Merge Google Docs into User Guides

As promised, here is part 2 of my post about publishing using Google Docs; this one deals with how to merge docs into books and deliverables.

Document Merge for Google Docs™ is a new Google Suite/Workplace application that allows you to merge sets of Google Drive documents into one output. The app is an extension you install into Google Sheets (not Google Docs), and you configure and generate your book building from the sheet that manages each publication project. It's a game-changer for authoring in Google Drive.

Why merge?

Content as Components — Google Docs (at the time of this writing) has no way to insert, combine, or embed child docs into parent docs, such as Microsoft Word's Master Docs (or sturdier RD field codes) allow. This limitation has blocked professionals from considering Google Docs up to the task for larger projects: 

• Technical documentation: Rendering user guides by ordering/reusing individual topics 
• Reference guides: Rendering a dynamic folder of articles into a printable unit
• Book authoring: Rendering a complete book file by assembling individual chapters and appendices

In all of these cases, individual component documents need to be mapped as the building blocks of larger deliverables. 

Reapplying Templates — Another serious limitation of Google Docs is its lack of template control. While there is now rudimentary ability to update, store, and reapply paragraph styles to documents, authors cannot keep documents locked to an official template (page layout, headers/footers, styles) that changes according to branding and submission needs. When such updates are needed, authors face a miserable slog of updating each component document by hand.

Document Merge for Google Docs removes both of these blockers: with the Pro version, you can combine static and dynamic sets of documents into one deliverable, and you can base it on a shared template, so that each regeneration of the merged document is using the latest template.

BYO Format — Document Merge for Google Docs goes one step further in embracing more use cases by being document-type agnostic: you're not stuck working with Google Docs as source files. You can merge many types of source files stored in your Drive: 

• Native Google Docs
• HTML file
• Text file
• Microsoft Word DOCX file
• RTF file

By embracing these other document formats, the app opens the door to working with content exported out of other tools and platforms. You can mix and match source material into unified deliverables, which used to require large investments in server-based tooling. Once merged into a Google Doc, you can export it back into these and other formats (such as PDF) as needed.

Advanced features

Subscribing to the app changes the feature set. The number of files merged are subject to Google's quota limits and depend on the version you are running:

• Free version — Each merge combines the first 5 source documents in your sheet.
• Pro version — Each merge combines up to 200 documents in your sheet. 

The Pro version adds extensive features:

• Specify the URL for source folders, which it will process recursively, such as to capture an ever-changing folder of troubleshooting articles into a reference guide.
• Start each subdocument with a page break.
• Control your output:
• What document Title to use
• Which folder to save into
• Whether to use a Google doc as a template (headers/footers, copyright, TOC)
• Whether to merge into an existing Google Doc, and whether to empty it first
• Whether to apply these settings to just this or to all project spreadsheets

Project setup 

To get going with this app, first install and set up the sheet.

1. In a new Google Sheet, select Extensions > Add-ons > Get add-ons, and search for "Document Merge for Google Docs" (be careful not to select ones for mail merge).
2. Install it, then select Extensions > Document Merge for Google Docs > Merge Google Docs.
3. Select the Setup Spreadsheet button, which adds the required sheets and columns.

The app prepares two tabs (sheets) for you, the first of which you need to populate for your project.

(1) ActiveList — Describe and link each item to combine in the output:

• INCLUDE — On each row, set Yes to include this item or No to skip it in the next merge
• Description — Identify the URL to the right; this does not appear in outputs
• URL — Add the Google Drive URL of the document, file, or folder (Pro)
  
  
  

(2) Results — After you merge, use the Results tab to see and access all of the merged docs, from oldest to newest:

• NewFile — The name of the new Google Doc that was created
• GoogleDocUrl — The URL of the new Google Doc, which defaults to your My Drive folder.
  
  

Output customization

Output Details (Customize) - In the Merge Documents sidebar, select the Customize link to change your output details (Pro only).

• System Default — With the Free version, you are limited to these default output settings:
• Name — The merged Google Doc is titled "MergeGoogleDocs + Date"
• Folder — The merged Google Doc saves to your "My Drive" folder
• Setup for this Spreadsheet —  Use this option to customize this project only.
• Setup for All Your Spreadsheets (That use this setting) — Use this option to globalize your settings to all spreadsheets that you open with this Google Account. 

Output To New Google Doc — Use this option to build a new merged document from scratch:

• Name — Specify a name for the new document, or else the default naming will apply.
• Output Folder — Specify the URL for the folder on your "My Drive" where the new document will be created. If the URL is valid, you'll see its name appear with a link.
• Google Doc Template URL —  Specify the URL for the Google Doc to use as a template, for page setup, front matter, header/footers, and table of contents. If the URL is valid, you'll see its name appear with a link.
  
  

Output To Existing Google Doc —  Use this option to send your newly merged document into an existing Google Doc on your "My Drive", so that its URL and page history stays intact.

• Specify Google Doc URL —  Specify the destination document. If the URL is valid, you'll see its name appear with a link.
• Delete Existing Content — Specify whether to delete the existing content before inserting the new (otherwise, the new content is appended to the old content).

Troubleshooting

Here are some tips to help things go smoothly:

• Always check the URL validation. When any URL you entered is valid, the app displays the name of the document or folder under the field, with a link you can verify. A common reason validation fails is access permissions, such as creating outputs on a separate Shared Drive, which isn't supported currently.
• If you get system defaults, look for errors. If there's a problem with your setup, the app will fall back to defaults in these ways:
• If the document name is missing, the app will use the System Default naming.
• If the output folder URL is empty or invalid, the app will create it in the same folder as the Template, if you specified one (if not, it will fall back to your "My Drive" folder).
• If the Template URL is empty or invalid, the app will create the document without one.
• Reach out. If you need help or a dedicated solution for your team, contact Support directly: [email protected].