Create posts from Google Forms responses

documentation developers
,
1

Heyah,

I have written a short script automatically posting new Google-Form-Entries to Discourse. You can use it to allow any kind of 3-party Data input into discourse for example:

  • Anonymous Feedback
  • Support-Request
  • Membership-Applications (this is what we do with it)

The script

The script is small and simple:

// ----- MINIMUM CONFIGURATION !!!!
// generate this at /admin/api
API_KEY = "d29dXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX70"
// use full qualified domain name in url to discourse index
TARGET_INSTALLATION = "http://DISCOURSE.EXAMPLE.ORG/"

// ----- Optional Configuartion

// which category to post this to? Default: 'uncategorized'
CATEGORY = 'uncategorized'
// which user should be the one posting? Default: 'system'
POSTER = "system"

// you probably wanna activate this, when using templates
INCLUDE_RAW_DATA = true

// the title to post at,
// should contain any 'form'-replacer or Discourse might complain it already has that title
TITLE_TEMPLATE = "New Form Entry: {{Name}}"

// Wanna have it look pretty?
TEMPLATE  = "# {{Name}}\n\n - Water Type: {{Water}}" + 
             

function _compile(source, values){
    var processed = source;
    for (key in values) {
      processed = processed.replace("{{" + key + "}}", values[key]);
    }
    return processed;
  }


function _compile_data_from_form(formResponse){
  var data = {},
      itemResponses = formResponse.getItemResponses();
  for (var j = 0; j < itemResponses.length; j++) {
    var itemResponse = itemResponses[j];
    data[itemResponse.getItem().getTitle()] = itemResponse.getResponse();
  }
  return data;
 }

function postToDiscourse(evt) {
  
  var vals = evt.namedValues || _compile_data_from_form(evt.response),
      title = _compile(TITLE_TEMPLATE, vals),
      text  = _compile(TEMPLATE, vals);
 
  if (INCLUDE_RAW_DATA) {
    var entries = [];
    for (key in vals){
      entries.push(" - **" + key + "**: " + vals[key]);
    }
    text += "\n Raw Values: \n\n" + entries.join('\n');
  }
  
  UrlFetchApp.fetch(TARGET_INSTALLATION + "/posts", {'method': 'post', 'payload':{
                    'category': CATEGORY,
                    'auto_track': false,
                    'title': title,
                    'raw': text,
                    'api_key': API_KEY,
                    'api_username': POSTER
                    }});
}

function API_TEST(){
  //var form = {namedValues:{'Name': 'Benji', 'Email': 'Testi'}};
  var form = FormApp.openById("1RnCD4I2VgWpzTiJTq-0qq6u-v-LEpEKQgOBmhafTsQo"),
      formResponses = form.getResponses(),
      newestResponse = formResponses[formResponses.length -1];
  postToDiscourse({response: newestResponse});
}

Installation

  1. Generate an ADMIN-Key of your installation at /admin/api

  2. Add Script to a new googles form or existing one via Tools-> Script Editor

  3. Copy the entire script into the new Editor that opens

  4. Replace the API-Key in the script with the one from your installation,
    Change the Installation-Target-Name

  5. Save and check your configuration by running the “API_TEST” function:

  6. A new post should show up in your Discourse.
    – you might want to do redo this one until the configuration (posting user, posting in proper category) are all figure out

  7. Connect function to trigger by going to Resources->All Triggers and an on-form-submit-trigger connected to the postToDiscourse function:

    Screen Shot 2014-10-10 at 12.55.40.png731Ă—43 3.06 KB

    (you might be asked to give permission when saving the first time: yes, please do so)

Voilá, you’ll receive new posts (including all update and email features) of forms submitted in your discourse instance from now on.

You might want to also take a look at my “automatically email form-data” script and add that one, too. As always, feel free to posts questions, feedback and praise right down here as replies :slight_smile: .

16 Likes
2

Looks like there was a tiny bug in the form, where it didn’t succeed when using form-only-forms. Updated the original Post with the fix.

3

This still works really well. Thought the Google forms UI has changed a little, easy to work out.
But there is a bug in the code if folks are not aware of:

Need to remove the + on the end. I suspect that there was more content but wasn’t finished.

Great job!

~Cheers

4

Can you build a plugin for easier setup google form :slight_smile:

5

Since the API changed, the code for Google Forms (Google App Script) changed too. Here is a sample with a single question in the form.

FORM_ID = "<get this from the form URL>"
ITEM_ID = <get this from the Developer tools, look for the id of the whole question element> // int value

URL = "<site URL with the trailing />"
CATEGORY = <from sites.json> // int value
API_KEY = "<admin API key>"
POSTER = "<assigned user name to the key>"

MAX_TITLE_SIZE = 50  // this is just to keep title size in control

function onFormSubmit() {
  var form = FormApp.openById(FORM_ID),
      item = form.getItemById(ITEM_ID), // repeat this for all items in the form or use alternative means of getting all items
      formResponses = form.getResponses(),
      newestResponse = formResponses[formResponses.length - 1],
      response = newestResponse.getResponseForItem(item).getResponse(); // this reads only the single item noted above

  console.log(response)

  if (response.length < 20) {
    response = "New topic posted: " + response   // just to make sure response captured is > 20 characters
  }

  var title = response.substring(0,Math.min(MAX_TITLE_SIZE,response.length)); // just to make sure the title is not too big

	const url = URL + "posts";
	
  const fetched = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url, {
		"method": "POST",
		"headers": {
			"Api-Key": API_KEY,
			"Api-Username": POSTER,
			"Content-Type": "multipart/form-data",
			"Accept": "application/json",
			"Content-Type": "application/json"
		},
		"muteHttpExceptions": true,
		"followRedirects": true,
		"validateHttpsCertificates": true,
		"contentType": "application/json",
		"payload": JSON.stringify({"title":title,"raw":response,"category":CATEGORY})
	});

	Logger.log("Response code is %s", fetched.getResponseCode());
	Logger.log(fetched.getContentText());
}

I hope this helps anyone looking for something similar for the original topic but with the new API.

1 Like