Using the Answer Doc

We use two types of Google Documents: subject/category docs and an answer spreadsheet. This tutorial is for using the answer spreadsheet.

The answer spreadsheet lets all of us track written and unwritten questions quickly and easily. There are a few things to remember to keep the answer doc useful and running smoothly. For quick reference, here are short guides to using notes and comments and cell colors, though these are addressed below, as well.

Choosing a Question
Look through the answer doc to find a question you want to write. Since we don’t want two people to write the same question, you will need to mark this question as yours. To mark a question as yours in the answer doc, simply color the background of the cell yellow and leave a note (rather than a comment) on the cell with your name and the date you claimed the question.

Claims will be periodically cleared by the editors to give other writers a chance to write questions that have been claimed but unwritten for a long time. If you realize that you are not going to write a question you have claimed, you may release it by removing your claim note and coloring the cell’s background pale yellow.

Submitting a Question

When you have finished writing your question and have formatted it properly, you should:

  • paste the question’s full text into the appropriate category doc (Literature, History, Science, etc.);
  • color the background of the answer doc cell blue
  • delete your note (right click and select “Clear notes”); and
  • add your question to the running total in the “# Written” column at the far right of the sheet, as shown below.

Update your written question total