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Switching from Google Forms to CoreHue

Google Forms is quick and free. The catch is where the answers go: a spreadsheet, sitting on its own, away from the person who wrote them.

CoreHue splits one Google Form into two things, and picking the right one is the whole switch.

Intake forms are public. Anyone with the link fills one in, and doing so creates a contact and opens a conversation carrying every answer. That's your inquiry form.

Questionnaires are sent to someone you already have. That's your wedding-details form, your shot list, your post-session feedback.

What things are called​

In Google FormsIn CoreHueThe difference
FormIntake form or questionnaireIntake forms are public and create a contact. Questionnaires are sent to one person and carry their own copy of the questions
QuestionFieldSame idea, with helper text and a placeholder alongside the label
Short answer, paragraphShort text, Long textSame
Multiple choice, dropdownSingle choiceTwo options minimum
CheckboxesMultiple choiceSame
Date, timeDateThere's no separate time field
Response validationEmail, Phone, Number, URL fieldsThe field type does the checking, when the form is sent rather than as you type
File uploadFile uploadQuestionnaires only. Intake forms don't take files. Up to 10 MB a file, and 20 files and 50 MB per questionnaire
SectionSection headingA heading inside one page, not a new page. There's also Instruction text for a paragraph of guidance
Go to section based on answerDisplay logicA field can only be shown or hidden, never jumped to. One condition per field, and the question it depends on has to sit above it
RequiredRequiredSame switch. A heading or instruction can't be required
Confirmation messageConfirmation messageRich text, with a Variables menu so it greets them properly
Collect email addressesBuilt inAn intake form always collects first name, last name and email, and those three can't be removed
Responses tab, linked spreadsheetThe contact's recordAnswers land on the request itself and on the contact's Questionnaires tab. There's no spreadsheet export
Quiz mode, linear scale, gridNothingCoreHue has neither scoring nor matrix questions

What to bring across​

Nothing exports. You'll retype, and it goes faster than you expect because the builders work the same way.

Open each Google Form side by side with the CoreHue builder and rebuild question by question. A form is 3 to 100 fields.

Decide the type first. Public inquiry capture is an intake form. Anything for a client you already have is a questionnaire. Getting this right saves rebuilding it later.

Your branching. Google Forms sends people to a different section. CoreHue shows or hides a single field based on one earlier answer. Most branching comes across. A form with several long alternative paths needs simplifying into one.

Your old responses. They stay in Google. Export the spreadsheet and keep it. Nothing about past submissions comes across.

Save the rebuilt questions as a template, so the next client gets the same set without you building it again.

Set these up first​

  1. Business name and logo in Settings → Business. Your public form carries them.
  2. Decide which of your forms is the public one. That's the intake form.
  3. Build it, then Publish it. The public link shows a not-found page until you do.
  4. Build your most-used client form as a questionnaire, then save it as a template.
  5. Turn on document reminders so unanswered questionnaires chase themselves.

Your first week​

Day 1. Finish setup and take the tour of the app.

Day 2. Rebuild your inquiry form as an intake form. Publish it, fill it in yourself, and watch the contact and the conversation appear.

Day 3. Rebuild your main client form as a questionnaire, with display logic where you had branching. Save it as a template.

Day 4. Send it to yourself and answer it, so you've seen the client's side. That includes the way answers save themselves and the review step at the end.

Day 5. Put a questionnaire on a booking service so it sends itself. Choose When to send: after the booking is confirmed, a set number of days before the service, or a set number of days after. See Sending after a booking.

Then. Replace the Google Form link wherever it appears, and keep the old spreadsheet as your archive.

What you gain, and what you give up​

You gain answers attached to the right person, forms that send themselves at the right moment, reminders that chase them, and a conversation opened with every inquiry.

You give up the spreadsheet. There's no export of questionnaire answers. If sorting responses in a sheet is how you work, check you can live without it first.