Question Total
Column B Capacity caps each option on its own. A question total caps the whole question: one shared pool of spots that every option draws from, however the sign-ups are distributed.
"20 seats in each workshop" is column B. "30 seats across the whole day, whichever workshops people pick" is the question total. You can use both together.
Where Each Limit Lives
This is the one setting that is not in the options sheet:
| Limit | Where you set it | Where the count comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Per-option capacity | Column B of the question's tab | Column C, per row |
| Total across the question | The sidebar, on the question | The sum of column C |
The tab's layout is fixed at A Options | B Capacity | C Taken so the add-on always knows what it is reading. A stray control cell somewhere on the sheet would be easy to move, overwrite or delete by accident, and the question would silently lose its limit. The total lives in the add-on's own settings instead, where nothing can dislodge it.
The count is still the sheet's: your total is measured against the sum of column C, so the spreadsheet remains the place to see what has been claimed.
Setting a Question Total
- Open the Questions tab in the sidebar
- Click a connected question
- Click the pencil next to Question Limit
- Turn on Limit total spots for this question
- Set Total spots for this question
- Click Save
Turn the switch off for no total.
Show How Full the Question Is
A question total is invisible to the people filling in your form — they only discover it existed when the options disappear. Turn this on and the count is added to the question's description, so they can watch it fill up.
- In the same dialog, turn on Show how full this question is
- Set Show when this many spots remain — the count stays hidden until the question is at least that close to full
- Optionally write a description; the count is added to the end of it
- Click Save
Respondents then see something like:
Bring your own apron. (97/100)
That is spots taken out of the total, not spots left. A figure like 3/100 is read almost everywhere as "3 of 100 done", so counting down would suggest a nearly-empty question when it is nearly full.
The count is hidden entirely while the question is further from full than your threshold (set it to 0 to show from the very first response), once it is full — the "No spots available" message already says that — and whenever the add-on has paused the question, because the number would no longer be enforced.
Your Description Stays Yours
The add-on takes over the description while the count is on: your own text is kept and the count is added after it. Turn the switch off and your description comes back exactly as it was.
If you edit that description in Google Forms rather than here, the add-on notices and stops updating the count instead of overwriting what you wrote. The sidebar then offers to use your Forms version — accept it and the count resumes on your new text.
How It Works
Both limits apply independently. An option stays on the form only while both are true:
- the option is under its own capacity in column B, and
- the question is under its total
When the spots run out, every remaining option is removed and respondents see your "No spots available" message.
This is enforced after every submission and on every sync. That second part matters here: a sync rewrites the question's options from column A, so without it an hourly sync would put a sold-out question back on the form until the next response arrived.
Checkbox Questions Use One Spot Per Tick
On a Checkbox question a respondent can tick several options in one submission, and each ticked option uses one spot.
A response that ticks 3 options uses 3 of your total, not 1. That matches column C, which also counts one per ticked option. Multiple Choice and Dropdown questions only allow one pick, so one response always uses one spot there.
Combining the Two Limits
- Capacities above the total — 30 seats overall, no more than 20 per workshop. Column B holds 20 for each row, the total is 30. The most common shape.
- No capacities, total only — 30 people, pick any slot. Leave column B blank and set the total to 30.
- Capacities below the total — if every row is capped and those caps add up to less than the total, the total can never be reached. Harmless, but usually a sign that one of the numbers is not what you meant. The sidebar flags it.
Editing the Sheet Does Not Clear the Total
Adding, removing or re-capping rows in the options sheet only changes the per-option capacities. Your question total survives every sync, including the automatic hourly one. Changing it is a sidebar action.
When Spots Free Up
Deleting a response or raising the total frees spots, and the options come back on the next recount — the next sync, or the next response. Google Forms does not tell add-ons when a response is deleted, so nothing happens at the moment you delete it.
Tips
- Disconnecting a question clears its total along with the rest of its settings
- Pausing the add-on stops enforcement of both limits, since it removes the sync trigger too
- A total of 1 makes the question a single-claim question, whichever option is picked
- To see what has been claimed per option, read column C; to see it against the total, open the question in the sidebar