The Send to Spreadsheet feature allows you to push data collected by a flow straight to an external spreadsheet i.e. Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel. You can collect data using attributes, which will then be populated into your spreadsheet of choice when the Send to Spreadsheet message part is triggered.

Benefits

• easily and quickly feed flow data into an external spreadsheet

• maintain a live spreadsheet that updates automatically every time the end of flow is triggered

How it works

1) Create your messages

First, create your flow. For this example, I've built an event feedback flow, containing an intro, thanks message and two questions:

2) Set up your Excel spreadsheet

Create a new Excel/Google spreadsheet and create a column for each of the attributes you created in your flow and would like to push through to your document:

I have four columns in my spreadsheet - one for each of my two questions and then two to note the first and last name of the user who submitted the feedback.

3) Edit your spreadsheet trigger message

Go back to the platform and edit the message that will contain your "Send to spreadsheet" message part - in this example, this is the thanks message as it's at the end of my flow. The data from your flow will be sent over to your desired spreadsheet when this message is triggered. This message contains a text message part for the user, and then the "Send to spreadsheet" part. To find the "Send to spreadsheet" message part, hover over the "External Spreadsheets" message part and select the first option:

4) Configure your settings

When you've added your message part, click on "Click to configure" in the bottom right hand corner to launch the settings modal. You will first be asked to select your connection from the drop down menu. If you have not established a connection at this point, then click on either the "Sign in with Microsoft" or "Sign in with Google" button.

You can then go through the login flow of your chosen provider to connect up your external sheet to the platform. Once that is done, your new connection will show up in the dropdown menu.

You can also manage your connections in the settings page of the platform. You can find out more about that here.

Google users please, make sure you click the permission box to connect to Sheets when connecting The Bot Platform to your Google account.

5) Add in your spreadsheet URL

Head over to your spreadsheet and copy the URL from the address bar, then paste it into the "Enter spreadsheet URL" section.

Then click the "Next" button.

Excel users, please note: The URL entered needs to contain /personal/ in order to work. A URL containing /sites/ denotes a shared spreadsheet, which is not compatible with this feature. The spreadsheet must also be created by the owner of the connection. It's best practice for the flow builder to be the owner of the connection to avoid any issues with the Send to Spreadsheet feature later down the line.

6) Select your sheet and choose your attributes

If your spreadsheet URL is correct, you will then be asked to select your sheet from the dropdown menu.

7) Pair up your attributes and columns

You will then be asked to pair up your user attributes to the columns in your spreadsheet using the pair of dropdown menus. Pair up your attributes and columns accordingly. It is best practice to make sure that each of these are named the same - it will make it easier for you to pair them together. 

Once you're happy with your Send to spreadsheet settings, click save.

8) Save your message and test your flow

Save your message, push your changes live and start testing your flow. When you've gone through your flow, and triggered your final message, the data from your flow should show up in your Excel spreadsheet, in a new row in the sheet of your choice. Here is an example of what your sheet should look like:

Troubleshooting

1) Your Send to spreadsheet settings will be validated at each step. If the connection to Microsoft or Google, spreadsheet URL or sheet are incorrect, you will see a red error message telling you to double check your inputted info.

2) You should only be able to create one Google connection with the Platform. If you have set up more than one Google connection, then you will need to unhook those previous connections from Google's side by clicking here and removing access.