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Forms & signups3 min read

Save the answers from my website form into a Google Sheet

You want every enquiry or survey answer in a spreadsheet your team already uses. bernard keeps each answer in your Contacts, and it can also tell another tool the moment a form is filled in. Make is the tool in this guide: bernard tells Make, and Make adds the row to your Google Sheet.

The prompt

“Connect [my site] to Make so it hears when someone fills in a form. Here is the address Make gave me: [https://hook...]. Tell me exactly what personal data will leave bernard before you connect it, then send a test.”

Signed in, Get my prompt fills in your site for you. Otherwise press Copy and fill in the [bracketed] parts. First time? Connect your AI to bernard once: Use your own AI (opens in a new tab).

Setting it up takes about fifteen minutes, and you only do it once for each form you want in a sheet.

Before you start

  • A form on your site, and a way to fill it in yourself.
  • A Google Sheet with a heading in the first row for each answer you want, for example Date, Name, Email and Message.
  • A Make account. Make’s own help pages cover the screens below if they have moved since this guide was written.
  • You need to be the account owner, because the answers are personal data going to another company.

Step 1: get an address from Make

  1. In Make, create a new scenario.
  2. Add the Webhooks app and choose Custom webhook.
  3. Press Add, give it a name such as “Website form”, and save.
  4. Copy the address Make shows you. It starts https://.
  5. Leave this screen open. Make is now listening for its first message.

Step 2: tell Bernard to connect it

In the Workshop, say:

Connect my site to Make for form sign-ups. Here is the address: (paste it).

Bernard shows you exactly what will leave bernard and which company receives it. Nothing is connected until you say yes.

Step 3: send one real test

Make learns the names of your fields from the first message it hears, so send it your own form, not a sample.

  1. Ask Bernard for the preview link to the page with your form.
  2. Fill in the form on the draft page with your own details. A test from a draft page counts as a form answer, and it is sent to Make.
  3. In Make, the webhook should now say it found the data structure.

You can also ask Bernard to send a test. That one uses a made-up person at an example address and two sample answers, so it proves the connection but does not teach Make the names of your own fields.

Step 4: add the row

  1. In Make, add a second step after the webhook: the Google Sheets app, then Add a Row.
  2. Connect your Google account when Make asks, then choose your sheet and tab.
  3. Fill each column from the message. Your form’s answers are under fields. The person’s address and name are under contact, and the time is occurredAt.
  4. Save, then switch the scenario on. A scenario that is off does nothing.

Step 5: check it

Fill in the form once more from the draft page. A new row should appear in the sheet. If it does not, ask Bernard how your connections are doing.

What goes to Make

A form message carries every answer the person typed, their email address and name, which form it was, and a link to the person in bernard. When they came from a link with campaign tags, it also carries the campaign, the page they landed on and the website that sent them. Nothing else: no payment details, and no answers from any other form.

Make then passes what you mapped to Google. You are choosing to share these answers with both companies, so mention them in your privacy policy if they are not there already.

If you want to know more about how these messages work, such as retries, the log and the signing secret, see Tell another tool when a student finishes a lesson, a course or joins my list.

Stopping it

Ask Bernard to switch the connection off or delete it. Both are shown to you first and wait for your approval. Rows already in the sheet stay there.

Questions people ask

Can bernard write to my Google Sheet by itself?
No. bernard has no Google Sheets connection and holds no key to your Google account. It tells Make that someone filled in a form, and Make adds the row using the Google account you connect to Make.
Do I need a Make account?
Yes. Make is a separate service with its own account and its own prices, so check its pricing page for how many runs your plan includes. Each form answer uses one run of your scenario. Zapier works the same way if you already use it.
What personal data leaves bernard?
Every answer the person typed into the form, their email address and name, which form it was, and a link to the person in bernard. If they came from a link with campaign tags, that campaign goes too. No payment details. Only the account owner can switch this on, and nothing is sent until you approve the sentence Bernard shows you.
Will the answers I already have go into the sheet?
No. Only forms filled in after the connection is made are sent. Your earlier answers are still in Contacts.
If I edit or delete a row in the sheet, does bernard change?
No. The sheet is a copy. The person’s record stays in bernard, and nothing in the sheet ever writes back to it. Deleting a contact in bernard does not remove their row either, so tidy the sheet yourself.
I added a new question to my form. Why is there no column for it?
Make only fills the columns you mapped. Add a column to the sheet, send a test from the draft page so Make sees the new field, then map it in the Add a Row step.
Someone filled in the form but no row appeared. What should I check?
Ask Bernard how your connections are doing. It shows the last 20 deliveries and what Make answered. If bernard delivered it, look at the scenario’s history in Make, and check the scenario is switched on.

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