Using Google Docs to integrate a website and your
Microsoft Access Database
Organizations depend more and more on websites to serve their clients. Examples
include giving clients and customers the capacity request information,
register for events and purchase products or services through a website. Increasingly
there is a need to integrate website data collection with in-house
databases. If you feel a need for more integration between your website
and your database than you may be interested in Google Docs This free software provides efficient capabilities for:
- Creating data entry forms to use on your website. Examples might include:
- A registration form clients can use to register for your services
- A form visitors to your site can use to add themselves to your newsletter list.
- A form visitors can use to request information - (to the right you will find a "Request Information" Submit form example). This example is a Google Docs form. When you enter information into this form, it is stored in a private Google Docs spreadsheet. It is possible to export data from the Google Docs spreadsheet to a database.
- Processing email merges using a Google Docs spreadsheet and a GMail account. Within reason, it is possible to use a free Gmail account and free Google Docs for mass emailing, rather than to pay for email marketing services. If your organization can batch email merges in groups of under 500 recipients, this is a very viable option.
- Sharing data on your website. Sometimes organizations need to regularly share data from their database with visitors to their websites. Again, Google Docs offers the ability to embed Google Spreadsheets within a website. This means that your organization can do the following:
- Create a private Google Doc Spreadsheet to house data you want to display on your website.
- Embed your Google Doc Spreadsheet within your own website page.
- Export appropriate data from your database to the Google Doc Spreadsheet.
- Update the Google Docs file - and all new data will show up on your website.
Should you have any questions about using Google Docs to help integrate your website and your Microsoft Access database feel free to email me at 1stContact@1stAccessHelp.com.
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