help guide

123 Document mail merge

Description of 123 Document mail merge

What is the Google Spreadsheet™ add-on for?

The Google Spreadsheet™ add-on will merge the data from the Google Spreadsheet with the template in the Google Docs™.

When to use it

Use the document mail merge add-on whenever you need personalized documents in Google Docs.

Use cases

  • Create a personalised document for a group of persons which can easily be printed

  • Create personalized documents for persons and place the document in their personal folder on Google Drive

  • Create personalised Google Docs files which can easily be send by email.

How it works

Steps in the configuration:

  1. In the spreadsheet, on the Data Sheet, create the relevant columns and data

  2. In the Sidebar, select the Google Docs template

  3. Merge the spreadsheet data and the document together

View the result in Google Drive.

For the merge process you have the following options

Your file result:

  • Create a document for each data row

  • Result in one document

Your file format options:

  • Google Docs file format

  • PDF (*.pdf) file format

Your file location options:

  • Google Drive folder of the document template

  • Use column "Folder_ID" to determine the right Google Drive folder

File name options:

  • Use same name as the document template

  • Use column "Filename" to set the file name

Step by step guide for Google Docs mail merge

The menu options

In the Google Spreadsheet add-on menu you will see the add-on “123 Document Mail merge” can choose:

  • About shows a popup with a short description

  • Show configuration shows the sidebar screen

In case the buttons are not working in the sidebar, you don’t have the right authorisation (see FAQ for solution). You can use the options below to continue anyway.

  • Specify template asks for the unique document ID

  • Start Document mail merge will merge the template with the data

  • Help shows the default Google screen

The menu options

Click About in the add-on menu.

  • This will show a pop-up screen which explains the add-on briefly, shows an “Open help” link to this help document and the Start button to show the add-on sidebar configuration menu.

The screenshot below shows an overview of the screen. You should have an Info sheet and a Data sheet. After clicking “Show configuration” the sidebar should be available.

1 - Data columns

Step 1 is to adjust the data column in your spreadsheet to your needs.

The first 3 columns (File name, Folder ID and Status) are mandatory in the sheet. Do NOT remove those columns. You can leave the cells in those columns empty if you don’t need them.

The column D and further need to be adjusted to your needs. Change the column header name. Remember that the column header name will be used in the document template as placeholder. The names are case sensitive and may contain spaces.

2-Select template

Step 2 is to specify the document template. You need to provide the unique ID of the Google Document that you want to use as a template.

As an example: you might see in the URL bar this url:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nLlNdWv2TTkiqn00-z1kIk4PrNNXsPqVNLGRSbdtnig/edit. So in the field you would enter the unique part: 1nLlNdWv2TTkiqn00-z1kIk4PrNNXsPqVNLGRSbdtnig


Ensure that you click the button “Set template”.

After clicking the button “Set template” you will get a popup confirmation that you specified a valid document unique ID.


If the value is not correct, you will see an error message.a

Screenshot of Google Group list

3-Scheduling & Insights

Click the button ‘Merge’ to start the merge process.

You will get a confirmation question:

After clicking Yes, you will see a toast message in the spreadsheet with the start message and finish a finish message when done.

The Status column (column C) will contain a link to the created document.

The document will be based on the template, and the placeholders in the document (your column header names) are replaced with the values.

Installation

How to add the Google Workspace extension '123 Document mail merge' to your spreadsheet?

Option 1: Installation from the spreadsheet

  1. Start a new Google Spreadsheet in Google Drive. (https://sheets.new)

  2. In the top menu bar of the Google Spreadsheet select Extensions.

  3. Click in the menu “Add-ons” and “ Get add-ons”.

  4. A new pop-up window will show the Google Workspace marketplace.

  5. Search for “123 Document mail merge”.

  6. Click the button “Individual Install”.

Option 2: Installation from the Google Workspace marketplace

Go to the Google Workspace marketplace: https://workspace.google.com/marketplace

  1. Search for “123 Document mail merge

  2. Click the button “Individual Install

  3. Go to Google Drive and start a new Google spreadsheet (https://sheets.new)

  4. You find the add-on In the top menu bar of the Google Spreadsheet 'Extension'.

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a product roadmap available?

  • Add-on seems fully loaded. Nothing on our roadmap. Do you miss a feature? Found a bug? Please send an email or fill in the contact form.

Is there a version history overview?

This is in preparation.