Forms and manual addition to Sheet

Brandon R

Good afternoon,

I have a tricky question. I have designed a form to create a dynamic drop-down experience using columns for each option (kept hidden) and then using a column Join formula in a helper column to collate the results (visible). The issue I will come across is there will be users who will opt out of using the form to add their own info, manually. Is it possible to have my helper column also be a drop-down for manual selection?

The column in green is the one I would like to have both the Join function and an available drop-down. Is it possible to leave them this way or is there another workaround?

bisaacs

Hey @Brandon R,

Unfortunately if you use a column formula, that column can't be used for any manual data entry (you can actually confirm this if you go into your form editor and try to add a column that has a column formula; you won't see it as a field that can be added).

Would it be possible to restrict the sheet access to view only for users, and only allow them to enter data via the form?

bisaacs

Hey @Brandon R,

Unfortunately if you use a column formula, that column can't be used for any manual data entry (you can actually confirm this if you go into your form editor and try to add a column that has a column formula; you won't see it as a field that can be added).

Would it be possible to restrict the sheet access to view only for users, and only allow them to enter data via the form?

Brandon R

That's what I was afraid of. I've updated instructions to the team to let them know to submit using the form and we'll make changes as needed. Thanks @bisaacs for replying.