Using Google Docs for Volunteer Signups

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Using Google Docs for Volunteer Signups

Fall

11

R E G E N T S P A R E N T C O U N C I L

by Amy Duncan

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Google Doc Training 9/6/2011 Page 2 of 13

Using Google Docs For Volunteer Sign Ups

Why Use Google Docs For Sign Ups?

• Efficient. Organizers do not need to send & receive multiple emails. Everyone can see in real time what everyone else is signing up for & what is still left to sign up

• Flexible. Because it’s a spreadsheet, you can create any type of sign up that you need. Parties, special events, overnight field trips, fundraising projects, etc. can all be organized using shared documents.

• Accessible. Anyone can access Google Docs through an internet browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari) or even on mobile devices.

• Price. It’s free!

Shortcomings Of Google Docs

• Requires internet access

• To set one up, you should know how to use spreadsheets or documents on a basic level. • To set one up, you must create a Google ID.

• Because of its public nature, best to have guidelines in place to preserve privacy (eg. use only first names/last initial of kids)

• URLs are long, ugly, and easy to break when sending by email (though it is possible to create a shortened URL) – Universal Resource Locator, the address of a World Wide Web page

Protecting the Privacy of our Community (parents and children)

Because these sign up will be viewable by anyone who has the link, please do not ask volunteers to enter:

• children’s names (use last names only or first initial and last name) • phone numbers

• physical addresses

See Additional Privacy Considerations: Setting Sharing to 'Anyone with the link' for more

information about this Google privacy setting.

How To Get Started

1. Determine what your needs are (donations, volunteers, etc.)

2. Create the document online within Google or create the document on your computer then upload to Google. (See Using an Existing Document)

3. Add details about the event

4. Set up permissions and get the link to send to volunteers 5. Optional: Create a shortened URL

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Make a Google Doc

Step 1: DETERMINE YOUR NEEDS

Be as specific as possible, when possible:

• Include start and end times

• Include locations if multiple locations will be used (drop area, set up area, event venue) • Include detailed descriptions

• Sort like items together (food, decorations, serving pieces, work shifts, etc) Here’s an example of a list of needs for a teacher appreciation breakfast.

 title of event including date and/or year and time  Collect donations the morning of event

 3 people to set up from 7:30am-8:30am  2 people to bring 1 dozen bagels each  1 gallon of orange juice

 1 pound of ground coffee  2 tubs of cream cheese  2 fruit platters

 1 dozen baked goods  miscellaneous decor

 2 people to clean up from 9:30am-10am

Step 2: CREATE THE DOCUMENT ONLINE

1- Go to www.google.com

2 – Login

If you have a Google Account OR Gmail Account: sign-in now if you haven’t already. If you don’t have a Google Account: you must create an account. (See Basic Information about Google & Gmail Accounts for instructions on creating an account.)

3 – Go to the Google Docs Page

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4 – Create a Document (this example uses a spreadsheet)

Click Create New then Spreadsheet from the dropdown box

OPTIONAL: You can also copy an existing shared document OR upload a document from your computer. (See Using an Existing Document)

5 - Save the new document before proceeding

• Click Save Now then type a descriptive name making sure to include the date or year of the event (this file will be out there on the document list of anyone who views it until you delete it.)

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Google Doc Training 9/6/2011 Page 5 of 13 From this point forward, your document will auto-save itself. If you don’t see this happening, give it a minute, or refresh the page. You should see an indicator near the Save button on the top right side of the spreadsheet that shows when it was last auto-saved.

Step 3: ADD DETAILS ABOUT THE EVENT

1 - Add information about the event at the top of the page. Include the following:

• Event title (should include the year or month/day/year) • Time and Location

• General instructions on how to use the sign up, such as “Please enter your name in the yellow field next to something you can bring or do. It will save automatically. If you have any questions, email [email protected] or call xxx-xxx-xxxx.”

Here’s an example of what this section could look like if you are creating it from scratch:

2 – Create column headers (for example, NEED, DESCRIPTION, NAME, EMAIL ADDRESS,

COMMENTS could each have a column)

3 – Add the individual jobs/donations that people will be signing up for down the leftmost column grouping like items together

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Google Doc Training 9/6/2011 Page 6 of 13 Create a line item for anything someone would sign up for. Example: If 6 people are needed for set-up from 7:30-9 am, then create 6 lines with “set-up 7:30-9 am” in the NEED column for each row.

4 - Format and highlight the sign up any way you would like, using the formatting tools

You can choose from a variety of formatting tools. Hover your mouse over the icons to get a description of what each icon or button does.

This is what the sample spreadsheet looks like after formatting.

5 - Adding rows or columns.

If you need to add a row or column (for example, adding a new item): • Put your cursor where you want the new row to go.

• From the menu, select Insert then Row Above, Row Below, Column to the Left or

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6 – Undo a Mistake or Delete Rows/Columns

• If you make a mistake, undo your mistake by pressing Ctrl+Z, OR from the menu, select Edit and then Undo

• If you want to delete a row or column:

o On the left margin or top margin click on the row or column you want to delete. For example, click on the gray 13 on the left margin to remove Row 13.

o From the menu, select Edit then Delete Row XX or Delete Column XX where XX is the row number or column letter of the row/column to be deleted.

Step 4: SET UP PERMISSIONS AND GET THE LINK

This is usually the most confusing part of using Google Docs, and where problems usually arise. You need to make the page “public” AND you have to allow people to make changes to the sign up without signing-in. !

1 – Access the Share Settings

• On the upper right hand side of the screen, click Share. • Then click Change in the Sharing Setting pop-up box.

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2 – Set Sharing Settings

• Click the radio button to the left of Anyone With the Link .

• Click the checkbox to the left of Allow anyone to edit (no sign-in required) • Click Save

3 - Select and copy the URL

• The URL (document link) is listed in the box below Link to share (allows editing). • Highlight the entire URL using your mouse (the link will not work if you do not copy the

entire chain)

• Click Ctrl+C to copy the URL • Click Done to close the window.

• You can then paste (Ctrl+V) the URL (link) into an email or document to send to potential volunteers.

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Optional Step 5: CREATE A SHORTENED URL

Sometimes forwarding links through email will cause them to “break” by being truncated or split into two pieces. The best way to avoid breaking a long URL link is to shorten it. A URL shortener takes a long ugly URL and makes it short and easy. There are multiple websites that can shorten URLs.

Using the Bitly URL Shortener, this URL: !

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtehKcQsXxyrdHJjdGhydlFXb3ZtdHdDclFxay1YU2c&hl=en_US !

Becomes this: http://bit.ly/p7JoKn

1 - Copy the URL you want to shorten.

(To see and copy the URL for the shared document you can click the Share button on the top

right side of the document.)

2 - Go to a website that shortens URLS

(these are two options www.bitly.com OR www.tinyurl.com )

3 – Convert the URL

On Bitly.com  Paste the long URL into the data entry box then click Shorten

On TinyURL.com  Paste the long URL into the data entry box then click Make TinyURL! 4 – Copy the “new: shortened URL into an email or document to send to potential volunteers

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Troubleshooting

OH NO!!! “Someone accidentally erased all of the sign ups!”

!You can “time travel” with Google Docs, and take the sign up back to the point before the accident. For example, let’s say a pet guinea pig got thrown on to the keyboard and erased a bunch of sign ups. Your document now looks like this:

- From the File menu, select See revision history.

- A column with copies of all revisions including the last time/date they were saved appears on the right hand side.

- Click on a revision to see what it looked like at that day/time.

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Using an Existing Document

To upload a spreadsheet you have already created:

1 - Click Upload then File from the dropdown box. It will take you to a window that allows

you to select a file from your computer to be uploaded. 2 – Locate the file to be uploaded.

3 – Select the file and click Choose or OK.

To copy an existing shared Google document:

1 – View the document you wish to by copy clicking on the document name 2 – Click File, then select Make a Copy from the drop down list

3 – Enter a new name for the document and click OK.

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Basic Information about Google & Gmail

Accounts

Google Accounts (and Gmail) offer a unified sign-in system that gives you access to:

• Free Google products, including iGoogle, Gmail, Google Groups, Picasa, Web History, and more. • AdWords and Google Checkout.

If you've used ANY of these products before, you already have a Google Account. This means if you use Gmail,

you already have a Google Account and do not need to set one up in order to make a shared document.

A Gmail account is a Google account, but a Google account is not a Gmail account.

IF YOU ALREADY HAVE A GMAIL OR GOOGLE ACCOUNT: Just enter your Gmail username (everything that

appears before '@gmail.com') or your Google Account username (the email address you entered when you created your account) and password when you want to sign in to any of the products mentioned above. You can add Gmail to your current Google Account at any time or create a separate Gmail account. When you add Gmail to your Google Account, your Gmail address becomes the primary username on your account ([email protected]). It will be what others see when you share information, like documents or photos, from your Google Account. Your original email address will become the recovery address on your account.

IF YOU DON’T HAVE A GMAIL ACCOUNT: Creating a Google Account won't automatically give you Gmail.

However, you can sign up for Gmail for free. Visit www.gmail.com and click the Sign up for Gmail link under the sign-in box.

How to Create a Google Account

There are 2 kinds of accounts associated with Google: Gmail Account and Google Account. You only need to

set up a Google Account if you want to share documents but DO NOT want a Gmail Account for mail and calendar functions.

To create a Google Account:

1. Visit the account creation page (www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount) 2. Enter your current email address

3. Choose a password

4. Verify your email address by clicking the link in the email sent to your email inbox

When creating an account, please keep these guidelines in mind:

• Your Google Account username should be an email address from which you currently send and receive mail, unless you'd prefer to sign up for Gmail.

• Creating a Google Account doesn't automatically give you Gmail. However, you can sign up for Gmail by visiting the Gmail homepage and clicking the Sign up for Gmail link under the sign-in box

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Additional Privacy Considerations: Setting

Sharing to 'Anyone with the link'

• Anyone who learns the unique URL, or web address, of your doc will be able to see

it. You can also allow anyone to edit.

• People won't need to sign in to access the doc. That means you may not know who

is viewing your doc at any given time (or editing, if you've allowed users to edit).

• Docs in this category will generally not be indexed by search engines like Google,

so they should be harder to find than docs that are public on the web. But they are

not private: people may come across links to these docs if those links are posted on

a blog or forwarded in an email, for example. If you prefer to share a doc with a

closed circle of users,

share your doc with specific people

.

• You can set docs in this category to Private at any time. Once you

restrict access

,

old links to the doc will no longer work but you will still be able to view and access

the document.

In summary: This setting is great for easily sharing a non-private document with a

large group, such as a volunteer sign up sheet for a grade-wide or school-wide special

event that needs to be accessed by families from the entire grade or school. If you

make it private you will defeat the purpose of having an online sign-up sheet.

Everytime you change the share settings (eg. from “private” to “anyone with the

link”), the URL will change. Make sure you distribute the correct or updated link

to the people you want accessing the document.

If you use Google Apps, such as at your school or office, you may not be allowed to

share docs with anyone on the web. Depending on the limitations set by your domain

administrator, you may be restricted to sharing only within your domain, and you may

not be able to set a doc to Anyone with the link. Check with your domain

administrator to learn more about your domain's settings.

Portions of this document were copied and modified from shareware written by Charlene Li, posted at the

Using Google Docs for Volunteer Signups

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