Hey everyone! I’m looking for a way to make our meeting notes process easier in Google Docs. Right now, we manually copy and paste a template that looks like this:
---
@date - Meeting Topic
Action Items
- Example item
Discussion Points
- Example point
---
We end up with a doc full of these sections for different dates. It’s a bit of a hassle to format correctly each time, especially when people are trying to add tables or other complex stuff.
Does anyone know if there’s a way to automate this in Google Docs? Like a button that would insert the template automatically? I’m open to using add-ons or Apps Script, but a built-in solution would be ideal.
The main goal is to keep our notes consistent and make it super easy for everyone to add new entries without messing up the formatting. Any ideas?
Have you considered using Google Docs’ built-in template gallery? It’s a lesser-known feature but quite powerful for situations like yours. You can create a custom template with your meeting notes structure and save it to your organization’s template gallery. Then, anyone can start a new document from this template with just a few clicks.
To set it up, create a document with your desired format, go to File > Save as template, and follow the prompts. Once saved, team members can access it via File > New > From template. This method doesn’t require any coding and maintains consistency across all users.
For even quicker access, you could create a shortcut to this template on your team’s shared drive. It’s a simple solution that might save you the hassle of more complex automations.
yo, have u tried the ‘Explore’ button in gdocs? it’s got this cool ‘templates’ section. u can make ur own template there n just click to add it anytime. no fancy coding needed. just set it up once n ur good to go. saves tons of time, trust me!
I’ve been using Google Docs for team meeting notes for years, and I totally get your frustration with manual templates. Here’s what worked wonders for us:
We set up a Google Apps Script that adds a custom menu to our meeting notes doc. It has an option to ‘Insert Meeting Template’ which dumps in a pre-formatted section with the current date.
The script was pretty straightforward to set up - took me about an hour to get it working smoothly. The best part is that everyone on the team can use it without any tech know-how. Just click the menu, select ‘Insert Template’, and boom - perfectly formatted section ready to go.
If you’re not comfortable with scripting, there are some add-ons in the Google Workspace Marketplace that offer similar functionality. ‘Dynamic Fields’ is one I’ve heard good things about, though I haven’t used it personally.
Hope this helps point you in the right direction!