This is the official site for the Google Forms Add-on named "Control Accepting Responses"

To stay informed about new features and updates join the Google Community at:

For information about specific topics choose a topic from the drop down menu

Control Accepting Responses features

• Stops accepting Form responses at a certain date
• Stops accepting Form responses at a certain time
• Stops accepting Form responses at a certain number of Form submissions
• START accepting Form responses at a certain date and time
• Change the message displayed when the Form is no longer accepting responses
• Sends you an email when the Form is no longer accepting responses
• Sends an email to you when the Form has STARTED accepting responses
• The Form will display a message to anyone who opens the Form after it has stopped accepting responses, and prevent the Form from being filled out

Report a Problem

To report an issue, send an email to: aj.addons@gmail.com

Get Help

If you can't find an answer to a problem, please send me an email at: aj.addons@gmail.com

Common Problems

Stops Working: If this add-on stops working, it may be an issue with the trigger service. A trigger is what causes the add-on code to run. This add-on uses two types of triggers:

You can check the status of all the triggers created by the Add-on from the Status tab. You can also open the Apps Script code editor, and from the "Edit" menu, choose "All Your Triggers" to see every trigger installed to your account.

The "On Form Submit" trigger is what causes the code to start running when the Form is submitted.

Error when making settings - If there is an error when making your settings, an alert message will pop-up. In that situation, I need to know what you were doing when the error occurred. For example, you clicked on a certain button.

Email me at aj.addons@gmail.com

If you encounter any errors or problems.

Updates and Issues

Announcements are posted to the Google Community named: Control Accepting Responses

Every time that a new version is published, an announcement is posted to the Google Community

To get an email every time that a new version is published, email me at aj.addons@gmail.com and ask to be put on the list.

The G+ community has both an Issue Tracker and Feature Requests section.

Problems that you experience can be caused by:

• "bugs" in the Add-on code - Something that I need to fix
• An issue at Google - For example - Failure to run a trigger.
• User error - You made a setting wrong.

Check the Google Community for current issues that haven't been fixed.

Don't spend a lot of time trying to get something to work if you are having trouble. Email me, and I'll determine whether it's something I need to fix.

Server errors at Google or Google services being "down" are outside of the control of the Add-on.

You can check for Google service disruptions at:

Un-Install * Re-Install

If you are using "New" Google Forms and want to un-install the Add-on, do the following:

In "New" Google Forms, click the icon with three dots stacked vertically. Then choose, Add-ons. In the Search box, type Control Accepting Responses and hit Enter. When Control Accepting Responses shows in the list, you will see a "Manage" button. Click "Remove"

To un-install an Add-on from the "Old" Google Forms:

• Click the "Add-ons" menu.
• Click "Manage Add-ons"
• Click the green "Manage" button
• Click "Remove"

Contact Us

To contact me, send an email to: aj.addons@gmail.com

About

For information about the add-on version, first open your Gooogle Form in "Edit Mode". Open the Add-on menu. Click the "About" menu item in the add-on menu.

This website is hosted on Firebase hosting.

Alan Wells lives in the Northeastern United States, in the state of Maine, where he grew up and spent most of his life. He works full time developing Add-ons. Alan graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a degree in Business Administration. He also served in the military, and spent time overseas. As the developer of productivity Apps, he wants to provide free and low cost, but powerful tools that will give opportunities for success in business, education and organizations around the world.

Profile Page

Set Up

The "Settings and Info" dialog box is the starting point to configure your start and stop settings. Detailed help is provided by clicking the Help button shown in the top right hand corner of the dialog box. When a new version of Control Accepting Responses is published, you do not need to do anything. The new version automatically updates. If you are using a paid Google account, and have a "domain administrator", the domain administrator can make settings that affect whether this Add-on works or not. The administrator can control permissions and access to different services, like email. So, even if you accept the permissions, if the domain administrator has turned off access to something like being able to send an email, then the email feature will not work.

How it Works

Google has a programming language named Apps Script. Apps Script is the central location for integrating many different Google products. Your Google Form can detect and respond to an "Event." One type of event is the Google Form being submitted. That is an "On Form Submit" event. Apps Script has an "On Form Submit" trigger, that can either be attached to a Form or a Spreadsheet. This Add-on works from an "On Form Submit" trigger attached to the Google Form. When the "Save and Implement" button is clicked, the Add-on code creates either / or both an "On Form Submit" trigger and a time based trigger. The On Form Submit trigger is given the name "ControlAcceptResponses_FormSbmt". You can see all triggers associated with your account by opening the Apps Script code editor, clicking the "Edit" menu, and then clicking "All your triggers"

Usage Tips

When a new Add-on version is published, some users need to re-authorize the Add-on. If the Add-on looses it's authorization, it will not work correctly. Users in paid Google accounts with a domain administrator may need to re-authorize the Add-on after a new version is published. There are times when lots of new updates get published very frequently. You need to check for error emails being sent to the account that the Add-on is installed on. You need to check sent emails, and calendar events to make sure the Add-on is working correctly. When an error occurs, you get an email. When errors occur, there is no way to provide immediate feedback to the Google Form. So, the Add-on sends an email when there is a problem. The email comes from your account.

Troubleshooting

This add-on runs code in two places. 1) On Google's servers 2) In your browser

Errors can happen in the browser, or when the add-on code is running on Google's servers

If an error occurs when the code is running on Google's servers, I should get an error report in my error log.

If an error happens when you open the add-on or aare making settings, an error make show in the browser's log. You can see the browsers log by, pressing the f12 key in Google Chrome. A developer tools window should open. There is a tab named "Console" make sure that is selected. Open the dialog box for Control Accepting Responses, and see if there is an error message that appears in the log of the console. If there is an error message, email me the error message at aj.addons@gmail.com

This Add-on depends on a "trigger" to work. A "trigger" detects when an "Event" happens, and then runs some specific code. The trigger that detects when the Form is submitted is called an "On Form Submit" trigger. You can see all your triggers from inside the Apps Script code editor. To open up the code editor, and look at the "triggers" that you have. Put the following link into your browser:

https://script.google.com

You can also open the Apps Script code editor from the Google Form. In "New" Google Form, click the icon with three dots, and then choose Script Editor. If you get a web page instead of the code editor, click the button or link to use Apps Script. Once you are inside the code editor, do the following:

• Click "Edit" in the menu
• Click "All your trigger's"

You can delete a trigger by clicking the "X", then click "Save" If you installed a time based trigger, to start and stop accepting Form responses, then you may have triggers with the text:

If you don't want to use that feature, and you have those triggers, then delete them. The new triggers are created when the "Save and Implement" button is clicked in the Settings dialog box.

Click a Sub-menu of "Privacy/Terms/Permissions"

The Privacy Policy, Terms of Use and Permissions are explained in the sub pages of the "Privacy/Terms/Permissions" menu.

Privacy Policy

The Control Accepting Responses Add-on does collect and save information. The following statement describes the information that is collected and saved:

Synopsis:

If you uncheck the box to send me (The Developer, Alan Wells) information, then I can guarantee you, that the only information that I will ever get, is the account name / email address of the account that installed the Add-on, and usage data about how many times the Form was submitted. If the Control Accepting Responses Add-on becomes a paid service, then the Add-on will also save information about whether the account has paid or not.

Details:

When the Add-on is installed, it collects the email address of whatever account was used to install the Add-on. (Free / Consumer Account , Paid Account, GSuite) The email address is saved in order to send notification messages, if there is an error. The email account name is also used in association with usage data, as described below.

The number of Form submissions made by a Form with the Control Accepting Responses Add-on. The number of Form submission made is associated with the email address of the account that installed the Add-on. The number of Errors encountered from the Control Accepting Responses Add-on for each user of the Add-on. In the case of on an error in the Add-on, a copy of the error message is saved to a spreadsheet in the account of alcraprojects@gmail.com An email is also sent to the email address that was retrieved when you installed the Add-on, or an email address that you provide. Because the email is sent from your account to your account, it may not show up in your Inbox, but it will be in your "Sent" folder. I do keep error message information in the spreadsheet until the issue is resolved, and then delete the information.

The information sent to the spreadsheet contains:

• Time the error occurred
• The error message generated by Google (Apps Script)
• My own custom error message
• The Add-on Version number
• The email of the account that installed the Add-on
• Local Time
• The name of the function that the error came from
• The "Stack" - This is the line number of the code where the error came from.

The vast majority of the time, no personal information is obtained or sent when an error occurs. However, the error generated by Apps Script may have information specific to the account or an answer in the Form. For example, the Form name might be included in the error message. It's possible that a value from an answer might be included in the error message. I intentionally avoid collecting answers or any information that is personal. I can not guarantee that a piece of personal information is never included in an error message. I can guarantee that I will never use any personal information for anything other than debugging a programming error. I will never share any personal information that is obtained. You can prevent any and all error information from being sent by un-checking the check box in the "Errors" tab of the "Settings / Utilities" dialog box that indicates that no information will be sent when there is an error. Usage information associated with the account will always be collected. That can not be turned off. The reason for this, is that if I make the Add-on a paid service, it will be on the basis of usage.

Error messages that may include private information are encrypted before being sent.

Summary:

• The email address from the account that installed the Add-on is always collected
• Usage data associated with the account about how many Form submissions are made is always collected.
• Error messages that might contain personal information can be turned off in the "Errors" tab of the "Settings / Utilities" dialog. Doing this insures that I will never get any personal information, except for the account name (email address) of the account
• Any personal information that is obtained will never be shared with anyone.
I intentionally avoid collecting and sending any personal information when an error occurs, but can not guarantee that it will never happen.

The above explanation includes all situations in which data is collected, the type of data collected, and how that data is stored and transmitted. It also provides an explanation of how to stop most information from being transmitted, except for the account name (email address) and number of Form submissions.

Terms

By using the Control Accepting Responses Add-on, you agree to the following terms and conditions.

Terms:

By using Control Accepting Responses, you agree to allow the Add-on to do the following:

• Collect and save "Usage Data". For example; the number of Form submissions made in a given time period. Or the number of errors. See the Privacy Policy for more information.
• Collect and transmit "Error Information" when Control Accepting Responses encounters an error. When an error occurs, the Control Accepting Responses Add-on makes an HTTPS POST request to my aj.addons@gmail.com account with error information. When permissions for the Add-on are given, the permission for an External Request, is needed for this. You can turn OFF error collection and transmission in the "Errors" tab of the "Settings / Utilities" dialog box.
• Send an error email from the Google account that was used in the installation, to the same email address. In other words, send an email from your account to the same account. For errors that are user errors, the developer does not want or need to be notified. For example, if the user failed to enter a date for a calendar event. Or it the person who installed the Add-on failed to make a required setting. You can turn OFF error collection and transmission in the "Errors" tab of the "Settings / Utilities" dialog box.
• Possibly collect and transmit Form data when there is an error. The data is used for purposes of correcting programming errors in the Add-on. The majority of the time no personal information and no Form information is transmitted. There is the option in the Settings to prevent error emails from being sent. If there is an error, there may be situations where the answer to a Form question is sent with the error information. For example, if there is an invalid email. Users sometime enter something other than an email, like a date, or text. You can turn OFF error collection and transmission in the "Errors" tab of the "Settings / Utilities" dialog box.
• You agree to possibly getting emails from aj.addons@gmail.com concerning error messages, and/or promotional advertising for the Add-on. You always have the option to block emails from aj.addons@gmail.com and/or ask to be removed from any mailings.

DISCLAIMER:

(i) PROVIDED WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT; AND (ii) IN NO EVENT WILL THE PROVIDER OF THE Control Accepting Responses Add-on BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOST REVENUES, PROFIT OR DATA, OR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, HOWEVER CAUSED AND REGARDLESS OF THE THEORY OF LIABILITY, EVEN IF I (Alan Wells) HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE ADD-ON * THE Control Accepting Responses Add-on to Google Forms IS PROVIDED BY IT'S DEVELOPER "AS IS" AND * ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED * WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE * DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL Alan Wells BE LIABLE FOR ANY * DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES * (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; * LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND * ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT * (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS * ADD-ON, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. *

The "Control Accepting Responses" Add-on asks for permissions. For the Add-on to function correctly, you must accept the permissions.

• Read, send, delete and manage your email. -Control Accepting Responses does not read, delete or manage your email. It does send one or more emails if the Form start accepting responses, or stops accepting responses. Control Accepting Responses will never delete an email. It doesn't "manage" your email. It will check your remaining available quota, to determine whether it's possible to send another email or not. And Control Accepting Responses will never read your email. In some cases, Control Accepting Responses may send and email from your account to your account, if there was a user error in the settings. (You made a mistake in the settings) For most of the errors, and email is sent from my account to your account. That's to make sure that you see the error email. Sometimes emails sent from your own account to yourself don't show up in your Inbox. This Add-on does attempt to get the email address of the account that installed the Add-on. See the Privacy Policy for more information.
• Display and run Third-party web content in prompts and sidebars inside Google Applications - The Add-on uses a dialog box to allow you to make and save settings, like the date to turn the Form OFF from accepting responses. The code that formats, styles and operates the dialog box was programmed by me, Alan Wells. I am the "third-party". There is no other content from any other source other than me or Google in the Add-on.
• Allow this application to run when you are not present - This is for the time based trigger and the On Form submit trigger. When someone answers questions on your Form, and submits the Form, you are not "present." And even though you are not present, the Add-on code runs and checks for how many responses there are and whether you want the Form to stop accepting responses at a certain number. This is the same situation for the time based trigger. If the time based trigger hits it's time, then it runs without you doing anything. You are not "present" to cause the trigger to run at a certain date and time.
• Connect to an external service - The Add-on sends data to my error logging spreadsheet if there is an error. Although, you can turn that OFF in the "Error Handling Settings." For more information see the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. This Add-on will send error information to my account for error logging, and to send you an error email from my account.
• "View and Manage your Forms" - This Add-on must change the "Accepting Responses" setting. And it can also change the custom message. It also saves your settings into the Form. Other than that, there is nothing else that it does to manage your Form(s). All the user settings are saved into the Form. User settings are saved in "User Properties" service. There are some "Script Properties" for the version number, and date information. The settings for this Add-on are store in what is called, "Document Properties." The settings need to be stored, so that the code knows what to do. This Add-on does not manage your Forms in the sense that anything happens with file maintenance, creation or deletion. This Add-on never creates or deletes a Form. This Add-on does not do anything with the Form answers. The Add-on code does not get any Form answers. All this Add-on does is monitor today's date against a date setting, or the total number of Form responses. The only Forms this Add-on accesses are Forms that you have saved settings to. It never deletes a Form.