Needed: Google Docs new document bookmark Dec08 '07

Google Docs is the center of my word processing world. Having powerful word processing features available in an online app makes my life so much easier.

One thing that aggravates me, though, is creating new Google documents. In order to do this, I have to complete a few steps:

Open the URL docs.google.com.
Click the "New" button.
Click "Document."

Those three steps may seem quick and easy, but when you create dozens of new documents per week, those steps quickly become cumbersome.

An easier way

Here's what I'd like to see: a browser bookmark that automatically generates a new Google document. All I'd have to do is click on the bookmark and my new document loads. To make things even easier for me, I could also create a Firefox keyword bookmark.

How it could be done

Let's examine the URL for a Google doc, as it looks today:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dwuf7914_0d2vdqh

The only part of this URL that changes is the docid:

docid=dwuf7914_0d2vdqh

The ID is auto-generated by the Google Docs application. So we'd need to use any available Google Docs API to generate a new, unique ID for each new document we create. Once we are able to extract new, unique ID's, we can write an app that generates new Google docs, on the fly.

Trouble is, I'm not sure if there is an API (yet) that allows you to generate a new doc ID. All I see is the Google Documents List Data API, which doesn't seem to cover what I'm asking for.

Categories: API , Google , Ideas , Software

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matthom is published and produced by Matt Thommes - an independent publishing enthusiast, mobile blogger, content creator, informative writer, web developer from a suburb of Chicago. Never one to conform, Matt intends to promote the effect the web has on our lives, in an effort to intensify, instruct, and clarify all that is happening around us.