How to Use Google Forms for Sign Ups

I’ve been asked to create a tutorial on how to use Google Forms for event signups.  I tell my parents that emails get buried, and I forget if they tell me in person (especially at a meeting – SQUIRREL!), so I require that they sign up using this form.  It’s an easy way for me to keep up with who has signed up for what event all in one place, and I can also save the data to an excel spreadsheet.  It’s easy for the parents too – I send them a link, they fill out the form, they hit submit – and that’s it! 

I’d like to preface by saying this is not the only sign up system that’s out there.  It’s easier for me personally, but there are other free online form creation websites such as EmailMeForm, or you can use services such as evite or SignUpGenius. If you know of any others that you’d like to recommend, feel free to do so in the comments.  It’s all about what works best for you.

So let’s get to the nitty gritty.  If you know your way around a computer, then this isn’t all that hard.  I do highly recommend creating a few test forms first.  Send them to a couple of friends and ask them to put in some test entries so that you can see what it looks like ahead of time.  Also, I ALWAYS test a real form first before sending it out using my daughter’s information (since she’s going anyway).

First things first.  You need a Google account.  If you have a Gmail address, then this step is done!  If not, you can sign up without Gmail.   Once you’ve done that and signed in, just head to http://drive.google.com to log into Google Drive.

Once you’ve logged in, you should see your “desktop” for Google Drive.  It should look something like this (see below).  I’ve created folders specifically for my GS events to help keep them organized.  I am going to walk you through how I create an event for my troop.  Once you get the hang of it, you can modify it as you see fit.

To create a form, click on the red NEW button and then over to Google Forms:

Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to create your form!

Creating a Form

1. Type in an event title where it says “Untitled form.”
2. For “form description,” type in what you want your parents to know about the trip and the sign up sheet – When’s the deadline?  How much will this event cost?  Who, what, when?
3. For Question Title, I always start with Scout’s Name.
4. Change the Question Type to whatever you need to be that field to be.  If you want them to be able to type what they want (like their daughter’s name), make it Text.  That will create a one-line box that they can free-type in.
   
5. To add another question (or field), click on the Add Item button underneath the field.
6. When you click on Add Item, a list of field types pops-up.  Choose what kind of field you want depending on what you need.  If you want the parent to select just ONE answer (like Yes or No), select Multiple choice.  If you want them to select more than one, use Checkboxes.
   Paragraph text adds a larger box with more lines of text as opposed to just Text, which is a single line of text.  I use Paragraph text for a comments or questions box.
7. You can get all fancy and add images and more text at this point, but I’m just creating a simple form.  You can customize the form later.
8. Once you’ve added the fields you want, click the blue DONE button.
9. At this point, you’ll see some more stuff at the bottom.  It’s up to you whether you want those features or not.
   I usually leave Show link to submit another response checked because I have some parents with multiple children in the troop.
10. Don’t hit Send Form yet!  If you want a plain ole white form, you’re done!  However, I like to make it somewhat beautiful and fancy, so I change the theme.  Go back up to the top of the form and click on the Change Theme button.
11. A column on the right opens up, and you can scroll through different types of themes you’d like to use.  I’m not going to go through all of them, but just test it out and find which one you like.  You can upload your own picture if you wish.  For this example, I chose the Under the Stars theme.
12. If you click on View Live Form, you’ll see it in action!  In fact, you can test it at this point, so go on and do that here, and I’ll show you how to view your responses.
    

Viewing the Responses

1. Now that you’ve put in a couple of test entries, here’s how to view your responses.  There are two ways.
2. If you close out of your form, it’ll take you back to the form edit page.  If you look at the top, you’ll now see that there should be a number in parenthesis next to Responses.  Below that, click on View Responses.
3. This will now open up a spreadsheet in another window or tab.  You’ll see your test responses (or live ones!) at this point.
4. There you go!  There is another way to get to this spreadsheet.  If you want to just view your responses at a later time without having to open up your form, you can go back to your Google Drive desktop, and it’ll show up with the same title but with (Responses) added to it.

How do I send this thing out?

1. Go back to your form in Edit mode, and there is a blue Send form button over to the right.  Click on it, and a window will pop up.
2. You’ve got a lot of options here that you can play around with.  Personally, I use the Short URL selection to copy & paste the URL into an email that I mail the parents.  Once you copy the shortened URL (or the long one), you don’t have to always go back to this window in order to get it.  Or, you can mail the link from this window.

That’s it!  Like I said before, just create a few test forms and play until you get the hang of it.  You’re welcome to ask me any questions in the comments.

If you get a wild hair, you can add Notification Rules to send both you and the person submitting a form an email.  I kept having parents asking me if they had signed up, so I added a field that sent them an email to remind them that yes, they had already signed up.  I’ll add a tutorial for this step in another post in the future.

I hope this helps!