How to Collate Weekly Updates into a Single Document

If you've ever wished you could collect and collate periodic emails into a single scrollable document, you're in luck.

07 Aug 2024 By Kristi Lim

In this guide, we'll learn how to set up an automation using Zapier to manage emails efficiently. We'll create a trigger for new emails matching a specific search, connect our account, and decide where to store the information. Options include creating or updating a page in Notion or appending text to a Google Docs document. This process helps streamline email management and ensures important information is organized and accessible.

Let's get started

First, go to zapier.com to set up your automation. You'll find yourself on a page that looks like this. Under Trigger, search for "Gmail" and click on the event "New Email Matching Search."

You need to connect your Email account. Then, you'll be directed to type in a relevant search string.

Tip: You can first test your search string in your inbox. Use search operators if you need to get more fine-grained results.

For our example, I am typing: "weekly update superacme".

If you find a suitable record, proceed with it. You can then save it wherever it makes sense, such as in Notion.

You can create or update a page.

Alternatively, you could use Google Docs. You might also append text to a document. The text to append will be the plain body. You can also add additional content.

And there you have it! As a bonus: You can also add in a "ChatGPT" step if you would prefer these digests be summarized or processed before getting compiled into your document.

Step #15: To do that, you would click in between our two existing steps, and then select "ChatGPT". Click "Create Conversation", and then add "Body Plain" onto a relevant prompt. — To do that, you would click in between our two existing steps, and then select "ChatGPT". Click "Create Conversation", and then add "Body Plain" onto a relevant prompt.