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H: How to get a cell to show blank if it cannot lookup the search key?
For Example:
If cell A1 contains the letter "A", "B" or "C" randomly in it, and in cell B1, lookup A1 (doesn't matter where). If cell A1 DOESN'T contain the letter "A", "B" or "C" in it, I want B1 to show up blank.
At the moment, the cell only shows up as #N/A when it can't find the value it's looking for.
Cell A1 would have different values in it randomly (that's why I'm using lookup A1), I need to find a way to make B1 show up blank when there are NO values in A1.
AI: To suppress error messages from a command, wrap it in iferror:
=iferror(vlookup(...))
Generally, iferror may have a 2nd argument, custom error text. But if there is none, the cell is left blank in case of error. |
H: How to select multiple, non-consecutive cells in Google Sheets using a list of the cell addresses
I have a very long, comma-separated list of cell address coordinates, shortened here for the sake of brevity: C3,C7,C17,C56.
I would like to select these cells. Is this possible to do by pasting the values into a field somewhere?
If not, then via a script or add-on?
EDIT:
Considering my intention was to format the cells, this worked for me: Format (menu) > Conditional Formatting Apply conditional formatting rules It would still be useful to know how to select cells, so I'll leave the question here.
AI: Update
On April 2018, several new classes and methods were added to the Google Apps Script Spreadsheet Service including Class RangeList and methods to get this class were added to Class Spreadsheet and Class Sheet. Ref. https://developers.google.cn/apps-script/releases/2018?hl=es-AR#april_11_2018
Short answer
At this time it's not possible to programmatically select multiple cells.
Remarks
The conditional formatting rule allowing to set several ranges separated by commas is an oddity of Google Sheets as other features like Named Ranges, Range Protection, doesn't allow this and Google Apps Script doesn't have a class for disjoint ranges. Anyway some, tasks could be done by looping through a list of references.
References
Edit and format data in Google spreadsheets - Google Docs editors Help
Issue 4069: Add support to allow use and manipulate disjoint Ranges |
H: Split one column into two equal halves
GOAL:
Split one column of items into two half-sized columns of items. So if there are originally 1 column by n rows I want two columns by (n ÷ 2) rows with exactly the same items as the 1 x n column.
PROBLEM:
I would like to split 1 column ( that contains vendor Invoice#'s ) into two rows. To clarify I don't want to split the contents of each cell in the column into two columns, I want to split the column itself in two.
There could be 1 or zero items, In this case no splitting should occur.
There could be any an even-number of items greater than 1 in the column. If the total number of items are even I would just like the column split evenly in two. I.e. if there are 18 items I want two columns of 9.
There could be any odd-number of items greater than 2 in the column. If the total number of items of the column are odd I would like two have the column split almost evenly in two such that one of the two newly created columns has 1 more additional item than the other one.
EXAMPLE:
THIS:
101
102
103
104
105
BECOMES:
101 104
102 105
103
CONTEXT:
I have a huge google-sheet with lots of rows/records of jobs that were completed. I currently use a FILTER formula to filter out all the jobs such that it matches a persons name, & their expected pay-date, and it shows only those jobs. The purpose of this is to generate a check-statement.
AI: Assuming the data is in column B, the following two formulas do the job. In cell C1:
=filter(B1:B, row(B1:B) < 1 + max(filter(row(B:B), len(B:B))) / 2)
In cell D1:
=filter(B1:B, row(B1:B) >= 1 + max(filter(row(B:B), len(B:B))) / 2)
Explanation:
Find the last row with data by max(filter(row(B:B), len(B:B)))
Divided by 2 and use as a threshold for splitting the column: rows above it go to column C, rows below it go to column D. |
H: Is there a way to update an email thread in Gmail with the keyboard?
I find it frustrating that Gmail uses an ajax or other system to put a yellow box in the bottom right of an email thread to tell you that you got a new email, but it doesn't just go put the actual email there for you to read it.
I'm hoping there's at least a keyboard shortcut that I can use to tell it to load it (same as if I clicked the "show" link in the yellow box).
I think it's probably possible to write a tampermonkey script to do this, but I don't know how to do that yet.
Maybe an extension exists?
AI: The shortcut would be to use: Shift + N
Update current conversation - Updates your current conversation when there are new messages.
It's not one of the defaults, you'll have to make sure you have "Keyboard shortcuts on" setting. |
H: When sharing a document through Google Drive, is all its revision history also shared?
Imagine the following scenario:
on Day 1 I create a text document on Google Drive.
on Day 2 I edit it.
on Day 3 I share it with John so that "John can edit".
Can John see the version from Day 1 in the revision history, or should I create a new document and share this one if I want to hide the old versions from John?
AI: Yes, totally. These small example shows a document shared with me on june 2nd; and I'm able to see all the previous edits (the document was created on june 1st) |
H: Delete events from Google Calendar with a specific word in the title
I'm trying to delete specific events on my Google calendar, I've found this script that delete events with a specific title:
function delete_events()
{
//take care: Date function starts at 0 for the month (January=0)
var fromDate = new Date(2014,7,1,0,0,0); //This is August 1, 2014
var toDate = new Date(2016,2,1,0,0,0); //This is March 1, 2016 at 00h00'00"
var calendarName = 'your_calendar_name';
var toRemove = 'title_of_the_events';
var calendar = CalendarApp.getCalendarsByName(calendarName)[0];
var events = calendar.getEvents(fromDate, toDate,{search: toRemove});
for(var i=0; i<events.length;i++)
{
var ev = events[i];
if(ev.getTitle()==toRemove) //check if the title matches
{
Logger.log('Item '+ev.getTitle()+' found on '+ev.getStartTime()); // show event name and date in log
//ev.deleteEvent(); //uncomment this line to actually do the delete !
}
}
}
The events that I'm trying to delete have the same word in the begining of the title but the rest is different, example:
Sunrise: 6:26am, Sunset: 6:58pm
Sunrise: 6:22am, Sunset: 7:00pm
Sunrise: 6:20am, Sunset: 7:02pm
What I need to change in the code for the script delete all events with "Sunrise" in the title?
AI: Only one line needs a change. Instead of the exact match
if (ev.getTitle() == toRemove)
you want to check that ev.getTitle() begins with the string toRemove. This is how:
if (ev.getTitle().slice(0, toRemove.length) == toRemove)
The slice command cuts down the event title to the same length as toRemove string. So, if toRemove is "Sunrise" and the title is "Sunrise: 6:20am, Sunset: 7:02pm", then
toRemove.length is 7, the length of the string Sunrise
the slice with parameters 0 and 7 is the first 7 characters of event title, which is Sunrise
the result matches toRemove, so the event gets removed |
H: Conditional Average with a function
I'm trying to average a range but only if one condition is true.
A B C
1: A 1 2
2: B 3 4
3: C 5 6
4: D 7 8
5: A 1 6
6: E 8 9
7: E 5 8
What I want is if the char I'm looking for is "A" then I want my average to produce something to the form of:
(1/2 + 1/6) /2
=AVERAGEIF(A:A, "="&SomeOtherVariable, B:B/C:C)
I want to avoid creating an extra column because the sheet that this data is on is taken from a google form and I am not sure how the form will take having a new column added to it.
AI: Short answer
Instead of AVERAGEIF use an array formula as AVERAGEIF requires a range as it's third parameter.
Explanation
The below formula could be used to calculate the average for each category without having to use an auxiliary column and as it use open ended references, it will not require to be modified when new form responses be submitted.
=ArrayFormula(
QUERY(
FILTER(
{'Sheet1'!A:A,'Sheet1'!B:B/'Sheet1!C:C},LEN('Sheet1'!A:A)
),
"select Col1,AVG(Col2) group by Col1")
)
Using the example source data provided by the OP, the result is the following:
+---+---+--------------+
| | A | B |
+---+---+--------------+
| 1 | | avg |
| 2 | A | 0.3333333333 |
| 3 | B | 0.75 |
| 4 | C | 0.8333333333 |
| 5 | D | 0.875 |
| 6 | E | 0.7569444444 |
+---+---+--------------+
{'Sheet1'!A:A,'Sheet1'!B:B/'Sheet1!C:C} creates an array with two columns, the first one is the category column, the second calculates the dividend of Column B divided by Column C.
The FILTER function is used to remove blank rows.
The QUERY function is used to calculate the average for each category in the first column.
References
Using arrays in Google Sheets
FILTER
QUERY |
H: How do I change a cell to the color of the hexadecimal value of a cell in Google Spreadsheets?
Based on my data, I calculated values of hexadecimal color codes. I want some cell (I don't care whether it's an empty cell at the end of the row or the same cell) to be the color based on the code.
I don't want to use conditional formatting because it changes to a specific color or color gradient, not a specific hexadecimal value. I also have the RGB values if it is easier with those. This may not even be possible, but it would be really great.
I can change the color of each cell manually, but I will be updating the data which will update the hex value and I want the color to update automatically as well.
AI: Short answer
Use Google Apps Script or a Google Sheets Add-on as there is no built-in feature to set cell background color by color codes.
Explanation
Google Apps Script is a tool that can be used to extended Google Sheets and other Google apps. It could be used to created add-ons.
There are two class methods that can be used to set the color of a single cell:
setBackground(color) : Sets the background color of all cells in the range in CSS notation (like '#ffffff' or 'white').
setBackgroundRGB(red, green, blue) : Sets the background to the given RGB color.
Below is an example of a script that sets the color of one cell based on the CSS color the cell at it's left when the value of that cell is edited.
/*
* Sets the color of adjacent cell on Sheet1 when cells
* of the column A are edited
*/
function onEdit(e) {
var range = e.range;
var sheet = range.getSheet();
var col = range.getColumn();
if(sheet != 'Sheet1' && col != 1) return;
var color = e.value;
range.offset(0, 1).setBackground(color);
}
Demo
References
Extend Google Docs, Sheets, and Forms with Apps Script
Install, use & uninstall add-ons |
H: Easily switch between seeing only lines affecting a running total and all lines
Background:
I have a spreadsheet with one row per date. Each row has a current total A, there are different ways to either add or subtract a value from that total.
No other column except G (for A, the current total) contains any calculations. And each G cell just subtracts and adds to the previous value. For example G3 =G2+C3-D3+E3-F3.
Problem:
Since most of the rows do not affect A in any way I'd like to have a way of only seeing those rows that actually change A (marked below in example). It has to be easy and quick to switch between viewing all rows and only the lines where A is changed.
If it is possible I'd like to do it without introducing another column that indicates if the row should be seen or not. However, the most important thing is that it's quick to work with so that I can easily switch between all rows and those changing A. If could be a filter, a filter view, a separate or whatever.
AI: Create a filter view with filter by condition "Custom formula is", =sum(C2:F2). It does not matter which column the filter is placed at.
Explanation
The filter takes place starting with the second row (header row is not filtered). Therefore, the custom formula should be written as it will be applied to the second row; the references will be automatically remapped for other rows.
If the value of a formula is 0, the row is omitted from the view. If it is anything else, the row remains in the view. |
H: Save YouTube Playlist Offline
Is it possible to download or save a YouTube Playlist so that is can be viewed while offline?
AI: YouTube's premium service, YouTube Red, allows this in the YouTube, YouTube Music, and YouTube Gaming apps.
Once you are subscribed to YouTube Red ($1.99/month), you will see an "Add to offline" button below videos, this will allow you to download the video at your selected quality so that it can be viewed offline.
Source: Using YouTube Red benefits |
H: How can I add a caption to a photo in a shared Google Photos album?
I have a collection of photos in a shared album on Google Photos. For each photo I want to set a short description as a caption.
AI: This can be done in either the Google Photos app, or the Google Photos website.
Tap or click to view a single photo, then select the information button (small "I" icon) to view more details on the photo.
Find and select "Add a Description"
Descriptions are saved with the image and will be searchable in the future.
Source: How to add a custom description to pictures in Google Photos |
H: Playlists of playlists on YouTube
Is it possible to have a playlist which contains other playlists on YouTube?
For example I have a playlist named 'Jazz' which contains jazz music, and a playlist called 'Rock' which contains rock.
Is it possible to create a playlist named 'Music' which contains both and adds from both when I add to either?
AI: This feature was asked for in 2009 but still has not been implemented.
Source: Personal testing |
H: Display the contents of a named range elsewhere in the sheet
I have a sheet like so:
A B
1 W X
2 Y Z
I have the range A1:A2 named as "Column1". I want to display that range elsewhere. Now if I wanted to display it as a row, I know =TRANSPOSE(Column1) works. But how can I display it as a column? I know =TRANSPOSE(TRANSPOSE(Column1)) works, but that's not nice. This seems like a very simple problem, but after a lot of googling it seems that people don't do it. How can this be achieved?
For reference, I want to be able to write, for example, =FOO(Column1) in B1 and have the following output:
A B
1 W W
2 Y Y
AI: Use the array notation:
={Column1}
This is also useful for combining ranges (if the sizes match): ={ran1, ran2; ran3, ran4}
Reference: Using arrays in Google Sheets |
H: YouTube save position
Is there a way to autosave positions of YouTube videos? Preferably automatically and without plugins.
This worked a month ago without a plugin, now it does not work anymore (for me).
Ubuntu Linux and Chromium browser.
AI: Unfortunately, the built in YouTube video resume feature is only for videos "longer than 20 minutes". And, of course, you have to be logged in. There are also these stipulations: "you've watched more than one minute of the video and there are more than three minutes left.".
Here's my source from long ago when the feature was first released, where they state:
Resume where you left off: Let's say you're watching an epic (read: longer than 20 minutes) video, and you get distracted and click
away. The next time you return to the video, it will resume where you
left off watching, assuming you've watched more than one minute of the
video and there are more than three minutes left. |
H: Filtering by case-sensitive string equality
I discovered (when answering this question) that string comparison in filter is case insensitive: the formulas =filter(A:A, B:B = "Yes") and =filter(A:A, B:B = "YES") have the same output.
Apparently, this is true generally for string comparison in Google Sheets: ="Y"="y" returns TRUE, and so does its equivalent =eq("Y", "y").
This is convenient sometimes, but what to do when I want to filter rows by case-sensitive string equality?
AI: Short answer
Use REGEXMATCH(text, regular_expression) instead of = or EQ(value1,value2) to set the conditions for FILTER(range,condition1,[condition2, ...])
Demostration
Data source
+---+---------+---------+
| | A | B |
+---+---------+---------+
| 1 | Field 1 | Field 2 |
| 2 | Yes | A |
| 3 | YES | B |
| 4 | no | C |
| 5 | No | D |
| 6 | NO | E |
| 7 | yes | F |
+---+---------+---------+
Formula in D1
=FILTER(A2:B7,REGEXMATCH(A2:A7,"^yes$"))
(The word is placed between ^ and $, so that the entire cell content is required to match it.)
Result
+---+-----+---+
| | D | E |
+---+-----+---+
| 1 | yes | F |
+---+-----+---+ |
H: Yahoo Inbox email Preview has text which is missing in Normal view
I received a mail from a new contact and the Inbox Preview in Yahoo Web Mail shows this:
I see text like
Dear Sir Greeting.
When I open the email to get the Normal view, there is no text matching the Preview. To be specific, the words:
Thank you for the interest
are missing:
I can only see text like:
Dear Sir 8 Attachments (sic)
I looked at the headers and see that this is a forwarded mail; "In-Reply-To", "Message-ID" and "References" all refer to mail.gmail.com, with some long hash keys. Neither current sender nor receiver is using Gmail, but I assume the mail originated on Gmail and I received it after many intermediate forwards.
What is going on?
Is this a bug in Yahoo Web Mail?
AI: From my comment
I don't know how Yahoo Email works but the preview text is very likely
that comes from the email itself. The original email message could
include several parts in order to make a message readable in text only
email clients, to look fine in email clients that supports HTML and so
on. It's very likely that the preview comes from the text only part
and the that the HTML part is malformed (missing a < or a whole
tag).
To learn more about multipart email messages see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIME |
H: Is it possible to appeal a Facebook 'profile report' decision?
I have reported a Facebook profile (a "profile", not a "page") as "Represents a business or organisation" which is (I believe) against Facebook's ToS. The profile in question has no 'personal' content on its timeline, it's purely promotion for that business. The name used for the profile is that business' name. The cover photo and profile picture are pictures of the shop-front.
I reported it, Facebook said they followed up on the report but found it did not violate community standards and left it as-is.
I now want to either provide them with more info, or appeal the decision, because whoever reviewed the report was (afaict) wrong to decide no action was required. I considered just reporting it over and over until it's acted upon but:
That seems like a waste of time
I am concerned that there might exist some kind of "crying wolf" mechanism built into the report profile system. If it exists, it could harm me if I repeatedly report a profile for it to be repeatedly found non-infringing.
By way of background - I have friends who ran profile-as-a-business-page profiles and in the past they have been forced into converting their "friend profiles" into "like pages". So - I know that it can happen, unless Facebook have changed their ToS about profiles-where-you-should-use-a-page in the intervening time.
AI: There is no way to appeal a decision.
I've reported dozens of personal profiles which represent business entities. Many of which are closed stating they don't violate community guidelines.
People connect on Facebook using their authentic identities. When people stand behind their opinions and actions with their authentic name and reputation, our community is more accountable. If we discover that you have multiple personal profiles, we may ask you to close the additional profiles. We also remove any profiles that impersonate other people.
If you want to create a presence on Facebook for your pet, organization, favorite movie, games character, or another purpose, please create a Page instead of a Facebook Profile. Pages can help you conduct business, reach out to fans, or promote a cause you care about.
It seems that it isn't something Facebook wants to deal with on a case by case basis. |
H: How can I enable all possible Facebook notifications to be received by email?
I would like to first enable all possible email notifications by Facebook (including all my Groups and Pages) to then subsequently and selectively turn those off that I don't want.
AI: From the Facebook Help Centre:
You can't turn off notifications entirely, but you can adjust what you're notified about and how you're notified.
Keep in mind that if the notification is from an app, you can block the app on Facebook. To block an app, navigate to its about page. At the bottom-left corner, click Block App.
Email notifications are Facebook updates that you receive via email. To adjust your email notifications from Facebook:
Click down arrow symbol at the top-right corner and select Settings.
Click Notifications on the left.
Select Email.
From here, you can adjust your email notifications.
In your case choose All notifications, except the ones you unsubscribe from option. And later when you wish to not receive some specific email notification just unsubscribe from email. |
H: Gmail authentication requires phone verification
A group project I am involved in has a shared Gmail account for a while now. There is no single number associated with this account which I am aware of.
I was trying to log from another device than a usual one so Google asked me to prove I am human. Hence a SMS or phone call option ...Authenticating a user via SMS. This is not a two factor authentication.
Once in I was looking for a trace of my phone number so as to delete it. Where would Google store it with in the shared account if it does store it.
Any thoughts?
AI: ... if it does store it
Presumably you did not have to enter your phone number during this authentication stage? So, it must already have been "stored"?
Or, if this was literally just a "prove you're human" step and you were required to enter your phone number, then I doubt that Google would store this phone number with the account. (?) Although I have not experienced this type of "prove you're human" validation. The usual Google anti-bot check these days is a "simple" checkbox (formerly a captcha).
To check your account:
Navigate to your Google Account:
https://myaccount.google.com/
Your personal info - check the phone number
https://myaccount.google.com/privacy#personalinfo
You should also check the "Security alerts settings", as this will show the phone number (entered above) and whether this is enabled:
https://security.google.com/settings/security/alerts |
H: Create a grade sheet where it will flag number grades in a certain range by turning that row another color
I'm trying to create a grade sheet where it will flag number grades in a certain range by turning that row another color.
The problem I'm having has to do with grades of Zero. I have this formula for the other grades, with 90% being the passing mark, so anything above that isn't marked
=and($E:$E<90%, $E:$E>0%)
The problem is that apparently the value of an empty cell is considered to be 0 by the spreadsheet. If I did a conditional format with the following:
=$E:$E=0
the spreadsheet lights up.
AI: You can use isblank() to format blank cells the way you want to. For example
=or(and($E:$E<90%, $E:$E>0%), isblank($E:$E))
or
=or(and($E:$E<90%, $E:$E>0%), not(isblank($E:$E)))
By the way, you can simply enter $E1 here instead of $E:$E - the conditional formatting formula can be written as it applies to the upper left corner of the range. |
H: Closing Google Apps account: Can I migrate YouTube account and Android Apps?
I have a Google Apps account, which I use for my personal email and as my primary personal Google account. The Google Apps account is associated with my personal domain name.
I am thinking about closing my Google Apps account because I am interested in moving to a different email provider.
However, I have purchased Android apps through my Google Apps account. Is there any way for me to retain access to these apps after closing my Google Apps account? For example, can I migrate the purchases to a free Google account?
I also have a YouTube account associated with my Google Apps account. If I close my Google Apps account, will my videos stay up? If they do stay up, is there any way I can retain ownership of these videos? For example, can I transfer ownership of the videos to a different YouTube account? Can I migrate my YouTube account to be associated with a free Google account?
There are other things associated with my Google Apps account (e.g. Google Drive), but I don’t care about those so much. However I would welcome any insights into how to maintain access to other Google services, because other people reading this question might find them helpful.
AI: Google Play purchases can't be transferred from one account to another account.
Youtube information can't be merged (transferred) from one account to another but Youtube channel ownership can be transferred if they are linked to a Google+ page.
Unfortunately there isn't a workaround for Google Play purchases, but Youtube videos could be downloaded.
References
Transfer Purchases - Thread from the Google Play Help Help Forum
Merge YouTube channels (transfer data) - Youtube Help
Transfer ownership of a channel - Youtube Help
Download your own Youtube videos - Youtube Help |
H: How to add a hyperlink in Hotmail (live.com)?
I have an email address ending with @outlook.com. I am replying to an e-mail right now and I can't find any button to add a link (or hyperlink).
I have the buttons to add an image, to format the text in bold, italic, etc, but I can't find any option to add a link.
This is the toolbar that I have:
AI: The button to insert an hyperlink is in the dropdown menu. Just Click on the V button: |
H: Disabling all Gmail's April fools
Is there any way to disable all future Google's April fools in Gmail (and even better, in all Google services)?
AI: No, there isn't. Google has never offered any option to prevent their corporate pranks. Of course, in the past, most have been ones where you actually need to go to a different URL or are something harmless like changing a site theme.
I can pretty much guarantee that they'll never mess with something as important as email ever again. Certainly not after this backlash.
That said, maybe after this most recent debacle they will offer a way to opt-out of future April Fool's jokes. But they don't right now. |
H: Blocked Facebook user highlighted in yellow
When I block a user on Facebook and it highlights in yellow, what does it mean? I have never seen this before and the highlighting seems very unusual. Any suggestions?
AI: When you first block someone, it will direct you to a "manage blocking" page (https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=blocking) and append to the end of the url "&blocked_uid=[user id]". Under this specific url, Facebook highlights the user whose id is in the url. In this case, that means the last person to be blocked is highlighted.
If you remove "&blocked_uid=[user id]" from the url and hit enter, you will be redirected and no name will be highlighted. If you back up a page, you will return to the page with the id and the highlighted username.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/help/community/question/?id=10152989336137092&answer_id=10153723180997092&rdrhc |
H: What is a cut and paste approach to converting a chunk of a google spreadsheet to markdown table?
I maintain my web site in a version of markdown, with the common table extension.
I maintain my inventory as a google spreadsheet.
I'd like a quick way to copy paste a chunk of a spreadsheet, and get it out as markdown. Failing that, pointers to a google-api script that does this.
In passing things I tried:
1. Copy and paste into document. (It works for gmail, why not?) Result: Alphabet soup.
Prepare a spreadsheet chain. Sheet 1 is blank. Sheet 2 has columns that reference sheet one, but Sheet2 col B references Sheet 1 col A Col D references B, and so on. The odd columns are markdown text. This works but is incredibly ugly.
A second version of this calculates the longest element in each column, and pads all other elements with blanks. This produces better results, but it's still a pain to maintain.
A google search for google sheets markdown found several things that work badly.
AI: Actually the answer is trivial: Google webapps has
MarkdownTableMaker
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/markdowntablemaker/cofkbgfmijanlcdooemafafokhhaeold?hl=en
Works reasonably well. |
H: Suspicious access to my Gmail account from "Authorized Application"
In the lower right corner of my Gmail page, there a link to see the access history and activities for my account. In the list, I discovered an entry of access from "Authorized Application (427071021612.apps.googleusercontent.com)" and its location is from Virginia. How to find out what really is that?
AI: Go to https://myaccount.google.com/security#connectedapps and under Apps connected to your account, select Manage Apps and go through the list. There is no good way to interpret the code as what which specific app.
If you suspect something is out of whack, go through the Google Security Checkup, change your password, and enable two-step authentication if it isn't already enabled. |
H: "maximum number of people and Pages to see first" - What is the limit and how to trim list?
What is the limit as the message did not say anything about that
How to trim the list for the ones I want there to avoid message
You've Reached the Limit
You have picked the maximum number of people and Pages to see first. You need to remove one before you can add District Crossfit.
AI: What is See First: When you select a person or Page to see first, their posts appear at the top of your News Feed.
Limit: You can select up to 30 people or Pages to see first.
For more see the Help Centre.
Edit after OPs' comment
How to clear items from the list?
From Help Center:
To view your News Feed preferences:
Click 'v' in the top-right corner of any Facebook page.
Select News Feed Preferences
To adjust your News Feed preferences:
Click Prioritize who to see first to make posts from people or Pages appear at the top of your News Feed. Learn about see first.
Click Unfollow people to hide their posts to unfollow a person, Page or group. Learn about unfollowing.
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H: How Google Photos synchronization works with Google Drive?
When you allow;
Your mobile or desktop synchronize photos to your google+, google photos. These photos can show into your account drive within a folder called google photos.
Now when you synchronize your google drive to your windows system these photos will also synchronized and categorized in year->month->photos.
Now when you move photo inside this folder or create new folders inside it, then they get synchronized in web drive google photos. And if I'm correct this folder is synchronized with google photos. Then new folder should appear as albums in google photos, but this is not happening. What is wrong?
AI: You are not correct: New folders created in Drive do not become albums in Photos.
This is a known limitation of the integration between Drive and Photos, documented here: https://support.google.com/photos/answer/6156103?hl=en-GB |
H: Row by row comparison with FILTER returning error
I am trying do a row by row comparison of two separate sheets, and display the unequal rows on a third sheet. As an example, rows three and five on Sheet1 are different from Sheet2 and I want to display only them on Sheet3.
SHEET1 SHEET2
A B C A B C
1 INT STR BOOL 1 INT STR BOOL
2 1 A TRUE 2 1 A TRUE
3 2 B FALSE 3 2 B TRUE
4 3 C TRUE 4 3 C TRUE
5 4 D FALSE 5 C 3 FALSE
So I would want Sheet3 to look:
SHEET3
A B C
1 INT STR BOOL
2 2 B FALSE
3 4 D TRUE
Right now the formula that I am using is this:
=ARRAYFORMULA(FILTER(IMPORTRANGE("URL1","A2:C5"), IMPORTRANGE("URL1","A2:C5")<>IMPORTRANGE("URL2","A2:C5")))
where the proper links have been substituted for "URL1" and "URL2" for brevity in the above formula. This formula is giving a #VALUE error with the explanation:
FILTER range must be a single row or a single column.
Does anyone know a way to fix this?
AI: The formula filter sorts in one direction only; its second argument must be a one-dimensional range of booleans. So you would need to compare columns individually; this quickly becomes ugly with all the importranges:
(IMPORTRANGE("URL1","A2:A5")<>IMPORTRANGE("URL2","A2:A5")) + (IMPORTRANGE("URL1","B2:B5")<>IMPORTRANGE("URL2","B2:B5")) + (IMPORTRANGE("URL1","C2:C5")<>IMPORTRANGE("URL2","C2:C5"))
So I suggest using query instead, which allows for more complex queries. The most important limitation of query is that the contents of each column must be of the same type (other types will be treated as Null values). I gather from INT, STR, BOOL in your data that this is the case. So, this is what the query would look like:
=query({IMPORTRANGE("URL1","A2:C5"), IMPORTRANGE("URL2","A2:C5")}, "select Col1, Col2, Col3 where Col1 <> Col4 or Col2 <> Col5 or Col3 <> Col6")
Here the first argument is obtained as the join of two arrays (they must have the same number of rows), so it has 6 columns. The second argument is the query string. |
H: Weird looking Gmail location history
Starting from today the IP addresses look like this:
So what gives?
AI: Those are IPv6 IP addresses.
The IPv4 address space ran out of room some time ago. IPv6 has 7.9×1028 more available addresses than IPv4, so we won't run out of addresses for quite a while.
Nothing to worry about. In fact, it's good that your ISP is finally supporting IPv6. |
H: Group events by day, count them and aggregate the amounts
I have a long list of date times (timestamps) in column A, attached to some data in column B. I want to group this data by day, obtaining the count of events and the totals for each day. For example, from this input
+-------------------+----+
| 4/1/2016 15:50:52 | 50 |
| 4/1/2016 16:35:22 | 45 |
| 4/1/2016 18:39:11 | 65 |
| 4/2/2016 7:42:04 | 40 |
| 4/2/2016 15:45:49 | 55 |
| 4/3/2016 2:00:29 | 60 |
| 4/3/2016 6:46:50 | 45 |
| 4/3/2016 13:43:00 | 65 |
| 4/4/2016 13:18:15 | 40 |
| 4/4/2016 13:43:19 | 55 |
+-------------------+----+
I want to obtain
+----------+--------+------+
| date | count | sum |
+----------+--------+------+
| 4/1/2016 | 3 | 160 |
| 4/2/2016 | 2 | 95 |
| 4/3/2016 | 3 | 170 |
| 4/4/2016 | 2 | 95 |
+----------+--------+------+
Knowing about the scalar function toDate of the Google Query language, I tried the following:
=query(A:B, "select toDate(A), count(A), sum(B) group by toDate(A)")
I received the following error. How to overcome this?
Unable to parse query string for Function QUERY parameter 2:
SELECT_WITH_AND_WITHOUT_AGGA
AI: The error message says that the same column cannot be selected both with and without aggregation. One solution is to move the count function to another column:
=query(A:B, "select toDate(A), count(B), sum(B) group by toDate(A)")
Another solution, which is also applicable when there is no column B, is to duplicate column A before querying: {A:A, A:B} is the array with three columns in which the column A appears twice. One can refer to these columns as Col1, Col2, Col3 in the query string. The following formula returns the desired table:
=query({A:A, A:B}, "select toDate(Col1), count(Col2), sum(Col3) where Col1 is not null group by toDate(Col1) label toDate(Col1) 'date'")
For readability, the same query string with linebreaks:
select toDate(Col1), count(Col2), sum(Col3)
where Col1 is not null
group by toDate(Col1)
label toDate(Col1) 'date' |
H: Keyboard shortcut to extend Google Sheet formula down to the next cell?
I have a formula in cell A2, say, in a Google Sheet.
With cell A2 selected, is there a keyboard shortcut to extend that formula down to cell A3?
AI: Yes, but it's a series -
Shift + Alt + Down (select)
then:
Ctrl D (fill) |
H: Is it possible to archive Facebook Pages?
I have a couple of Facebook Pages that are related to projects that no longer exist. I would like to archive these pages without deleting them.
Does Facebook offer such a feature?
AI: I don't think Facebook provide any such feature except that download a copy of data. But you can hide your page from public by unpublishing it.
Unpublished Pages are only visible to the people who manage the Page.
From the Help Centre:
Unpublishing your Page will hide it from the public, including the people who like your Page.
To unpublish your Page:
Click Settings at the top of your Page
From General, click Page Visibility
Click to check the box next to Unpublish Page
Click Save Changes
Your Page won't be visible to the public until you publish it again.
Note: You'll need to be an admin to unpublish your Page. |
H: How to open custom (embedded) Google maps in full view?
I want to open an embedded map that has custom routes in it in full view but clicking the "Google" logo only takes me to the map without all the custom information.
How do I open a custom map in full view?
I've tried googling the problem, but all techniques are obsolete since 2014 because we can no longer search for KML/KMZ files in the GMap search bar.
Can I find some kind of an "ID" or whatever in the source code using 'inspect' which I can then paste at the end of a GMaps URL to open that specific map?
The specific map in question: [link]
AI: I think this will be as close as you're likely to get.
Once you have this page, you can change some of the map embed options using inspect element (I changed the height to 800px in the screenshot below) or Stylebot or similar extension if you want something permanent. |
H: Google forms hierarchical multiple choice questions
Supposing I have 2 multiple-choice questions concerning:
Country students are from: ..... (choices include USA, UK, China ....)
States where they are from: then if they selected USA in the first question, the options shown will be LA, Cali or somewhere in the US but not somewhere in UK or Russia
Can we do this in Google forms?
AI: Yes.
The easiest path is to create a section for each choice which will hold the specific questions for each country.
Then make your initial question around which country.
You then make that question go to section based on answer by clicking on the three dots in the corner.
You'll then have additional options for each answer and can set it up accordingly.
The screenshot below asks which country and based on the answer jumps to a section where there is a country specific option for cities. |
H: Is it possible to access Google Translate offline?
Is there an implementation - be it either through a Chrome app or native Linux software - that allows me to use Google Translate while being offline?
AI: You can use the Google Translate Android application offline if you download the languages. Athtek Software's website lists a free Google Desktop Translator. I haven't tried either one. |
H: Formula to use to return a value of 1 for several cells that meet a certain crtieria
Here's the spreadsheet I need help with:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DGYgprXe7V7WH2HII0hvQDWXl1SaG_a4MUZ5HDGhSq8/edit#gid=258610801
I basically need cell B21 in the "Report" worksheet to return a value of "1" if columns M, O, T, U, W, X, Y, Z, AA, AB, AC have the answer "No, I do not have psoriasis on this area" in the "Failed" worksheet. I also need it to return a value of "0" if even one of the columns do not have the specific answer ("No, I do not have psoriasis on this area") I am looking for.
Any idea/suggestion will be much appreciated.
AI: You should be able to do this with a COUNTIF formula:
=IF(COUNTIF(ARRAYFORMULA({Failed!M2,Failed!O2,Failed!T2:U2,Failed!W2:AC2}),"No, I do not have psoriasis on this area")=11,1,0)
I made an update to make sure it only includes the columns you specified. If you want to try it also on the other sheet you created called copy of Failed then you need to you modify your formula to:
=IF(COUNTIF(ARRAYFORMULA({'copy of Failed'!M2,'copy of Failed'!O2,'copy of Failed'!T2:U2,'copy of Failed'!W2:AC2}),"No, I do not have psoriasis on this area")=11,1,0)
The logic behind count if, is counting the number of times the exact phrase "No, I do not have psoriasis on this area", but since you have that phrase sometimes listed in other fields that you dont care to add up, the arrayformula basically filters to only count on the columns you care about.
Since you said if even one of those doesn't have the phrase, you want a 0, so based on your criteria, all 11 columns should have "No, I do not have psoriasis on this area" |
H: GEO Place Manipulation
I have encountered a very unusual and bizarre situation in Twitter. A user with account @hh88hhhh seems to tweet from multiple locations even though it's nearly impossible he/she can be in these far apart locations! Can location be directly manipulated?
AI: When you add a location to a tweet, you have to option of picking the location from a searchable list of various nearby locations. The search here isn't limited in any way, so you can practically choose any location you wish. |
H: Google treats vbscript as exact match of cscript, how do I deal with that?
When I google for CSCript refference, google returns VBScript results. Even when I put CScript in quotes.
Have a look:
I don't want to match vbscript but also I don't want to exclude vbcript results since vbscript and cscript documentation is often merged. How do I stop google from treating cscript and vbscript as synonyms?
AI: Try without the + eg get text from user "cscript" although that doesn't differ much from your get text from user +"cscript" See images below
Mine:
Yours:
Try using the `minus search operator` 1
eg [get text from user +"cscript" -VBscript](http://google.com/search?q=get+text+from+user+%2B%22cscript%22+-VBscript)
1 My term for it - more details can be found on Google's [advance search page](https://www.google.com/advanced_search) |
H: Formula to use to add up all rows that returned a value of '1' for several cells that meet a specific criterion
I need cell B21 in the Reports sheet to add up all rows that meet this criterion:
return a value of 1 if columns M, O, T, U, W, X, Z, AA, AB, AC have
the answer No, I do not have psoriasis on this area in the Failed
worksheet.
The formula I currently have only applies to row 2.
=IF(
COUNTIF(
ARRAYFORMULA(
{Failed!M2,Failed!O2,Failed!T2:U2,Failed!W2:X2,Failed!Z2:AC2}
),
"No, I do not have psoriasis on this area"
)=10,
1,
0
)
How do I sum up all rows?
AI: This should work:
=SUM(ArrayFormula(N({Failed!M2:M,Failed!O2:O,Failed!T2:U,Failed!W2:X,Failed!Z2:AC}="No, I do not have psoriasis on this area")))
After some clarification this formula seems to have worked:
=COUNTIF(ArrayFormula(MMULT(N({Failed!M2:M,Failed!O2:O,Failed!T2:U,Failed!W2:X,Failed!Z2:AC}="No, I do not have psoriasis on this area"), transpose(split(rept("1+", 10),"+")))), "=10") |
H: Can I set a trigger to run every second?
While searching for answer to How can I trigger a function when switching sheets within a spreadsheet? I noticed that the Triggers for current project dialog has an option for specifying a trigger interval in seconds.
That is, in the first drop-down menu (a), I select On time, and in the next (b) I select Timer, seconds (a):
Now I would expect the drop-down menu c to contain the items Every second, Every 2 seconds, Every 4 seconds and so on. However, it lists the options Every hour, Every 2 hours etc - as if I had selected Timer, hours in a.
This looks like a bug, right? Or is there another way to set up a trigger that runs every X seconds?
AI: Using English as the main language in the Google account settings the options for the second drop-down (b) are
Minutes timer
Hour timer
Day timer
Week timer
Month timer
There isn't a seconds timer, so it's very likely that there is localization error. Use the Google Apps Script Issue Tracker to report it to Google. |
H: Display imported data in reverse order, so that the most recent entries are on top
I want to invert the spreadsheet so I get the data at the top every day.
I've tried to
=sort(importdata("=importdata("http://www.tr4der.com/download/historical-prices/SPY/"),1,false)
but that doesn't seem to work. Would anyone know how to invert the .csv file?
AI: This is the easiest way to achieve the descending sort:
=sort(importdata("http://www.tr4der.com/download/historical-prices/SPY/"),3,false) |
H: How can I change the preview image when sharing a link on Facebook?
I would like to change the preview image that is shown when sharing a link on Facebook, e.g. on a timeline, in a chat or post.
Figure 1: Screenshot of a shared link on Facebook Messenger.
AI: From Help Centre answer:
Here’s how this works all:
You need the ability to access the HTML on the particular webpage you are sharing. It'll probably work site wide too if you use a common header file. You'll just get the same image for all pages if you do this though.
You need to add these HTML meta tags into page in the <head></head>. It will not work if you put it in the <body></body>. Make sure to customize per your a) image, b) description, c) URL, and d) title.
A real example.
<meta property="og:image" content="http://www.coachesneedsocial.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/BannerWCircleImages-1.jpg" />
<meta property="og:description" content="Coaches share their secrets to success so you can rock 2015. Join us for this inspiring, rejuvenating, motivating look at what secret sauce these coaches use to succeed in their business. This is for coaches of any level that are committed to changing the world. You will be elevated both in your life and your coaching business. Check out the topics below, there is something for everyone." />
<meta property="og:url"content="http://www.coachesneedsocial.com/coacheswisdomtelesummit/" />
<meta property="og:title" content="Coaches Wisdom Telesummit" />
Save.
Open a fresh Facebook post, and retry the page you wanted to share.
If you are having trouble… you can debug it with this Facebook tool. It looks more geeky than it is. It tells you what Facebook is seeing when you post in the URL to share.
https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/og/object/
Big Tip: make sure the “quote marks” are the same in your HTML (they should look like 2 straight marks and no curves). Sometimes programs change these to different fonts and it goofs up the code.
Other related links:
http://www.freebookings.com/blog/social-media/control-the-image-and-text-shown-in-a-facebook-status-update/
https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/webmasters#markup |
H: Is it possible to create an open group for a Facebook Page?
This group should be an integrated part of the Facebook Page (cf. Page Events) and be represented as a tab in the tab menu.
Does Facebook provide such a feature for Facebook pages?
AI: No. It is not possible. There is no such feature available. There is difference between Facebook pages and groups. |
H: How do I get Google Tasks back on Google Calendar after “reminders” has replaced it?
Google offered me the possibility to to used Google reminders in my calendar, if I wanted.
I said, ok, let's try it.
Now Google Calendar has gone and there seems to be no way to get it back: How do I get "Tasks" in my list of calendars?
Is there some kind of reset to basic I can do to remove the darn reminders or at least a method of getting reminders to sync with tasks?
AI: Click on the drop down arrow next to Reminders in your calendar list. There should be an option to switch back to Google Tasks. |
H: Restore reminders in Google Calendars
I accidentally switched back to Google Tasks in Google Calendar. I still have my reminders, I can see them on Android, but the reminder calendar is gone from the web app, and I can't see my reminders there.
How can I add my reminders again to Google Calendar?
AI: On the Google Calendar website, on the left side, click the drop down arrow next to Google Tasks. There should be an option to switch to reminders. |
H: How to address the columns of an inline array?
Suppose you want to run a query against an inline array:
QUERY({"apple"; "orange"; "banana"}, "select A")
This yields Unable to parse query string for Function QUERY parameter 2: NO_COLUMNA.
Is this type of array even addressable?
AI: The columns of an inline array are addressed as Col1, Col2, Col3, and so on.
QUERY({"apple"; "orange"; "banana"}, "select Col1")
The same applies to the arrays imported with importrange, importdata, etc. |
H: Does Instagram delete old accounts?
It looks like my old Instagram account has been deleted, whereas I still have a confirmation of my account creation (in 2012) in my e-mail inbox.
AI: Yes, Instagram tends to delete accounts that have been inactive for a prolonged period of time.
I found this on their website:
"We encourage people to actively log in and use Instagram once they create an account. To keep your account active, be sure to log in and share photos, as well as like and comment on photos. Accounts may be permanently removed due to prolonged inactivity, so please use your account once you sign up!"
You can check out the page here |
H: How to remove label for some emails?
I am fetching emails via POP from another Gmail account and am applying a label @Private to all such emails.
Now, on my private email I also receive emails from services like Bitbucket. So I wanted to filter those emails as well and have created a filter @Bitbucket for all such emails.
However my @Private is now overcrowded with @Bitbucket emails as well, because Google first applies @Private label to all emails fetched via POP, and then additionally labels a few of them as @Bitbucket. All emails that come from Bitbucket now have 2 labels. Obviously I would like NOT to see Bitbucket emails into @Private label directory.
Is there any way to remove @Private label for emails that match @Bitbucket filter rules?
AI: You can't remove a label with a filter.
However, it seems that Gmail applies filters sequentially, so if you change the order of your filters so that...
the @BitBucket filter is listed above the @Private filter, and
the @Private filter includes a negative search in its search criteria (e.g., -label:@BitBucket) so that it only applies the label to messages that don't already have the @BitBucket label
I think that will do what you need.
As for changing the order of your filters, see: How can I reorder Gmail filters? |
H: Validation to check a list of values from found on a different sheet
I have two sheets in my workbook named 'Tasks' and 'Personnel'. The 'Personel' sheet has three columns that contains a list of Person's ID, Name, and Contact Number.
While the 'Task' sheet contains their tasks.
How can I give validation to column C of sheet 'Tasks' for it to check its value from column B2:B(n) of sheet 'Personnel'? I've tried providing a range as validation, but it's not accepted.
AI: In order to close the question, I'll post my comment:
its works without equal (=) sign |
H: TeX in Google Docs
I would like to type bra-keted expression
into the document. How do I do that?
AI: The Docs support a little bit of TeX syntax, but apparently not \langle and \rangle. It seems the best we can do is to use Unicode characters:
U+27E8 ⟨ Mathematical left angle bracket
U+27E9 ⟩ Mathematical right angle bracket
There may be a way to type these, but I haven't succeeded, and just copy-pasted them from Wikipedia page for this Unicode block
They look good in a formula, except that, being ordinary characters, they don't scale with the size of the expression they contain. |
H: No results on Google Search in normal mode, but results in incognito?
In normal browsing mode, when I search for "pimp scroll bar html", I get no results:
However on Incognito mode (for Google Chrome), suddenly I get results:
I disabled all my extensions, and yet the problem is still there. Why does this happen?
EDIT: I tried logging out of my google account, and for some BIZZARE reason, now the search works properly. Why would me being logged in stop the searches from appearing?
AI: This is a really silly situation.
The answer really only deserves a single line: I had safe search turned on.
Somehow I took a screenshot of that, and didn't notice.
(In the 0.0001% chance somebody needs to know, you can just turn safe search off by clicking the gear at the top right of the page (under your account picture)). |
H: How to use OR operator in Gmail
I have a huge list of senders who I would like to filter in Gmail. If you can help me figure this out, I can finally get over this headache.
I've tried these queries.
from:(David Kadavy OR Lloyed from Speakeasy OR Traction Conf)
No results
from:David Kadavy OR from:Lloyed from Speakeasy OR from:Traction Conf
No results
from:david kadavy || from:lloyed from speakeasy || from:traction conf
Only searches for david kadavy
I've tried each search individually and they do return many results, so it's not that there are actually no results to show.
I have read the Gmail documentation, and it doesn't help me. https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7190?hl=en
AI: The example in the Google docs is of the form:
from:amy OR from:david
So, I would certainly go with your 2nd version. However, I think it might be getting confused by the spaces (ordinarily a delimiter) so it might be searching for something like: (parentheses and AND added for clarity)
from:David AND (Kadavy OR from:Lloyed) AND from AND (Speakeasy OR from:Traction) AND Conf
Try quoting the search phrase:
from:"David Kadavy" OR from:"Lloyed from Speakeasy" OR from:"Traction Conf"
or even,
"from:David Kadavy" OR "from:Lloyed from Speakeasy" OR "from:Traction Conf"
Both quoted search phrases seem to work for me, although the former matches Google's example: subject:"dinner and a movie" so would be the preferred style. |
H: 'seen' message status on Facebook website and Messenger app
Some of the messages I have sent to Facebook friends are appearing with 'seen' stamp if I open the messages on facebook.com while they are unseen on the Messenger app. Which one is the right one? It seems to me that messenger is right because on Facebook, all the times when the message is seen is one minute after sending the message.
AI: Reinstalled Messenger and logged in again and it should work. |
H: Adding and/or logic into the criteria field (SUMIF)?
Using Google Sheets with the expression SUMIF, is there a way to make the criteria field look for 2 types of values using OR logic?
A B
Joe 1
Joe 2
Tim 3
Roy 4
Tim 5
Roy 6
How do I make a SUMIF for the rows that have Joe and Roy so the result is 13?
Someone showed me how to do it on LibreOffice Calc simply with =SUMIF(A1:A6;"=Joe|Roy";B1:B6), but that doesn't seem to work on Sheets. I've currently resorted to a query like so, =sum(query(A:B,"Select B where A = 'Joe' or A = 'Roy'")), is there a simpler way with just incorporating the pipe |?
AI: Use of REGEXMATCH
There are many ways to do this in Google sheets. One is:
=SUM(filter(B:B,REGEXMATCH(A:A,"Joe|Roy")))
to make it with sumif:
=SUMIF(ARRAYFORMULA(REGEXMATCH(A:A,"Joe|Roy")),true,B:B)
Filter with OR logic
and this formula is ok:
=sum(FILTER(B:B,(A:A="Joe")+(A:A="Roy")))
but it's not so easy to use when you want it matching more then 2 names.
DSUM function
To sum whith multiple criteria, use DSUM.
Prepare data A1:B7:
Name Sum
Joe 1
Joe 2
Tim 3
Roy 4
Tim 5
Roy 6
Prepare range with conditions D1:D3:
Name
Joe
Roy
And use formula DSUM:
=DSUM(A1:B7,B1,D1:D3) |
H: An "Updated on" field that records the last time that a particular column changed
Is it possible to create a "last updated" field under Google Sheets?
I have a status column, where the status progresses something like:
New -> Pending -> Started -> Done
I would like to add a "status last changed on XXX" column, where XXX would be a timestamp for when the status was changed, so that then I can filter for example anything that hasn't changed status in over a week (or color-code it/etc.)
I know I can in theory look this up under the revision history, but that is quite a tedious work-around
I am looking for a way that if a single cell is modified, then another specific cell will be updated with the current timestamp
AI: Here is an easily customizable function for this purpose: enter the numbers of the column to watch and the column for timestamp on appropriate lines
function onEdit(e) {
var colWatch = 5; // column to watch, 5 = "E"
var colRecord = 6; // column for timestamp, 6 = "F"
if (e.range.getColumn() == colWatch) {
e.range.offset(0, colRecord - colWatch).setValue(new Date());
}
} |
H: Why is Google.COM redirecting to local?
When I try to search on google.com (United States), it redirects me on google.ca (the local one for me).
I can access all google's sites in this list, except the one for United States.
Can someone explain why ? Is there a way to access google.com from Canada ?
AI: It is because Google knows what you want. But you say you don't want google.ca? Well, you're wrong. You just don't know it yet!
Ok, jokes aside. Google is using IP-location-databases to determine where you are. And from that it sees you're in Canada and redirects you to your local version of Google. It does the same in other countries.
If I enter google.com, it serves me with my local version with my countries TLD. In the grey area on the bottom of the google page, on the right side, I have an option though: "Use Google.com". That's how you can change to google.com instead of google.ca. |
H: How can one link to a specific portion of an article?
I wish to link to a specific portion of a Wikipedia article. For example in this article about Mahatma Gandhi, I wish to create a direct link to the section Struggle for Indian Independence without showing the other details above. Is this possible?
AI: You can create a link directly to that section of the page. It won't hide any page content but it will skip directly to the linked section.
Copy section links from the Contents box located at the top left of the page.
For example, on Wikipedia's Mahatma Gandhi page, if you copy the link to Struggle for Indian independence (1915–1947) from the Contents you'll get the URL
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi#Struggle_for_Indian_Independence_.281915.E2.80.9347.29
which links directly to that section of the page. |
H: IMPORTHTML 'could not fetch URL' but used to be able to
I made a spreadsheet, a part of which uses the IMPORTHTML function to get data from this webpage. For the first couple of weeks that it ran, it worked pretty great, getting all the data from the table as needed. I use the function 3 times, to get the results from the 3 different tables on the page.
What I've written is: =IMPORTHTML("http://www.parkrun.org.uk/results/juniorclubs/?eventname=norwich-juniors","table", 3) in a cell.
It worked fine for a couple of weeks, but now just says that it can't fetch the URL. It returns the same error in a completely blank spreadsheet. What's up with this - have I made a really obvious mistake, or did Google change the way that the function should be used? Could something else affect this?
AI: Oddly enough - in this exact situation - I played around with the page, a couple functions, variations, but the change that actually pulled in the data was simply changing the url from http to https..
see below image for live content successfully pulled |
H: Vimium for Google Docs
I like to use Vimium all the time, but I'm having some difficulty understanding how to use it for Google Docs. In Google Docs, I can't seem to stop the cursor from blinking (i.e. it's as though I'm perpetually in insert mode - no matter how many times I press Esc). This means that, when I go to issue a command to Vimium, I end up merely typing the command verbatim into the Google Doc.
I've googled around online with no success. Any help would be appreciated!
AI: You basically can't. Google Docs is super zealous about dropping you back into insert mode (as you observed). Best just disable Vimium on Google Docs (https?://docs.google.com/document/*). |
H: Google Drive used storage is larger online than in my local folder, why?
I have Google Drive application keeping my local Google Drive folder always in sync with the cloud.
I have recently received a warning of "few storage space", where it tells me I have 10GB plus occupied by Google Drive:
However, my local Google Drive folder has only a bit more than 5GB:
Is there anything I am missing? How can I find out where this hidden gigabytes are coming from?
AI: One theory is that there is a bunch of stuff in the Trash for Google Drive that was deleted from your local folder, but still counting against your total |
H: Is there a way to visit Quora in mobile URL when I'm on desktop?
I'm on desktop and would like to visit Quora as I visit it in mobile. Is there a way to do so? What URL should I use?
AI: You can simply change your browser's User Agent to that of a mobile browser. Quora reads the User Agent when you load the page to determine which version of the page to show.
There are various tools to help with this (Chrome or Firefox add-ons, for example), or you can use the browser's built-in features to set it manually.
Once you set your User Agent and reload the page, you should see the mobile version of the page loaded instead of the desktop equivalent. |
H: How to choose the default Google account for a Google service?
I have 3 Google accounts - a personal account, a work account, and an NGO account I rarely use.
When I open a Google service (like photos.google.com), it opens it using my work account, even though I have both private and work Inbox tabs open.
Is there a way to let a Google Service know what is my default account to be used with it?
AI: Always, first open your default account, than you can open your other accounts by clicking add another account.
First open you account with credentials which you want to make default account for current browser.
Now, Click your profile photo or email address at the top-right corner of the page.
Click Add account from the drop-down menu.
Enter the username and password for another account you want to access, and click Sign in.
Now the first account you logged in is your default account. |
H: How can I get contacts back into the inbox?
My favorite contacts used to be listed to the left in the inbox, and mailing was a one-step process. Now, to mail a contact I click on gmail, then contacts, and a new window opens. Then to compose, another window has to open.
AI: Google is promoting Hangouts, which is now their default settings. You can always revert to the older layout. Look at the bottom left corner of your browser and click on the "Revert to the old chat" link
This will take you to your familiar layout: |
H: Gmail shows an email (categorized as inbox), in "all mail" but not in inbox
This is when I click on "All Mail"
And this is when I click on Inbox
Notice that in the "All Mail" pic, the category is "Inbox" for the bunch of recent emails. Whereas in the "Inbox" pic, the last email showing is from Apr 24, and the ones today april 25th (3:52am, 6:55am,....) aren't showing.
AI: Your screen shot shows you're looking at the Primary tab. Conversations categorized as Social or Promotions are also in the Inbox, but are displayed on the matching tab. |
H: Gmail forward all email - respond as original receiver
I have two Gmail addresses/accounts, OfficialAddressA and PrivateAdressB. I have set all incoming emails to OfficialAddressA to be forwarded to PrivateAdressB, and remove Gmail's copy. Now I want to answer a forwarded email in my private account, as if I was answering from the official account, so that the "From:" still says OfficialAddressA.
Is it possible to accomplish this?
I think I have done before from another address but I can't remember how I did it.
AI: Try going to Settings - Accounts and Import - Send mail as.
Select "Reply from the same address the message was sent to"
You still can change the address you want to reply with before sending the email.
I tried this myself and works fine. |
H: Reverse lookup from Google Spreadsheets key
I can't figure out where the data in an IMPORTRANGE function is coming from.
How can I use the spreadsheet key to find the the original spreadsheet IMPORTRANGE is pulling from?
AI: A Google spreadsheet URL looks like the following
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mPqoaJW75FlHI_nCIZ-O9MBaTQ5Y58HGf0bdzFMKd-Y/edit
Just replace 1mPqoaJW75FlHI_nCIZ-O9MBaTQ5Y58HGf0bdzFMKd-Y by your own spreadsheet-key.
An alternative is to use
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1mPqoaJW75FlHI_nCIZ-O9MBaTQ5Y58HGf0bdzFMKd-Y
The same apply, just replace the file id by your spreadsheet-key |
H: Reference one of my own spreadsheets, within another, by its name
I would like to reference a spreadsheet that is within my own Google Drive, owned by me. The catch is, the spreadsheet changes. It will be a different spreadsheet ever day, with the date as it's filename.
I cannot reference it by spreadsheet key. I would like to reference it by name. I will accept the most far-fetched workaround at this point.
AI: This requires a script, using DriveApp service to access files by name. The following function fetches the spreadsheet key of the spreadsheet with today's date (in format 2016-04-29) as the name, and places it in cell A1. (You may want to change the cell, and the timezone which is GMT in the script).
Set the script to run daily, using Resources > This project's triggers. This will automatically keep the key up to date.
Then you can import data in the usual way, referring to the key in cell A1: =importrange(A1, "Sheet1!B2:M200")
function getKey() {
var filename = Utilities.formatDate(new Date(), 'GMT', 'yyyy-MM-dd');
var files = DriveApp.getFilesByName(filename);
if (files.hasNext()) {
var ssId = SpreadsheetApp.open(files.next()).getId();
SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet().getRange('A1').setValue(ssId);
}
} |
H: Time Validation Error Message does not dismiss
I have =DateTime.Now in the Minimum Field to prevent users from entering time in the past. This does prevent past time entry, but the error message "Time must be on or after XX:XXam" does not go away even after a valid future time is entered. Is there a way to get rid of this error message, or is there another way to prevent users from entering time in the past?
I have =DateTime.Today entered in the DATE Field and that works perfectly (it shows error when past date is entered and the error goes away when current or future date is entered).
AI: Working with Time fields in Cognito Forms can be a bit tricky. We intentionally do not support date/time fields yet, as these are affected by timezone and are notoriously difficult to handle correctly and explain. Our Time field is intended to represent a specific time of day, instead of a specific point in time. However, this is in practice impossible to support in calculations, since our calculations are designed to work with dates and date/times, not just times.
All that being said, while DateTime.Now does represent the current date and time, the Time field internally represents the time as a point in time on 1/1/1970. This works just fine when you specify ranges like 8:00 to 5:00 and such, but fails when you use DateTime.Now, which accurately reflects the current date and time.
While I do not like this workaround, you can use the following to specific a time of day based on the current time:
=DateTime.Parse(DateTime.Now.ToString("t"))
This turns the current date and time into a text value that just represents the current time, and then converts the text into a time that is compatible with the time field. |
H: Google Sheets sharing setting, "Specific people can access" but can't see each other
For Google sheets sharing setting, I have it on "Specific people can access", but the people can see who has access to that sheet. Is there anyway to make the setting so that the specific people can't see who else has access to that sheet?
AI: No.
For security reasons Google will always show the people a sheet is shared with.
Your only other alternative would be to set it to public, but that would negate the option of "Specific people can access". |
H: In gmail, when I block messages from a certain sender, only future messages are blocked
When I block messages from a certain mail address in gmail, I get a message that future messages from that sender will be marked as spam.
But how to mark those messages already received as spam? Why would I be interested in keeping those?
AI: You don't need to mark those messages already received as spam. But if you did for any reason, just move it to Inbox (not spam) and block it again. Plus Gmail deletes spam messages after 30 days, so don't worry about it. |
H: How can I see Google spreadsheets in Myanmar font?
I want to know whether it is possible to see Google spreadsheet in Myanmar font. Because in my Ubuntu operating system I am not able to see the spreadsheet text in Myanmar font which show only boxes.
I had installed the Myanmar Zawgyi fonts from the following link.
https://code.google.com/archive/p/zawgyi-keyboard/downloads
I had tried Myanmar font tool chrome Extension.
I tried the above two points. Still am seeing only boxes.
Any help will be greatly appreciated
AI: I had installed Myanmar Zawgyi font in my Ubuntu operating System and restarted solved the issue. Now i can clearly see the Myanmar text in google spreadsheet. |
H: How can I add a photo from my Google Photos to the Google Image Search?
How can I make a photo from my personal Google Photos available to the Google Image Search?
AI: You probably need to use the image on a website in order for Google to index it.
From https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/175288?hl=en:
If you'd like your photograph or image to appear in Google search results, you'll need to post the image on a website. If you don't own a website, here are some free content hosting services that you can use:
Upload your images to a social network like Google+
Add the images to a blog using Blogger
Create your own website using Google Sites
Google Photos is not mentioned as an option. |
H: How to put multiple tags in codepen post?
How can I add multiple tags on codepen.io?
When I use the write page, in the Tags box, I don't understand how to put multiple tags and not only one tag.
Here a screenshot for my problem:
Like you can see it puts all the tags together (html css js php tag5 tag6 etc) rather than listing them separately (html css js php tag5 tag6 etc).
AI: You'll want to separate them with commas for them to be separated tags, for example: html, css, js, php, tag5, tag6, etc |
H: How to remove the association between two Gmail accounts?
I want to remove that other account. Both of them are Gmail accounts.
How could I do?
AI: Just sign out from your Gmail account and then login only that one which you want to work with.
The account association is showing through the browser. |
H: What will happen to my OneDrive files when the storage space decreases to 5GB?
I logged into OneDrive today and received this message:
Seems like Microsoft are pushing Office 365 harder than ever, and are shrinking my 25GB OneDrive account to 5GB in a few months. However, I am using 39.1GB/40GB of space on the free plan.
What will happen to my files if I am still over this limit by the 10/08/2016?
Will my loyalty bonus still apply?
This is my current storage status:
AI: For the free OneDrive plan, there is still quite a bit of time (as you've seen from the expiration date on your screenshot).
The One Drive Storage Changes FAQ delineates the specific rules:
What happens if I’ll be over my limit when these changes take effect?
We will be actively communicating with our users as these changes
start rolling out via email and in-product notifications. These
notifications will start at least 90 days before the changes take
effect to ensure that you have enough time to act or make changes.
If you have a free OneDrive plan and will be over your storage quota
as a result of these changes:
If you are a free user and have over 5 GB of content in your OneDrive, you will receive an email with an offer to claim a free
1-year subscription to Office 365 Personal*, which includes 1 TB of
storage.
If you do not claim this offer, you will need to purchase additional storage or remove some of your files. Otherwise, 90 days
after you receive your first notice, your account will become
read-only.
If you are over quota after the 90 days, you will still have access to your files for 9 months. You can view and download them.
However, you will not be able to add new content.
If after 9 months you are still over quota, your account will be locked. That means that you will not be able to access the content in your OneDrive until you take action.
If after 6 more months you fail to take action, your content may be deleted.
In terms of the loyalty bonus, since it doesn't have the standard expiration date (I have the same date cited on my accounts) on it, that capacity should remain on your account (further confirmed here and, as cited on that page, from the horse's mouth on the MS representative's Twitter feed). The free plan bonus will evaporate, though.
Different rules apply if you are an existing Office365 subscriber on the 1Tb plan, and those are available on that same page. |
H: Google apps script to check availability
I'm using google form+calendar to create a reservation system for my makers lab. The user fills out the form and an event is created on the calendar so the TA knows when to goto the lab to help the user.
Currently I'm using this script(which i found online and modified it a bit to fit my usage)+trigger to create events based on the form submissions
var calendarId = "-hidden-@group.calendar.google.com";
//below are the column ids of that represents the values used in the spreadsheet (these are non zero indexed)
//Column containing the Start Date+Time for the event
var startDtId = 6;
//Column containg the End Date+Time for the event
var endDtId = 7;
//Column containing the First Part of the Title for the event (In this case, user ID)
var titleId = 4;
//Column containing the Second part of the Title for the event (In this case, user Name)
var titleId2 = 3;
//Column containing the user's mobile number
var descId = 5;
//Column containing the Time Stamp for the event (This will always be 1)
var formTimeStampId = 1;
//Column containing the machine Selected
var mId = 8;
function EnSubmitToCalendar() {
//Allow access to the Spreadsheet
var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet();
var rows = sheet.getDataRange();
var numRows = rows.getNumRows();
var values = rows.getValues();
var lr = rows.getLastRow();
var startDt = sheet.getRange(lr,startDtId,1,1).getValue();
var endDt = sheet.getRange(lr,endDtId,1,1).getValue();
//Create an addition to the Description to included when
var subOn = "TimeStamp :"+sheet.getRange(lr,formTimeStampId,1,1).getValue();
//Setting the Comments as the description, and adding in the Time stamp
var desc = subOn;
//Create the Title
var title = sheet.getRange(lr,mId,1,1).getValue()+"-"+sheet.getRange(lr,titleId,1,1).getValue()+" "+sheet.getRange(lr,titleId2,1,1).getValue()+" "+sheet.getRange(lr,descId,1,1).getValue();
//Run the Crete event Function
createEventEN(calendarId,title,startDt,endDt,desc);
};
function createEventEN(calendarId,title,startDt,endDt,desc) {
var cal = CalendarApp.getCalendarById(calendarId);
var start = new Date(startDt);
var end = new Date(endDt);
//Set the Options, in this case we are only using Description and Location, as we do not need Guests or sendInvites
var event = cal.createEvent(title, start, end, {
description : desc,
});
};
it works well, and there's really no major problems to it, except when the user doesn't check availability
since we only have so many machines(3),if more than 3 users fill in the same time, the calendar will show more than 3 events, and it gets complicated.
is there a way to script it so the script checks to see if there's 3 events during that time, and if so, it doesn't create a event?
example:
event A: 13:30-15:30
event B: 13:30-14:30
event C: 14:00-15:30
User D submits a form that'll create event D: 14:00-15:30
but because 14:00-14:30 there's already 3 events, event D isn't created (or is adjusted by the script to start at 14:30 instead)
I'm thinking of using getEvents(startTime, endTime, options)
var checkAvail = CalendarApp.getDefaultCalendar().getEvents(startDtId, endDtId);
but I got no idea how to integrate this into my current script
can someone give me some pointers/comments? am I even on the right track?
(sorry, I'm not at a level where I know how to write scripts, I only know how to modify existing scripts)
AI: The getEvents(startTime, endTime) method of the Calendar Class can be used. That method returns an array of events.
First you need to get a calendar and then chain the getEvents() method to the calendar.
var cal = CalendarApp.getDefaultCalendar();//Get a calendar
var array_Of_Events = cal.getEvents(startTime, endTime);
An array has a length property, which you can use to get the number of events that were found:
var number_Of_Events = array_Of_Events.length;//Get the number of events found
You can check the length with a conditional test:
if (theArray.length > 2) {
//The code got to this line. The length is 3 or more
//Send an email to the user that the slots are already taken
return;//Don't try to add a new calendar event - quit here
};
The documentation shows an example of how to check for the number of calendar events there are in a given time period.
Apps Script Documentation
function fncName() {
var allEvents,startDt,endDt;
startDt = sheet.getRange(lr,startDtId,1,1).getValue();
endDt = sheet.getRange(lr,endDtId,1,1).getValue();
allEvents = getEvents(startDt, endDt);//Returns an array of events
if (allEvents.length > 2) {
//The code got to this line. The length is 3 or more
//Send an email to the user that the slots are already taken
return;//Don't try to add a new calendar event - quit here
};
}; |
H: Fill zeros for the dates when no data was recorded
I have a table with dates (in increasing order) and corresponding values. Some dates are missing, like 3/27 below. I'd like to insert them in Date column, and have 0 entered in the Value column for these missing dates. How to achieve this, preferably with a formula that does not need to be copied down the sheet?
+---+-----------+-------+
| | A | B |
+---+-----------+-------+
| 1 | Date | Value |
| 2 | 3/25/2016 | 25 |
| 3 | 3/26/2016 | 15 |
| 4 | 3/28/2016 | 74 |
+---+-----------+-------+
Desired output:
+---+-----------+-------+
| | C | D |
+---+-----------+-------+
| 1 | Date | Value |
| 2 | 3/25/2016 | 25 |
| 3 | 3/26/2016 | 15 |
| 4 | 3/27/2016 | 0 |
| 5 | 3/28/2016 | 74 |
+---+-----------+-------+
AI: I used two arrayformulas for this purpose. One, in cell C2, to create the list of dates:
=arrayformula(if(row(C2:C)+A2-2 > max(A2:A), , row(C2:C)+A2-2))
It adds the row number minus 2 to the date in A2. If the result is greater than the last date in column A, this date is out of range and is not shown.
Then in column D, vlookup is used to locate the value for each date. If it cannot find the exact date (raising an error), 0 is used.
=arrayformula(iferror(vlookup(filter(C2:C, len(C2:C)), filter(A2:B, len(A2:A)), 2, false), 0))
The last parameter of vlookup, "sorted" is set to False in order to force exact match, even though the array of dates is actually sorted. |
H: Set the default image size of an embedded image to match the image's original size in Gmail
Is there any way to set the default image size automatically in Gmail to ensure it embeds any given image at its original size?
For example, a 400x400 image would retain the size 400x400 when embedded in an email and not be scaled down.
AI: No, there is no setting in Gmail for inserted images.
In fact, the only setting that has anything to do with images is simply whether to show them inline or to ask before displaying them. |
H: Google Movies showing placeholder images
I have been using Google Movie Showtimes to browse movies. However recently
something has happened with the site, and the movie posters have all been
replaced with placeholder images:
What can I do about this problem?
AI: Update: the images have been restored.
Movie showtimes can now be accessed from the main page, so they may be phasing
out the dedicated movie page. Example:
http://google.com/search?q=movies+near+dallas |
H: How to increase Google Forms content width?
I have a google form for which I have some grid questions, using long labels. This implies that some of the questions are shown with scroll bars I do not want.
is there a way to configure my form to avoid that ?
AI: I am afraid (as mentioned by @sandwich as well) there is no way to manipulate the width of the form.
Fortunately there is a work-around.
What you could do would be something similar to the example in the images below.
EDITING THE FORM:
VIEWING THE FORM:
What you actually do, is to dedicate a new section to the question
in question, write on the section's description your long labels and
explain how to answer the question.
As you can see on the attached image there are no scroll bars whatsoever. |
H: How to line cross over in flowchart in draw.io
I am drawing flow chart in draw.io, I didn't find a way cross the two lines with cross over connector as above figure. Can any one help me out?
AI: as a workaround, if you need the visual element, you can create an arc as a custom shape with connection points.
It adds some extra steps to the workflow, because you have to draw lines to the connect to the arc, and then another to continue to the entity. But, you can then move the 'cross over' around and lines will stay connected.
after moving :
custom arc code:
<shape h="0.5" w="2.0" aspect="variable" strokewidth="inherit">
<connections>
<constraint x="0" y="1" perimeter="1"/>
<constraint x="1" y="1" perimeter="1"/>
</connections>
<background>
<path>
<move x="0" y="0.5"/>
<arc x="2.0" y="0.5" rx="1" ry="0.5" large-arc-flag="0" sweep-flag="1" x-axis-rotation="0"/>
</path>
<stroke/>
</background>
</shape> |
H: Using regex in Google Sheets data validation
I'm trying to use a regex in the Google Sheets data validation in order to ban the input of special characters, so basically my allowed set should be [a-zA-Z0-9,./()].
I'm using the custom formula input with the following =REGEXMATCH(TO_TEXT(range),"^[^a-zA-Z0-9,./()]") but it now rejects everything including what is in my allowed set.
I've also tried the following variations and the results were the same as the above (everything is rejected):
=REGEXMATCH(TO_TEXT(range),"^[a-zA-Z0-9,./()]")
=REGEXMATCH(TO_TEXT(range),"[a-zA-Z0-9,./()]")
=REGEXMATCH(TO_TEXT(range),"[^a-zA-Z0-9,./()]")
=REGEXMATCH("[a-zA-Z0-9,./()]")
=REGEXMATCH("[^a-zA-Z0-9,./()]")
=REGEXMATCH("^[a-zA-Z0-9,./()]")
=REGEXMATCH("^[^a-zA-Z0-9,./()]")
AI: The regular expression should be ^[a-zA-Z0-9,./()]*$, where $ at the end means the end of the string. This forces the entire contents to consist of the specified characters.
Also, you don't normally pass a range into data validation formulas: it should be the reference to the upper left corner of the range. For example, if your range is A2:E20, the formula in data validation should be
=REGEXMATCH(TO_TEXT(A2), "^[a-zA-Z0-9,./()]*$")
This formula will then be interpreted for other cells according to the way relative references are treated. This is the same behavior as with conditional formatting. |
H: How to create a question in Google Forms that allows two distinct answers?
I have a question like this (it's a DISC test, if this matters):
1. From the following list, which option is 100% you and which option is 0% you?
a. tall
b. fat
c. happy
d. unemployed
How can I make this possible in Google Forms? The person answering it must be able to choose two of the four options, but they should be distinct (one must be 100% you and the other must be 0% you).
What's the best way to make this work in Google Forms? Is it even possible?
AI: It is possible.
You should use the Multiple choice grid and turn "Require one response per row" on.
Please have a look at the attached images.
Editing the form:
Viewing the form: |
H: How to refer to a cell's content from a query in Google Spreadsheets?
=QUERY('F/O OFF'!1:1000, "select H, J where B='CIN'label H'', J''")
Right now this formula works fine, but i have to change the "where B=" for each row in the sheet. I want to get it so where B= (The value in colA of the row the query is being inputted in)
AI: To replace a fixed string like CIN with the content of a cell, use concatenation &:
=QUERY('F/O OFF'!$1:$1000, "select H, J where B = '"&A2&"' label H'', J''")
As written, this would work for the second row; you can extend the formula to other rows in the usual way, and the relative reference will be adjusted. |
H: How do Google Forms handle the "Other" field in Multiple choice/Checkboxes/Drop-down questions?
We use the "Other" option on our multiple choice questions but get inconsistent results recorded for the field on both the form "Responses" tab and the connected spreadsheet as well.
There seems to be an accepted answer ("...I cannot see any way to make Forms insist that text is entered in the other text-box.") and one more ("...usually don't show all the "other" responses as they are...") on the subject.
But how exactly Google Forms handle the field and what can one expect on the "Responses" tab and the spreadsheet.
AI: As far as "...I cannot see any way to make Forms insist that text is entered in the other text-box.". There is a way to make Forms insist that text is entered in the other text-box.
Mark the question as "Required".
As far as "...usually don't show all the "other" responses as they are...".
Google forms always handle Multiple choice/Checkboxes/Drop-down questions the same way.
To categorize, elaborate and clarify on the form reactions.
Not required questions:
The form does not "care" whether some input in the "Other" field exists or not.
The form will record the "Other" field, only if there is input in it.
The form will not record an answer when the "Other" field is selected but left blank.
The form will not record an answer not even if some blank spaces are entered, when the "Other" field is selected.
Required questions:
The form will force an answer to the question.
The form will accept/record the "Other" field, only if there is input in it.
The form will not accept (let alone record) the answer when the "Other" field is selected but left blank.
The form will not accept (let alone record) the answer not even if some blank spaces are entered, when the "Other" field is selected.
Further explanation
An easy way to understand how a Google Form works, is to think of the "Other" field existing in both the Multiple choice and Checkboxes as the option "choose" in Drop-down lists.
The added extra that comes with Multiple choice and Checkboxes is that a submitter is allowed/forced to provide one's own input as an answer. So when one selects "Other" but provides no input -or just blank spaces- there is nothing for the form to record (as if it was never selected).
Blank spaces entered
__
You can also have a visual understanding by these screenshots of the "SUMMARY" tab:
Old Forms:
New Forms:
When a question is not marked as "Required", you notice that although there are three responses submitted, there are only two answers recorded for the specific question and just one of those answers recorded for the "Other" field. That is because despite the fact that two people may have selected the "other" option, just one of them also provided some input for the field. Input you can see recorded under the "INDIVIDUAL" tab as well as the connected spreadsheet.
You can further verify the results by checking the "INDIVIDUAL" tab for each responder.
Keep in mind that submissions (as "entities") are stored within the form. Spreadsheets only display the submissions after a respond is submitted and only if they are already connected to the individual form. (That is exactly the reason why when even if you delete a submission from the spreadsheet, you still have to delete it from within the form.)
Therefore, if an answer is not recorded by the form (no selection/selection carrying no input/blank spaces), even though you have the submission, there is no data to display for the specific answer in the spreadsheet, resulting the corresponding cell to be blank. |
H: Can Dropbox be made to store files only on their servers and not locally, to save space?
I often store old files I don't need anymore in a folder in Google Drive. This is convenient as they are out of the way and not using space on my SSD yet still accessible if needed. I'm starting to get into Dropbox. Can Dropbox be used in the same way as Google Drive or must a local copy always be stored in the Dropbox folder?
AI: Let me rephrase this for you:
I often "upload" old files I don't need anymore in a folder in Google Drive.
You can do the same with Dropbox. You can upload files to Dropbox as well. The local files that take up space and are actually present in your computer are the ones in your synched folders. Meaning that you have them stored locally and in Dropbox in the cloud as well.
You can sync folders through your account settings:
Once there you can choose which folders to sync:
When a folder is unsynced it will be deleted from local storage but remain saved in the cloud. The benefit of that is that you do not have to wait for them to download when you want to access them from your computer.
Since you talk about old files I would suggest you upload them in the cloud (just as you do with Google Drive) and do not put them in a synced folder.
The ones already in your synced folder can be easily un-synced by just moving them to an un-synced folder in the cloud. Future files you can drop them locally in your synced folder and once they are synced (uploaded in the cloud), move them to an un-synced (cloud) folder as well.
PS: The screenshots are from a Mac. |
H: Is it better to exclude non essential words in Google searches
For example, if I had a question about iMovie, should I search Google:
How to add transitions to multiple clips in iMovie
Or something like:
Add transitions multiple clips iMovie
AI: As Moab mentioned, the Google algorithms are pretty smart, and will often bring up the same results, I would check out Google's own explanation if you want more details.
When it comes to optimising search methods, its often best to use Advanced Search.
Notice the "To do this in the search box" section on the right - learn these methods and you can perform your own advanced searches from any Google search box without using the Advanced Search page. The full list of symbols and operators can be found on the Search operators page. |
H: How to return only the first row containing the value you are searching for in a query?
=QUERY('F/O DEFVSREC'!$1:$1000, "select C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V where B='"&A35&"'label C'', D'', E'', F'', G'', H'', I'', J'', K'', L'', M'', N'', O'', P'', Q'', R'', S'', T'', U'', V''")
There is the formula I am currently using. I have two rows on my F/O DEFvsREC sheet that contains the value i'm looking for. I need to only return the first row containing that value. The row number is 19.
I apologize if i'm asking really simple questions. I'm very new to this.
AI: To return only one row, use limit 1 in the query; this clause appears before label:
select C, D, ... where B='"&A35&"' limit 1 label C'', D''...
The default order of the rows returned by query is the order in which they appear in the sheet, so this will result in the first row being returned.
Alternative solution: use filter instead. The formula will be a lot shorter:
=array_constrain(filter(C:V, B:B = A35), 1, 1e7)
The filter keeps selects columns C through V only from the rows with B equal to the content of A35. Then, array_constrain forces the output to have no more than 1 row and 1e7 (=10000000) columns. (The absurdly large number of columns is just to indicate we don't impose a limit on columns.) |
H: How do I add post history to my wordpress.com blog?
I'm using the Penscratch theme for a wordpress.com blog, and it doesn't seem to have post history.
I've looked through the blog-customization options, and I didn't find how to add this. I suspect it's hiding in there, but I've not been able to find it.
AI: In "Customize" under "Widgets" there's a thing called "Recent Posts". Add that, and bingo. |
H: Change email boxout text in Gmail
Currently, when someone hovers over my picture after receiving a Gmail e-mail from me they see the following:
I probably wouldn't, tbh.
I no longer want this text to display as it seems a little unprofessional. How do I change it?
AI: I expect that that's derived from the "About me" section of your Google profile.
Simply go to https://myaccount.google.com, click on Your personal info under "Personal info & privacy" and edit accordingly. |
H: Is it permissible to scrape Facebook through the Graph API?
Can I use the Graph API to scrape Facebook? And, if so what are the terms.
AI: You can scrape Facebook according to these terms. After you agree to those terms, you must submit this agreement |
H: How many spreadsheets are stored in my Google Drive?
A Google survey asked me:
About how many spreadsheets are stored in your Google Drive?
I ended up guessing, because I couldn't find a way to find the real number. In Google Drive interface, there is an option to search for spreadsheets (type:spreadsheet), but the search returns only the 20 most recently active documents. There is no pagination of search result that I could see. So, how can I:
Find how many Google Spreadsheets I have?
(less important) get the list of these spreadsheets?
The Sheets interface theoretically shows all of them, but in the form of infinite scroll, and without a counter.
AI: The following script will give you the count in the Logger log. 776 in my case. Which was interesting to know.
function findOut() {
var docs = DriveApp.getFilesByType(MimeType.GOOGLE_SHEETS);
var i = 0;
while (docs.hasNext()) {
var doc = docs.next();
i++;
}
Logger.log(i);
}
This script will list all the names. You could write the data to a spreadsheet as well if you're looking for an index of sorts.
function findOut() {
var docs = DriveApp.getFilesByType(MimeType.GOOGLE_SHEETS);
var i = 0;
while (docs.hasNext()) {
var doc = docs.next();
Logger.log(doc.getName())
}
} |
H: Gmail search for unstarred emails in a label
Have tried multiple way and none of them has worked,
Used : in:Test -is:starred and -is:starred in:TEST and other option, None of them worked, in:Test -is:starred has listed all started email in Test label, but the inverse is no working, please help me in resolving this.
AI: The issue is that the star is associated with a message, not the entire conversation. So when you use:
is:starred it returns all conversations where at least one message in the conversation has a star.
-is:starred returns all conversations where at least one message is unstarred.
Unfortunately when you look at the list in the GUI all the Conversations in the first search have stars next to them. For the second search with -is:starred most will not have stars, but a few conversations will have stars because one or more of the messages has a star and at least one message doesn't have a star.
As a test you can turn off conversations under settings, and then you will get the consistent results you expect. |
H: Import only those cells from a spreadsheet that have certain conditional formatting
I have created a Google Form which links to a spreadsheet. There is an option which asks for the person's name. For the answers in the sheet, I've created conditional formatting to highlight the correct answers.
=importrange(" xxxx ", "xxx!xxx" )
I want it to be able to import the names from the name column that have answered all the questions correctly to another sheet if possible. I know the import code, however I need help with importing specific names that have all the cells highlighted with conditional formatting.
AI: As Rubén said, conditional formatting is for human consumption only: neither sheet formulas nor scripts can access it. You should create a column that records the fact of "all answers are correct", and then filter by that column. For example, put in E2
=arrayformula((C2:C=2)*(D2:D=4))
which will put 1 in every row where both answers are correct. Then execute query command on the result of importrange:
=query(importrange("...", "'Form Responses 1'!B:E"), "select Col1, Col2, Col3 where Col4 = 1", 1) |
H: Sync multiple cells so that if any one of them is changed, the others change as well
I have 4 hard coded cells on 4 different sheets (within a google sheet file) that I'd like to keep synced. If any of those four cells have been changed, I'd like the other three cells to be updated to that changed value. The trick is that all four can be changed manually. Is there an app script that can do that?
AI: Here is how this can be done. The function sync should be set to trigger on edit (via Resources > Current project's triggers). The arrays in the first two lines should be filled with sheet names and cell names that you want to sync.
If the edited cell matches one of those, then the rest will be updated to have the same value.
function sync(e) {
var sheetName = ['Sheet1', 'Sheet2', 'Sheet3', 'Sheet4']; // name of sheets
var cell = ['A1', 'B2', 'B1', 'A1']; // corresponding cells to sync
var r = e.range;
var ss = e.source;
var value = (e.value === undefined ? '' : e.value);
var i = sheetName.indexOf(r.getSheet().getSheetName());
if (i > -1 && r.getA1Notation() == cell[i]) {
for (var k = 0; k < sheetName.length; k++) {
if (k != i) {
ss.getSheetByName(sheetName[k]).getRange(cell[k]).setValue(value);
}
}
}
} |
H: How to sum cells in Google Sheets that contain numbers and text?
This has already been addressed in Excel but I was wondering how to do the same in Google Sheets.
So suppose the B cell has this formula:
="frontend (days)
total: "&sum(B2,B10,B14,B20)
and the C cell has a similar formula. I would like the D cell to add the numbers in those two cells.
Ideas?
AI: try this:
=REGEXEXTRACT(B1,"\d+\.?\d+$|\d+")*1+REGEXEXTRACT(C1,"\d+\.?\d+$|\d+")*1
REGEXEXTRACT part of formula "\d+.?\d+$" does this:
\d - match and retun digit from 0 to 9
\d+ - gives one or more digits
. - any symbol
\. - dot
? - makes previous symbol optional (we use it here to match integers)
$ - matches end of string
| - OR
Update 2016/09
In some cases you may need to use different regular expressions and formulas. For example, if we have the text total = $1,734.00 and want to get 1734, we need this formula:
=REGEXREPLACE(F1,"[^\d]","")/100
this formula does the following:
replace all symbols except digits
divide by 100 because we get number 173400 in first operation |
H: Unable to parse query string for function Query, when using IMPORTRANGE
This is the problem I'm seeing:
Error - Unable to parse query string for function QUERY parameter 2: NO_COLUMND
The formula is of the form:
=query(importange("...", "Sheet!A:V"), "select D where V = 1", 1)
I imported data from another sheet, I want this current sheet to display column D when Column V is 1.
Is there a different way rather than my current formula?
AI: When using query with importrange, the imported columns must be referred to as Col1, Col2, Col3, etc, according to their positions in the imported range. So, you should replace
"select D where V = 1"
with
"select Col4 where Col22 = 1"
The reason is that imported range is not considered a part of any sheet, so its column names are not like sheet column names.
To find the number of a column without reciting the alphabet, you may want to put =column() in it temporarily. |
H: Replace whitespace with tabs at the beginning of paragraph only
I am using Google Docs to edit digitalized documents. Those documents end up with whitespace at the beginning of every paragraph, which I have to replace with tabs so they do not take up space at a Braille Display. How can I replace these whitespace sequences with one tab?
AI: This can be done with the script given below. Enter it under Tools > Script Editor, and run. It will replace any amount of whitespace at the beginning of a paragraph with a single tab. Other whitespace will remain untouched.
function spaces2tabs() {
var paras = DocumentApp.getActiveDocument().getBody().getParagraphs();
for (var i = 0 ; i < paras.length; i++) {
paras[i].replaceText("^\\s+", "\t");
}
} |
H: Using cell value to define sheet reference, e.g.: "=A1!B2"
I have data across different sheets in my Google Spreadsheet, called "data(Joe)", "data(John)", etc. From another spreadsheet I want to review that data in a structured way. I would like to be able to switch between the datasets by entering the name "Joe" or "John" into a cell and then the formula knowing to look into the appropriate sheet.
For example, if in my sheet I have the formula =ARRAYFORMULA('data(Joe)'!A:A) that pulls across the A column data from another sheet. How can I implement this so that the name Joe is referenced by a cell, e.g.:
=ARRAYFORMULA('data('A1!A:A) with cell A1 containing the word Joe?
Hope it's possible, and easy, but I suspect not...
AI: You can do this with the indirect formula:
=ARRAYFORMULA(INDIRECT("'data("&A1&")'!A:A")) |
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