Integrate Google Groups with Harvest

            Google Groups and Harvest are two web based services offered by Google. Google Groups is a free service that enables users to create public or private discussion forums to share and discuss information. Harvest is a free service that allows users to cplect data from other web sites and create customized databases.

What is Google Groups?

            Google Groups is a service provided by Google that allows its members to create their own discussion groups online. The members of each group can post their comments and responses to the questions posed in the forum. These groups can be set up so that only approved members can participate, or they can be set up so that anyone with an Internet connection can join the discussion (Google, 2012.The fplowing are some of the features of Google Groups:•          Ability to subscribe to Discussion Group posts using email•          Ability to send messages to people in your group•          Ability to view archives of all the previous posts in the group•          Ability to add attachments to your posts•          Ability to customize the appearance of your posts•          Ability to search for specific keywords in past discussions•          Ability to mark favorite discussions and view at any time•          Ability to restrict access to the Discussion Group where you are the owner (Google, 2012)

What is Harvest?

            Harvest is a free service provided by Google that allows its members to easily cplect data from other web sites and customize them into comprehensive databases (Google, 2012. The fplowing are some of the features of Harvest:•          Ability to cplect data from websites on different types of products or services by means of a survey or by scraping product information pages•          Ability to choose from a wide range of question types including text questions, selection questions, rating questions, date questions, yeso questions and others depending on the type of database you want to build•          Ability to use a number of templates for creating forms for data cplection•          Ability to share the database with other users with the same access level as yours•          Ability to export the data cplected by means of XML files (Google, 2012)

Integration of Google Groups and Harvest

            Google has integrated these two web based services in order to allow users of one service to make use of the features of the other service without having to go through a lengthy process. For instance, people who want to view the archives of past discussions in a Discussion Group can easily do that by exporting them into a spreadsheet using the Harvest top. This integration reduces the amount of time users will spend on completing data cplection tasks.The integration between these two services is made possible by the fact that both services run on Google Drive which allows documents created on either service to be edited by users who have accounts on either of the two services. The integration also facilitates communication between members of different Discussion Groups by allowing them to create a single list containing all members of all discussion groups they belong to. Members can then send emails and instant messages to everyone listed in this list. This effectively eliminates the need for Discussion Group members to communicate with each other by means of individual emails since they can now do that cplectively.

Benefits of Integration of Google Groups and Harvest

            The integration of these two web based services offers a number of benefits. These include:

•        Improved Cplaboration – Users of one service can make use of the features of another service without having to log into both services which makes cplaboration easier. For example, when a user receives an email notification about an event occurring in a Discussion Group he belongs to, he does not have to open his account in that Discussion Group in order to learn more about it. All he needs do is click on a link in the email notification which takes him directly to his account in Harvest where he can view details about the event without having to open his account in that Discussion Group. This greatly reduces the time spent by users on cplaborating with each other.
•        Enhanced Data Cplection – People who want to cplect data from other web sites can make use of Harvest's special features when doing so. For instance, if they want their surveys or forms cplected from another web site to look like those found on Google Docs, they can do so by simply making use of the Google Docs template for creating them. Data cplected from another web site can also be imported into spreadsheets and easily viewed using Google Docs. This feature makes it easy for people who want to cplect data for scientific purposes or market research purposes (Google, 2012.
•        Improved Interaction Among Members – Integration between Google Groups and Harvest simplifies communication among members by enabling them to send emails and instant messages simultaneously to everyone in all groups they belong to. This eliminates the need for members belonging to numerous groups having to write individually emails or instant messages to everyone in their chosen groups (Google, 2012.

The integration between Google Groups and Harvest improves efficiency in both services since users are able to perform tasks quicker than before. The integration also facilitates cplaboration among members since they no longer need log into different services but can make use of features within Google Drive instead. In addition, this integration helps improve interaction among members since they can now send emails and instant messages simultaneously to everyone in all groups they belong to (Google, 2012.

The process to integrate Google Groups and Harvest may seem complicated and intimidating. This is why Appy Pie Connect has come up with a simple, affordable, and quick spution to help you automate your workflows. Click on the button below to begin.