Prompt "Make a copy"

You probably already know that you can share a Google document as "view only" and then instruct your recipient to make a copy, edit it, and optionally share it back to you. I.e., your original doc is the template, and they "tear off" a copy to edit, leaving your original intact.

Well, there is now a little trick to make it so that the recipient immediately gets prompted to make a copy. Here's a recipe:

(Steps 1 through 3 are basic sharing settings, you can skim through if you're already familiar with that part.)

1. Create your doc, and click Share. Then click "Advanced."

2. Click "Change..."

3. Select "On - People at Hanover/Norwich/Dresden/SAU70 with the link." (This option requires that the recipient already be signed into their school Google account, which prevents them from accidentally making a copy into their personal Gmail account if they have one.) Then click "Save."

4. Copy the entire link from the "Link to share" box.

5. Paste the link somewhere -- a text file, or a new email window, whatever -- and change the part after the last slash to "copy." Example:

Original, pasted “link to share”:

https://docs.google.com/a/hanovernorwichschools.org/document/d/1V9wgMMiSLaySEjo1TGxZYCHHRBgu-GQ3m6v1lG5_4-0/edit?usp=sharing

Remove the part in red and replace it with "copy" (in green below):

https://docs.google.com/a/hanovernorwichschools.org/document/d/1V9wgMMiSLaySEjo1TGxZYCHHRBgu-GQ3m6v1lG5_4-0/copy

Then share the modified link to your recipients. If they click that link, they'll see this:

(Source: http://www.alicekeeler.com/teachertech/2014/12/10/google-docs-force-students-to-make-a-copy/ via Laura Abbene)