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tel2Flag for New Zealand

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Google Forms - Ask for variable number of names

Hi Google Forms Experts,

I’ve just started using Google Forms today, and I’d like to create a registration form which asks for:
a)      the name of the primary registrant,
b)      the number of registrants in a drop-down (let’s limit it to 10 max), and
c)      the names for each additional (i.e. non-primary) registrant.

So far I’ve come up with these (less-than-ideal) methods:

Method 1: Cram all additional names into a Paragraph question.
I store all those additional registrant names in a single question (a Paragraph), and ask the user to type one person’s name per line.
Advantages: It’s simple to create, and means the user can put everything into only 1 section (page).
Disadvantages: This is not as structured as I’d like, makes it hard for me to validate names and impossible for me to make sure the number of names entered tallies with the number specified, and of course it puts all those names into a single cell in the linked spreadsheet.  And if I want to force first name and surname into different fields, this Paragraph method ain’t gonna work.  

Method 2: Conditional logic with different sections.
Section 1 asks for the primary registrant name and number of registrants.  I then add one section for each additional name, and call the sections “2nd registrant name”, “3rd registrant name”, etc.  On the “Number or registrants” question, I select “Go to section based on answer”, and have the:
-      “1” person option go to “Submit form”,
-      “2” person option go to the “10th registrant name” section,
-      “3” person option go to the “9th registrant name” section,
-      etc.
-      “10” person option go to the “2nd registrant name” section.
Advantages: It asks for the right number of registrant names, and lends itself to me asking for each first and surname in separate questions, if I want to.
Disadvantage: If there are 2 registrants, for example, then it’s going to ask for the 10th registrant name, instead of the 2nd registrant name.
I could work around this by not numbering those additional registrants – I could just call them all “next registrant” or similar, but that’s not ideal for helping the user keep track of where they're up to.

Any better ideas?  Maybe there's some Add-on which can help?  (BTW, how do I get Add-ons these days, anyway, because I don't see the "Add ons" item in the menu shown in this part of this video.)

Thanks.
tel2
Avatar of Martin Nguyen
Martin Nguyen
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Hi tel2,

Had seen your question a while back and forgot about it, sorry about that! Method 2 sounds like the easiest way to go about your question. I'll try to see if there's other options, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to come up with something that works elegantly.

I did take a look at the Add ons issue you were having. Are you in a G Suite managed account? I wonder if the admin maybe turned off the ability to view add ons. On my personal Gmail account and G Suite managed account the option to view Add ons is in the same spot as the video shows after I open a new form or if I'm editing an older one.

Here is a link to the Works with Forms section that both accounts have access too. Weird that is says G Suite Marketplace for either account, but its the same options of add ons.
Avatar of tel2

ASKER

Hi Martin.  No problem with the delay.

Thanks for the link to Works with Forms.  Looks as if I can probably install Add-ons from there, not that I know which one to use.  Also looks as if you really need to trust the Add-on publisher, too, if you're going to be capturing private info.
To answer your question, I don't think I have G Suite.  That's for paid (business) accounts, right?  I just have a personal account.

The method I decided to use for this year's registrations (which are nearly finished) was basically method 2, with sequence changes, because when method 2 is linked to a spreadsheet, it puts the 1st name (i.e. name of 1st registrant) on the left, the 2nd name many columns to the right, the 3rd name to the left of the 2nd name, the 4th name to the left of the 3rd name, etc, and the 10th name to the left of the 9th name, which is also just to the right of the 1st name.  So after the 1st name, names fill the spreadsheet from right to left, which is not ideal for me.

So I modified it so if the user says 2 people are being registered, the 2nd name is captured in Section 2, and at the bottom of section 2 we take the option "After section 2 Go to section 11" (or "After section 2 Submit form" if no further info is to be captured).
For 3 people, the 2nd name is captured in Section 3, and at the bottom of section 3 we take the option "After section 3 Go to section 2".
So we're not just dropping through the sections from top to bottom anymore.
This means the spreadsheet ends up looking as if it's filled with names from left to right, although the last name entered will end up just to the right of the 1st name entered, etc.

I still have the problem of not being able to have section descriptions like "2nd Registrant", so I'm just using the description "Additional Person" for sections 2 to 10.  Section 2 always captures the last person's name (if there's more than 1 person), but I'd rather not describe the sections as "Last Person", "Second to Last Person", etc.

If anyone can come up with a better method, with or without an Add-on, I'm still interested, as I might use it in future years.
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tel2
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