How to Create a Google Drive Template

First day back! Where did the summer go?

This morning I had someone ask me how to create a document template on Google Drive so that the original would not be changed. One method you can use is to give view rights to the people/group that you want to share it with. Then they can make a copy of it for their own use.

The positives about this method is that you can always change the "original" and the changes will be reflected whenever the user makes a new copy. The trick is to have the "original" in a place that people can access it easily. Often times their "Shared With Me" section in their Google Drive can be overwhelming. If you have a blog or site that pertains to those you want to access it, such as the "My BEMS" site at the Middle School, then you can link to the document from there.

To make it even easier, you can also modify the link that you use to automatically prompt the user to make a copy. Here is a video to walk you through how to do it:

If you'd like to submit a Google Drive file to be a template for the domain, you can also do that by following these directions. If you have a place to link to the document and use the method above then that would be my personal preferred method. However, using the template gallery can be helpful if you don't.