Adding Dynamic Time and Date to a Google Sheet

Owned by Paul Tober
Last updated: Apr 20, 2023
2 min read

Users may want to add a dynamic element of time or date into any of the HootVid template text fields. The easiest way to accomplish this is by simply adding it to your Google Sheet Data.

Date:

To add a dynamically updating date, follow the steps below.

  1. Create a column header of “Date” or whatever you would like it to appear as

  2. One cell below that header, input the formula =TODAY() and then press enter

  3. Duplicate this cell down the column as far as your data extends (the easiest way is to grab the bottom right corner of the cell and drag down)

  4. The user will need to edit the sheet’s date layout to achieve the desired format

    1. Top Navigation Bar

    2. Format > Number > Custom date and time

    3. Choose the format for the date i.e. "Thursday 20, 2023” (see screenshot below)

Time:

To add a dynamically updating time, follow the steps below.

  1. Create a column header of “Time” or whatever you would like it to appear as

  2. One cell below that header, input the formula =NOW() and then press enter

  3. Duplicate this cell down the column as far as your data extends (the easiest way is to grab the bottom right corner of the cell and drag down)

  4. The user will need to edit the sheet’s date layout to achieve the desired format

    1. Top Navigation Bar

    2. Format > Number > Custom date and time

    3. Choose the format for the time i.e. "1:25 PM” (see screenshot above as steps are the same for time and date)

Importing your Feed Data:

Once you add Date and/or Time to your sheet, you will need to add your data to the other columns. If you are utilizing a Hoot feed, or any other feed data, you will need to import that into the sheet. To do this, follow the steps below.

  1. In an empty column header type the function =IMPORTDATA("YOUR FEED LINK HERE")

    1. For Example =IMPORTDATA("https://api.hootinteractive.net/v1.0/feed/37554?token=aGBGnTcjtR&advertiser=4337&format=Programmatic%20Display&fname=test")

  2. This will pull that data into your sheet accompanied now by your dynamic time and date.

For instructions on using this Google Sheet as a data source within HootVid, review the help documentation found here: Data Sources - Google Sheets

Additional functions exist to pull in the data from other data source formats.

IMPORTXML: Imports data from any of various structured data types including XML, HTML, CSV, TSV, and RSS and ATOM XML feeds.

IMPORTRANGE: Imports a range of cells from a specified spreadsheet.

IMPORTHTML: Imports data from a table or list within an HTML page.

IMPORTFEED: Imports a RSS or ATOM feed.