Google Docs
Offizin for Google Docs
Offizin for Google Docs is a small Apps Script project that lives inside a document. Once it is in a document, an Offizin menu opens the same panel you can try in the live demo. It works with personal Google accounts and with Google Workspace for business, school, and nonprofits.
The quick way: copy the starter document
- Select the button below and choose Make a copy. Offizin comes with the copy.
- In your copy, choose Offizin, then Open Offizin, and allow access when Google asks (see permissions).
- Keep that copy as your starter. Each time you need a new publication, make a copy of it.
Or add Offizin to any document yourself
Add Offizin to a document (about three minutes)
- Open the Google Doc you want to use, or a new one at docs.new. If it is a pageless document, choose File, Page setup, then Pages.
- Choose Extensions, then Apps Script. A code editor opens in a new tab. Click Untitled project at the top and rename it Offizin.
-
In
Code.gs, select everything and replace it with Offizin's code:Code.gsThe menu and the part that builds publicationsDownload -
Next to Files, select +, then HTML. Name it
Sidebarexactly (Apps Script adds.html). Replace everything in it with:Sidebar.htmlThe Offizin panelDownload -
Open Project Settings (the gear icon) and check Show "appsscript.json" manifest file in editor. Go back to the Editor (the code icon), open
appsscript.json, and replace everything in it with:appsscript.jsonAsks only for access to this documentDownload - Save with Ctrl S (or Command S), close the Apps Script tab, and reload your document.
- Choose Offizin, then Open Offizin. The first time, Google asks you to allow access.
Tip: make it your starterName this document something like "Offizin starter" and leave it empty. Whenever you need a new brochure or flyer, choose File, then Make a copy. Google copies Offizin along with the document, so you only paste the code once.
Permissions and the "unverified app" screen
Offizin asks for two permissions, the narrowest Google offers:
- View and manage documents that this application has been installed in. Offizin can only change the document it is in. It cannot see your other files.
- Display and run third-party web content in prompts and sidebars. This is what lets the Offizin panel open beside your document.
Because you pasted the code yourself, it runs as your own private script, and Google has not reviewed it. With a personal Gmail account, Google shows Google hasn't verified this app. Select Advanced, then Go to Offizin (unsafe), then Allow. The wording is Google's standard text for any script that is not published in its Marketplace. In a Google Workspace organization, people in the same organization as the document's owner usually see the normal permission screen.
For Google Workspace organizations
Share a starter document
Set up one Offizin starter document, share it with your organization as view only, and ask people to make a copy. Each copy carries Offizin, and each person approves it once.
Publish privately to your domain
An administrator can publish Offizin as a private add-on through the Google Workspace Marketplace SDK, so it appears in every document under Extensions. This needs a Google Cloud project; see Help for the steps.
Updating
Pasted copies of Offizin do not update themselves. When a new version is released, repeat steps 3 to 5 in your starter document. Documents copied from it afterward get the new version. The current version is 2.0.0.