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Power Automate Part 13a - Automating Forms

Education

Power Automate Part 13a - Automating Forms

Introduction

Welcome to this Wise Owl tutorial on automating forms using Power Automate! In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create a simple survey about the Beatles, distribute it, view responses, and automate the process of capturing these responses into a custom Excel sheet.

Overview

We'll begin by presenting the example survey about the Beatles. The survey consists of three questions:

  • Who is your favorite Beatle?
  • What's your favorite Beatles song?
  • What do you think of the lyrics of the song?

We will then:

  1. Create the form using Microsoft Forms
  2. Distribute the survey for responses
  3. View the responses within Forms and in an Excel sheet
  4. Create a custom response sheet in Excel
  5. Create a flow in Power Automate to automate response collection
  6. Test the flow to ensure it works as expected

Let's dive into each step.

Creating the Form

To create a form, go to the Microsoft Forms application.

  1. Click on "New Form."
  2. Give your form a title: "Beatle Survey for Tutorial."
  3. Start adding questions:
    • Question 1: Type – Choice, Prompt – "Who is your fave Beatle?" with options John, Paul, George, Ringo.
    • Question 2: Type – Text, Prompt – "What’s your favorite Beatles song?"
    • Question 3: Type – Net Promoter Score, Prompt – "What do you think of the lyrics for this song?" (Scale 0 – "Hate them" to 10 – "Love them").

You can preview the form and ensure all questions are required. Divide the form into sections if necessary (e.g., band-related questions in one section, song-related questions in another).

Distributing the Survey

Configure the form settings:

  1. Limit responses to people within your organization.
  2. Capture respondent names and allow multiple responses.
  3. Enable the progress bar for easier navigation.

Distribute the form:

  1. Generate a link to the form and share it.
  2. Send the form via email.
  3. Provide a QR code for mobile users.
  4. Embed the form link on a webpage.

Capturing and Viewing Responses

  1. Respond to the form to test it.
  2. Check responses in Forms:
    • View individual submissions.
    • Export responses to an Excel sheet.

Creating a Custom Response Sheet

Create a new Excel sheet to capture the responses in a customizable format:

  1. Table Columns: favorite Beatle, favorite song, lyric rating, person.
  2. Table Name: Songs.

Automating with Power Automate

Create a flow that captures form responses into the custom spreadsheet:

  1. Go to Power Automate and create a new automated cloud flow.
  2. Set the trigger to "When a new response is submitted" and select the form.
  3. Add an action to get response details.
  4. Add another action to insert rows into your customized Excel table.

Testing the Flow

Submit a form response to trigger the flow. Verify that the responses are added correctly to the custom Excel sheet.

Conclusion

We've demonstrated how to automate form responses using Power Automate, from creating a survey to capturing and viewing responses in a customized format. This method, while adding an extra layer of utility, also provides flexibility and control over your data.

Keywords

  • Power Automate
  • Microsoft Forms
  • Automating forms
  • Survey distribution
  • Custom Excel sheet
  • Flow creation
  • Response automation

FAQ

Q1: What is the purpose of using Power Automate with Microsoft Forms? A1: Power Automate allows you to automate the process of capturing and storing form responses into a custom Excel sheet, providing more flexibility and control over your data.

Q2: Can I use this automated process for surveys outside my organization? A2: No, capturing respondent details such as email addresses is limited to internal distributions to comply with internet privacy issues.

Q3: What if I encounter errors during the flow execution? A3: Errors can occur, but they are typically temporary. Ensure all settings are correct and test the flow. If necessary, consult troubleshooting guidelines for Power Automate.

Q4: Is it necessary to create a custom Excel sheet for storing responses? A4: While not strictly necessary, using a custom Excel sheet provides more control over data formatting and additional customization options.

Q5: Can I perform other actions besides storing responses in Excel? A5: Yes, you can extend the flow to send emails, post updates in Teams, and more, depending on your requirements.