How can I edit someone's required google form list to include my unique entry?

April 13, 2011 3:14 PM

How can I edit/alter a friend's Google Spreadsheet Form so I can put my own answer in required list items?

I have a friend who has created an RSVP form for an event using Google spreadsheets. I don't want to get into specifics, but her entry has a list style form which is required, has no blank option, and doesn't have the correct option for me. IE, imagine a pull down menu with Republican; Democrat; and Independent; I want to put my own "third party" in, or in a few instances leave things blank.

Is it possible to externally edit the form webpage to do this?

Example code and detailed instructions would be very helpful. I've searched online to no avail.

posted by gryftir to Computers & Internet (2 answers total)

It seems like the easiest way to do this is to talk to your friend and explain. If you don't have edit privileges, and this IS possible, it seems like a huge error in Google Docs, so I hope it's not, but I'm not going to say with 100% certainty.
posted by brainmouse at 3:44 PM on April 13, 2011

Probably not possible. You could edit the form and submit your changed results, but the Google Docs server will probably reject it because those restrictions are almost always enforced on the server side too (this is good programming practice for all sorts of reasons). If the form requires specific options and says that you can't leave any items blank, the server isn't going to accept any requests that contain invalid or blank options.

Your only real option is to fill in the form to the best of your ability and/or to talk to your friend about why it's not possible to express your choices within the confines of his form. Perhaps he'll want to adjust the form to make it more inclusive for others?
posted by zachlipton at 4:07 PM on April 13, 2011