One of the most exciting new features available in the latest release of Conga Composer is the integration with Google Drive. This integration opens up a whole new set of possibilities when it comes to output file storage, document collaboration and template creation when using Conga Composer. In today’s post, I’ll be walking you through three ways to take advantage of this new functionality. Let’s dig in!
Output File Storage
One of the most straightforward ways to leverage the new integration is to use Google Drive as a location to store output files generated by Conga Composer. This is great for effortless archiving of important documents, presentations or reports. In order to do this, you’ll simply add a few button URL parameters to a Composer solution. Here’s an example:
Let’s break down each of these button URL parameters to understand what they do:
1) The &SC0 parameter sets the file attachment options for Composer. When we apply a value of 1, it enables the ‘Save a Copy’ feature of Composer.
2) The &SC1 parameter defines where a copy of the merged output file will be stored. When we apply a value of Google, it sets Google Drive as the output file storage location.
3) The &OFP parameter specifies the file path within Google Drive where the merged output file will be saved. This is an optional parameter – if you don’t define a file path, your output file will be stored in a generic folder called ‘Conga Documents’. In this case, I applied a value of My+Custom+Folder\{!Account.Name}. When running this Composer solution from an Account record, it would automatically create a folder called ‘My Custom Folder’ in Google Drive, create a folder named after the Account record that’s stored within ‘My Custom Folder’, and then store the output file in the folder named after the Account. If those folders already exist, Composer will simply store the output files there instead of creating them on the fly.
The &OFP parameter works behind the scenes to define the output file path, but the &SC0 and &SC1 parameters have a visible effect on the Conga Composer user interface:
Why It Matters
Google Drive is simply awesome for file storage, with or without Conga Composer. With over 120 million active users as of last November, it’s clearly become a standard for both personal and enterprise cloud storage. Using the new integration to seamlessly store output files in a predefined location allows Composer customers to take advantage of Google Drive’s impressive capabilities as a storage repository.
Converting Output Files to a Google Native Format
The new Google Drive integration also allows Composer users to fully convert a Microsoft Office template to its corresponding Google native format. For example, a Word template can be converted to a Google Doc, an Excel spreadsheet can be converted to a Google Sheet and a PowerPoint presentation can be converted to a Google Slide. Using the integration to convert and store templates in Google Drive requires a simple button URL parameter: &GoogleVisible=1
This parameter affects the ‘Action’ dropdown menu in the Conga Composer user interface, as shown below:
Why It Matters
Converting a Conga Composer template to a Google Doc, Sheet or Slide means that it can be shared and edited with other team members – perfect for collaborating on internal reports, sales presentations or complex quotes and proposals. This can help remote teams stay connected on the same project, put relevant Salesforce data in front of non-Salesforce users or simply make it easier for multiple people to collaborate.
Note: It’s important to keep in mind that Google Docs, Sheets and Slides have different formatting capabilities than Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, respectively. Complex formatting, particularly when it comes to tables in Word templates, often isn’t supported by Google Docs. It’s important to test your solution thoroughly to determine if any MS Office-based formatting features are lost when converting a template to a Google Doc, Sheet or Slide.
Creating Conga Composer Templates in Google Drive
Google Drive provides the option to download a Google Doc, Sheet or Slide to the user’s local computer as a .docx, .xlsx or .pptx file, respectively. With the introduction of text-based merge fields in Conga Composer Release 8, it’s now possible to create templates in all three of those formats directly in Google Drive! There are three main steps involved in this process:
1) Add merge fields to a Google Doc, Sheet or Slide
The Template Builder can be used to easily add merge fields to your template in Google Drive. For example, below is a simple Google Doc template:
2) Download the template
Next, you’ll download your template in its corresponding Microsoft Office format. In this case, I’m downloading a Google Doc as a .docx file:
Even if I didn’t have Microsoft Office installed on my local computer, I could still save this file with a .docx extension. At this point, it’s simply a file that we’re going to upload to Salesforce so it can be used by Conga Composer. Which brings us to the final step:
3) Store the template in Salesforce
At this point, we’re simply uploading a template to the Conga Template Manager just like any other. We’d first create a new Conga Template record and attach the file:
And then this template would be available to be used by Composer, just like any other normal Word template:
Why It Matters
This aspect of the integration is especially useful for organizations that have fully adopted Google Apps or don’t use Microsoft Office. With the ability to create a variety of templates directly in Google Drive, it’s no longer required that Conga Composer customers have Microsoft Office.
There you have it – three ways to use Conga Composer’s new integration with Google Drive. We’re excited to see how our customers will use this integration for more efficient file storage, increased collaboration and flexible template creation.
Got a question about the Google Drive integration, or want to share an awesome use case? Drop a comment below – we’d love to hear from you. Until next time!