Launched: Google Docs Importer [FREE]

News from Coda
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We’re excited to announce our new Google Docs Importer !

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Maybe you’ve been drafting notes, writing stories, or project planning in multiple Google Docs. Now you can choose the files you want to import and move them into a single Coda doc, where each file becomes its own section.

This was no easy task. Word processors have been built in their own silos and have grown into behemoths as far as their codebase and features. In the past you may have noticed that embedding something from a word processor into a spreadsheet was really just a chunk of code that was placed in a cell, keeping mismatched fonts and other remnants of whatever system you were pasting from.

Our Coda importer is actually bringing the content into Coda in a completely Coda way. Once it’s imported, you don’t have remnants of mismatched styling to fight through. The content is now native Coda content and works just as if you had created it there to begin with.

To import your Google Docs, click the red “+” icon in the top toolbar, and choose “Import.”

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Then click on “Google Docs”.

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Setting up your account works just like any other Pack.

Now that your docs are imported into Coda, you can take advantage of Coda’s Tables, Charts, Formulas, Packs, and more!

Check out our blog article as well:

:wrench: HOW DOES IT WORK

  1. Click the “+” icon at the top of a Coda doc

  2. Select ‘Import’

  3. Select Google Docs

  4. Authenticate your Google Drive account to sync with Coda [this should only be required the first time you import from this Google Account]

  5. Search For and Select the Google Doc you would like to import
    Note that you can select Multiple Docs from this menu; doing so will turn each doc into its own Section of the active Doc

  6. Click ‘Import’

  7. Voilà - Your import is ready to be edited, managed and augmented in Coda!

:question:FAQs

Q: If I import a Google Doc to Coda, and then edit in Coda, will my Google Doc update automatically?

A: No. We do not currently have a pack integration with GDrive that allows your Google Docs to sync automatically. However, we do support the following Google integrations:

  • GMail
  • Google Calendar
  • Google Translate
  • Google Contacts
  • Google Search Console
  • Google Natural Language

Learn more about Coda packs at https://coda.io/packs

Q: How much does it cost to import a Google Doc?

A: Importing a Google Doc is included in Coda’s pricing. Doc Makers & Editors may import Google Docs (or Trello Boards, Excel Sheets, or CSVs) to Coda Docs in their workspace at no extra charge. For more on Coda pricing, please visit: https://coda.io/pricing

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BOOM! Coda does it again. Outstanding.

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I tested with some docs and I have to say I’m impressed how well the tables and formatting got transferred.

Minor adjustments needed, but overall it works really, really well. Impressive work!

Earlier I received a Google document I was thinking that woud be useful to play around with Coda, but didn’t think it would be that easy. Now I tried it and it transferred and the tables became easily usable with minor changes. I love how Coda keeps revealing new supertool functionalities!

Also noticed that copy pasting contents of a Google docs works similar - not identical, but this also gives very usable results.

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Perfect. Just thought about having this.

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This looks great! I love the idea of importing multiple Google Docs as sections into a single Coda doc. I’d been experimenting with copy and pasting content for a Coda-based project earlier this fall, so a big step up. But I wouldn’t be a Coda enthusiast if I didn’t want even more!!!

Namely, it would be insanely great (to borrow a phrase) and more valuable to me if:

  • Some kind of two-way sync were available. My aforementioned project is actually a text-revision tool and I had never even thought about two-way sync until you mentioned it in your FAQ. But you wrote “currently” and that is tantalizing!
  • A user had a “view all” option in a Coda document – it would be a view of all the sections in sequential order, so you could scroll through the entire document instead of clicking section by section. This seems trivial compared to other tasks on your plate :slight_smile:
  • Sections were themselves rows of a document-table and row-based operations on sections were thus exposed to users (and to automations)…
  • Deeper section/folder hierarchy

One question - how would importing numerous docs impact performance? I’ve been deconstructing my mega-docs because of performance-related concerns on mobile devices. What kinds of concerns should we keep in mind before we dig in?

Great work! Cheers!

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Thank you, Codans! I know it is hard to make all wishes come true but you are doing well. This is another step forward to making Coda the hub for all content and then effectively use it for bigger purposes.

I also vote for 2-way sync with other Coda docs (actually changing the data from one doc to another), Google sheets, Google Drive, etc. This would unleash the power of :coda: language :crazy_face:

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I find the fact that you were able to pull this off at all kind of magical.

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Throwing in my two cents (criticism) on this awesome feature which I will be definitely be using…

This brings the need for upgraded/cleaner print functionality. I might be alone, but my primary use for Google Docs (or any word processor) is to create reports/letters/spreadsheets to give to my non-tech savvy colleagues and superiors.

I wish I didn’t need this feature and everyone was on board digitally but that’s just not the case.

The current feature isn’t unusable, as it has seen improvement. But there are still quirks and obstacles when printing.

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Replying to myself… meta.

@BenLee - Would I be able to automate this with Zapier? For instance, whenever I create a new Google Doc in a given folder, automatically append it to a specific Coda Doc?

Thx,
JB

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Hi @John_Beaudoin_Jack,

I don’t believe there is any event that can be used to trigger this all the way through the connection and import. One of the issues that comes up is that this is not a sync, its copying content over, so if a Google Doc is created at what point in time does the copy to Coda trigger? If it’s when the Google Doc is created, then we’d just be copying over blank pages.

Functionally, I believe there is more that would need to be in place before this could happen automatically assuming you could decide when the copy needed to happen. It is a cool idea though! I’ll mention it in our company chat to see if any ideas pop up, but for now, I think it’s as is and a manual process.

Ben

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Right. I was just thinking about the trigger being a “moved to file” in Zapier, but discerning user intention in other cases would be pretty difficult to achieve. Thanks!

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I’m so excited to use this, but every time I try to import, I get “This app has not been verified yet by Google in order to use Google Sign In”. Any troubleshooting tips?

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You should still be able to push through that warning if you click the links at the bottom. Our Google approval is taking a little longer than expected (maybe because of the holidays) that message should disappear soon :slight_smile:

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Any update on the verification for Doc import?

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We’re still anxiously awaiting the approval. There aren’t any blockers, it’s simply a matter of waiting for them to get to it in the queue.

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Will there be an option to import Google Docs into a Coda table?

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If you import a Google Doc into Coda now, and if there is a table in that doc, it should become a table in Coda. But there isn’t a way to import a doc into a Coda table. If that makes sense.

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Thanks for clarifying @BenLee

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You can use the “embed” formula to embed a published document into a cell in a table. This is helpful because clicking will take you into the document in Google so you have robust edit tools, but if you visualize the table in Code in “Details View” you can actually view a large version of the doc to the point that it’s usable and legible from inside Coda.

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Like Google Analytics, Is there any option to embed Google Search console.