or finished, you can close the form from accepting responses.
To stop receiving responses, open the form, Click on Responses, then change the button beside Accepting Responses.
For the next event, you do not need to create a new form, if this one has the information. You can either create a copy of the form, or if you do not need the data from the current form, delete all responses.
To delete all responses in the current form, open the Form, click on Responses, click on More (three dots), and click on delete all responses.
To keep all the previous data, and create a copy of the form ready for another event, go to the relevant Drive folder, right click on the Form name, select Make a Copy.
This will add a duplicate of the form but not the spreadsheet.
Modify the name, questions, information and create a new spreadsheet just as above.
Have you tried this? Do you have comments? Please use the Feedback page to provide comments or ideas.