14 DAY TRIAL // Google has been updating its services left and right so it’s no surprise that the time for Forms has come too. The service has been around for a while, allowing people to create invite lists, surveys and so on, but it’s been pretty limited in terms of features.
Well, Google is not introducing add-ons, which are extensions created by developer partners. These are meant to increase the functionality of the forms.
“Google Forms is a free and simple way to collect information--from quickly polling your friends about who'll be attending your trip to the haunted hayride, to getting thousands of responses to an awareness survey for work. Over the last few months, Forms has been getting a bunch of updates to help you make good looking surveys, like new theme choices and the ability to create your own personalized themes,” explains Google’s Saurabh Gupta, product manager.
Where are the add-ons?
The add-ons for Forms are new tools created to deliver even more features to your surveys, just like the add-ons built for Docs and Sheets. These can be accessed from the “Add-ons” menu in Forms, or directly by visiting the Forms add-on store.
There are plenty of add-ons to choose from. For instance, formLimiter allows users to set a way to close surveys automatically, after a maximum number of responses has been reached, or at a certain date and time. formRanger was built to help people populate multiple choice, list, checkboxes and grid options from columns in any sheet or Doctopus roster.
Form Values is another add-on that will store and pull from lists that are frequently used in Forms, such as lists of staff, students and so on. Ultradox Trigger, on the other hand, will allow you to create custom emails, reports, invoices and newsletters, to name just a few, based on information that people enter into your form.
There are only a dozen add-ons at this point, but since this is just the start, more are surely going to get on the list soon enough. Google is already extending an invitation to developers who want to create such tools too. The company is offering some documentation to get them started.
Hundreds of people have already installed these add-ons and more are sure to follow up on their next visit, especially since they’re going to provide an extremely simple experience and a lot more options to work with.
