Open a form after a given date

Question

I created a Google Script to make automatic forms. I'd like to make it unaccessible before a given date but I can't find any way to do it. Even from the Google Doc

Answer 1

The documentation shows Form.setAcceptingResponses(), which you can use to toggle your form on & off. Set up such a function as a time-based trigger.

But you'll need to workaround the fact that container-bound Form scripts cannot have time-based triggers. (See Issue 3431, and star it to increase it's priority.)

As a simple work-around, create a stand-alone script with these functions in it, and specify the ID of your form:

/**
 * Specify the form to operate on
 */
var formId = '--form-id--';
var form = FormApp.openById(formId);

/**
 * Set this up as a time-based trigger to open your form at
 * a specific date & time.
 */
function startAcceptingResponses() {
  form.setAcceptingResponses(true);
}

/**
 * Set this up as a time-based trigger to close your form at
 * a specific date & time.
 */
function stopAcceptingResponses() {
  form.setAcceptingResponses(false);
}

Then use the "Resources" menu to add time-based triggers and set up notifications, as described here.

Finally, make sure you've set the form starting state by clicking Accepting or Not Accepting.

---

To use this from your form-creation script, you need to use a TriggerBuilder to create the trigger.

For example:

 // Creates a trigger that will run at noon on
 // Jan 14, 2014 (+/- 15 min)
 ScriptApp.newTrigger("startAcceptingResponses")
   .timeBased()
   .atDate(2014,1,14)
   .atHour(12)
   .create();