Scores and calculations

A variable is a number the form keeps while someone answers it: a quiz score, a lead's grade, an order total. Each question can change it with calculations — "add 1 to score when the answer is Canberra" — logic can send people to a different ending depending on it, you can show it on any screen, and every response keeps its final value.

Scores and calculations are on every plan.

Build a scored quiz, step by step

This builds a three-question quiz that gives a point per right answer, adds the respondent's own rating of the quiz, and finishes on a different ending for a high score. Every step names the control exactly as it appears in the builder.

1. Write the questions

In a new form, add three questions:

1. Multiple choice — "What's the capital of Australia?" with the choices Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.
2. Number — "How many planets are in the solar system?"
3. Rating — "How would you rate this quiz?", with 5 steps.

2. Name the number you're keeping

Select question 1, and in the settings pane open Scores and calculations.

1. In Name what you're counting, leave score (or type another name, like points).
2. Select Create variable.

The name is for the number itself, not for an answer: if you type one of the question's answers, like "Canberra", the builder says so and asks for a name like score instead.

3. Give each answer its points

Creating the variable lists every answer of question 1 at 0:

• Sydney — Add 0 to score
• Melbourne — Add 0 to score
• Canberra — Add 0 to score

Nothing is marked right for you. Change Canberra to 1 and leave the others at 0. (Wrong answers can take points away too: type a negative number, like -1.)

On a multiple choice, dropdown or yes/no question that already has some calculations, Score the answers adds a row for each answer that doesn't have one yet.

4. Score a typed answer

Select question 2.

1. Under Scores and calculations, select Add calculation. It reads "Adds 1 to score, every time someone moves past this question."
2. Change Every time to Only when…. The condition starts on is with an empty box.
3. Type 8 in the box. The card now reads "Adds 1 to score when the answer is 8."

5. Add someone's own number

Select question 3.

1. Select Add calculation.
2. Tick Use their answer as the amount. The card reads "Adds their answer to score, every time someone moves past this question."

This is how a form adds up ratings, or multiplies a quantity by a price with Multiply by.

6. Show the score

Until something shows or uses a variable, the panel reminds you: "Respondents won't see score yet."

1. In the question list, under Endings, select the ending (or Add ending).
2. Write its title, and put the cursor where the score should go.
3. Select Insert answer → Variable: score. The title becomes You scored {{var:score}} out of 7.

7. Send high scores to their own ending

1. Select Add ending and title it Top marks: {{var:score}} out of 7!
2. Select question 3, open Logic in the settings pane and select Add rule.
3. Set If to Variable: score, the comparison to is at least, and the value to 6.
4. Set Then go to to the Top marks ending.

Rules on question 3 see the score after its own calculations, so the rating already counts.

8. Publish and try it

Select Publish, open the form from Share, and take it:

• Canberra, 8 and a rating of 5 scores 7, and lands on Top marks: 7 out of 7!
• Sydney, 9 and a rating of 2 scores 2, and lands on You scored 2 out of 7.
• Answer Canberra, go back with ↑, change it to Sydney, and finish: the score drops by one. Going back never leaves a stale score.

Then open Responses: the score column is right after the date.

More examples

Qualify a lead

Variable lead. On "Company size", score each answer: 1–10 people 0, 11–50 5, 51–200 10, over 200 20. On "When do you want to start?", score This month 10. Then a rule on the last question — Variable: lead is at least 20 — goes to an ending that offers to book a call, while everyone else gets the standard thank-you. Email notifications list lead first, so the team sees the grade at a glance.

Price an order

Variable total. On "Which plan?", select Score the answers and put each plan's monthly price on its answer: Starter 19, Team 49 (total starts at 0, so adding the price sets it). On "How many seats?" (a number), Add calculation, choose Multiply by and tick Use their answer as the amount. On "Add priority support?" (yes/no), put 99 on Yes. The ending says Your total is ${{var:total}} a month.

Managing variables

Settings → Variables lists the form's variables.

• Add variable creates another one — a form can keep several, like score and attempts.
• Starts at sets where one begins; it's 0 unless you say otherwise.
• The remove button deletes one, together with the calculations that change it, the conditions that check it and anywhere it's shown. Responses keep the values they already saved.

How calculations run

• They run in order when someone moves past the question, and before the question's own logic.
• Only the questions someone actually passes count. If logic skips a question, its calculations never run.
• The score is worked out again from the answers each time, so going back and changing an answer changes the score with it.
• Divide by zero is skipped rather than breaking the total, and a calculation that uses an answer that wasn't given is skipped too.
• Values are kept to ten decimal places and shown with up to two.

Branching on a score

Every logic rule and follow-up trigger can check a variable, listed as Variable: score. Compare it with is, is not, is less than, is greater than, is at least or is at most.

Showing a score

Use Insert answer → Variable: score in any title, description or ending. It shows the value as it stands on that screen: everything answered before it has counted, so a running total works mid-form too. See answer recall.

In your responses

• Each variable gets its own column in the responses table, ahead of the answers, and a line at the top of each response's details.
• The CSV export has a column per variable, and Google Sheets adds one at the end of the spreadsheet.
• Webhooks include them as variables, by name.
• Email notifications list them first.
• Insights shows each variable's average, lowest and highest value over completed responses on Premium.

Things to know

• A calculation can't use the answer of a number question marked as personal data: a score worked out from it would give the answer away.
• Duplicating a question doesn't copy its calculations, the same as its logic: the copy's answers are new ones.
• Changing a question's type resets conditions that checked it, and drops Use their answer as the amount if the new type doesn't answer with a number.