If you collect data from multiple people but don’t want them to access to your spreadsheet, you can use the Form view in spreadsheet.com. As a result, the recipient of your form will not see the spreadsheet that stores their responses. You will not need to use a separate app; it is simply another view of your spreadsheet.
Contents
Blank Form
For this example, we will go straight to the Form view. You could add fields in the Sheet view if you wanted, but it’s a bit cleaner if we do it all from one view.
Now that you are in this view, you can design the fields as desired. At first, a blank form starts with five fields. Each field has a title that you can think of like the label for the end-user. Each field can also have an accompanying description.
The end-user of the form will see both the label and the description. The Required checkbox will put a red asterisk next to the answer, and the end-user cannot submit the form unless this field has a value.
Video Explanation
Hidden Fields
The reason for using a Hidden field is a bit less apparent. What is the point of having a field that no one can see? Think of a case where you are sending a questionnaire to high schoolers and middle schoolers. All of the questions will be the same, but you want to identify the type of school each student attends. If you make the value of the hidden field “High school” for one version of the questionnaire and “Middle school” for the other, these values will come into your spreadsheet without the end-users seeing them.
After the Form is Submitted
You can also control the experience after an end-user clicks submit. You can whisk your user away to the next page by using the option to “Redirect to a URL” or give them a message of thanks. It is important not to show the submit button again if you only want one answer per user. If spam may be a problem, you can use the option to force the user to use a reCAPTCHA. Think of the “I am not a robot” check button type of test. The last option is to remove the spreadsheet.com branding. Removing the branding will be available to paid user accounts.
Form view in spreadsheet.com lets you gather data from multiple users without allowing anyone to see or edit the submissions. It will consolidate the responses, and you can view them as a traditional spreadsheet with of header row. Have fun using these features for invitations, surveys, and much more.