Google Forms is already a very powerful, full-featured program that allows you to create forms, surveys, polls, quizzes, and more.
However even with all its options, there may still be some features missing from the Forms that you would like.
Thankfully Google allows people to create Add-Ons that can be easily installed, which add new features and tools to Google Forms.
Over time the amount of available Add-ons has grown tremendously. So how do you wade through all of these to find the best ones and the hidden gems?
To help out I have collected a list of my favorite Add-ons for Forms. Certainly this is not a comprehensive list, and there are other awesome Add-ons beyond my list, but these will give you a good place to start. Some of these Add-ons will likely be familiar to you, but hopefully you will find a few new ones or be encouraged to dig deeper into one you have tried before.
See below for my list of recommended Forms Add-ons, what they do, ideas for how they can be used in schools, and a quick overview of how to install, use, and remove Add-ons. And be sure to let me know which Add-ons you would recommend to add to the list. I would love to learn from you!
🧰 Resources
- Resource Doc - "Supercharge Google Forms with Add-ons" - Google Docs link
- Resource Slides - "Supercharge Google Forms with Add-ons" - Google Slides link
❓ What are Add-ons?
- Add-ons are third-party tools that you can install and use inside of Google Forms.
- They provide additional features or tools that you normally would not have in Forms.
- Many are free, but some have a paid version with more features.
- Note: Your school may need to approve add-ons.
⚙️ Managing Add-ons
Finding an Add-on
- From the Google Forms edit screen, click the 3-dots button in the top right corner.
- From the drop-down menu, choose "Add-ons".
- This will open the "Google Workspace Marketplace".
- Here you can search and browse through add-ons for Forms.
- Click on any add-on you would like to learn more about.
- You can now learn more about the add-on including: Description, Reviews, Number of users, Pricing (if any)
Installing an Add-on
- If you want to install the add-on, click the "Install" button.
- You will now need to select your Google account and give the add-on permission to install.
Using an Add-on
- To use an add-on, click the "Add-ons" button at the top of the screen (looks like a puzzle piece).
- Choose the one you want from your list of installed add-ons.
- Launch the add-on.
- Most add-ons will open in a panel on the right side of the screen.
Removing an Add-on
- To remove an add-on, click the 3-dots button in the top right corner and choose "Add-ons".
- Click the settings gear at the top and choose "Manage Apps".
- Click the add-on you want to remove and click "Uninstall".
👍 Recommended Add-ons for Forms
In the next portion of this document we will explore some good Forms add-ons to try out, along with a short explanation on what they do and how they can be used in school. These add-ons are listed in alphabetical order.
📊 Advanced Summary
- Turn your Google Form responses into filterable charts in a few steps.
- With Advanced Summary, you can quickly summarize your responses data by any field of responses you’ve collected - things like location, department, or age.
- You can select the items to display, and the summary will automatically update.
🏆 Certify'em
- Certify'em lets you create online certifications and email custom certificates to exam-takers when they pass your Google Form assessment.
- Use one of the certificate templates included, or design your own.
- Track of who has passed, and who hasn't, using the spreadsheet of records.
🧭 Data Director Original
- Send Form responses to multiple places including:
- Alternate spreadsheets based on conditions
- One or more merged emails
- Add guests to calendar events
- Great for splitting data for different people based on grade level or other criteria.
- Other features include:
- Send an email or not depending upon how a question is answered in the Google Form
- Create a calendar event from dates and times entered into a Google Form
- Create a PDF file from answers in the Google Form
- Attach a created PDF file to an email
- Edit a PDF file instead of creating a new file if the user edits their previous Form submission
📑 Doc Appender
- Doc Appender appends Google Form question responses to the bottom of selected Google Docs from a folder in Drive.
- This is a great way to make running records of observations or comments on students.
📧 Form Notifications
- This add-on allows users to automate email notifications for:
- Form respondents - Configure messages that are delivered as individuals submit the Forms submission
- Form owners and editors - Configure messages that are delivered to you (as the creator of the Form), or other collaborators, on predetermined response thresholds.
🏹 Form Ranger
- Form Ranger allows you to auto-populate the choices in list, multiple choice, checkbox or grid question options from columns of data in any Google Sheet.
- This can be a great way to remove choices from a question, such as filling up the seats in different sessions.
📆 formLimiter
- formLimiter automatically sets Google Forms to stop accepting responses after a maximum number of responses, at a specific date and time, or when a spreadsheet cell contains a specified value.
- Great for time-bound assignments, event registrations with limited seats, or other first-come, first-served signup scenarios.
🐶 Icons for Slides & Docs
- A great option for inserting graphics in Forms is the Icons for Slides & Docs add-on.
- You can search for millions of free icons from the Flaticon database for use in Forms.
- And it is completely free!
🏁 Conclusion
So how do you use the Add-ons mentioned above in your class or school? And what other favorite Add-ons would you add to the list? Feel free to share your ideas and suggestions!
So how do you use the Add-ons mentioned above in your class or school? And what other favorite Add-ons would you add to the list? Feel free to share your ideas and suggestions!
Post by Eric Curts
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This is awesome! I am going to tie this into a presentation I am giving at the Indiana Google Summit called "InFORMing Your Practice." Thank you for the hard work putting all of this together!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome! Best wishes with the presentation!
DeleteTHanks for this great presentation! Very helpful!
ReplyDeleteWanted to let you know that Choice Eliminator 2 has not worked properly since it's release. His most recent 2.0.12 has made the Add-On pretty useless at this point. The user group page is reporting lots of issues to the programmer who does not seem to have any decent answers to resolve.
ReplyDeletehttps://plus.google.com/communities/109383908101699779995/stream/60ff2131-e26e-462a-8802-28ee9f6c3c8c
I saw those error reports as well in the Community. However, for what I demonstrated in the webinar it worked great. I did not go into any advanced features, but the basic features seemed to work well.
DeleteI've published a sheets Add-on which I think you would find useful. It allows you to create the list of questions (and options), section headings, image and video links etc in a spreadsheet and then press a button to create the form. It's called Form Maker it makes creating forms much much quicker.
ReplyDeleteUnlike regular forms, this extension will store your form data on google spreadsheet instead of Mysql database.Store form submissions on google spreadsheet
ReplyDeleteDear Eric
ReplyDeletethank you so much for this useful Webinar. I am looking for an add on that will allow me to collect numbers but in a tabular format. Similar to a multiple choice grid but rather that an option in each cell i would like to enter a numerical value?
Thanks Eric! Question: What's the best add on to allow an upload of a resume within a Google form?
ReplyDelete