Gravity Forms is considered to be one of WordPress’ most powerful form plugins and is respected by the industries largest brands. We will assist you in deciding if it is still among the best by taking you through the latest version by exploring the features and experience of the user.
Features
The advanced WordPress forms plugin is easy to use but the features are more than just those of simple forms for contact. There are a number of forms that can be created including:
*Surveys
*Polls
*File upload forms
*Support Request
*Online orders
*Quizzes
*Questionnaires
*Fully Formatted posts for WordPress
The configuration settings allow control over the way forms are interacted with and entries are handled. Options include who is sent notifications of form entry, the format, and the way forms are made available. Forms can be made available by the role of the user, amount of entries, the date and a number of other options.
Conditional Logic
Conditional Logic is a Gravity Forms feature that has a large role in a powerful solution for WordPress forms. Values put into previous fields will determine which forms a user sees. Form entries can be sent to the correct department or member of the team based on the information entered into the form.
Additional Gravity Forms Features:
*Forms are optimized for mobile devices
*Forms have thirty-three fields
*Creation of multiple forms and ability to save the progress on each
*Notifications for multiple form entries creation is supported
*Spam reduction with an unseen anti-spam honeypot
*Interface for form building is drop and drag
*Amount of entries or date can be used to control the availability of forms
*Conditional logic allows control over which fields are displayed on forms and where the completed forms are sent
*WYSIWYG enable forms can be used to accepts post submitted to WordPress
*Various add-ons
*Registration forms for WordPress websites
*Form content can be used to send entries to specific emails
Categories of Gravity Forms
*Advanced
*Standard
*Post
*Pricing
It does not matter if it is a simple form for contacting the site, request forms for quotes or taking orders on the website there are a range of selections to give you what you need in the forms. Building needed forms should be easy with the variety of fields available to you. A form that uses data submitted with the forms can be created to make drafts of posts for your website. Guest posts are made easier with the use of Gravity Forms.
Settings and Options for Form Fields
There are several ways to configure and customize the fields in Gravity Forms. There are a number of options depending on the field type. What are your options? Required fields can be designated, field size, if a text is used as a placeholder, and whether or not the field is visible. A variety of different data types can be pre-populated into fields and a lot more. The intuitive user interface allows you to create advanced forms with Gravity Forms.
Availability of Forms with Gravity Forms
The plugin allows you to set specific date ranges for form availability and limit the number of entries. The forms availability can be set through the settings for restrictions. Messages to let users know the status of the form can also be created.
Notification of Entries and Options for Delivery
Form contents can be used to send forms to a specific email address by using the content of the form with conditional logic. Giving users the ability to put the contents of the message into categories can be done by adding a drop-down menu. The form would then be sent to the correct department in the organization.
Add-ons for Basic Gravity Forms
Develops and business license holders have the option of basic add-ons to integrate forms with the email marketing services.
Email marketing services included:
MailChimp
GetResponse
AWeber
Campaign Monitor
The $99 business license must be purchased to add those interacting with forms to the email list or to increase the number of subscribers to your newsletter. There are free plugins that will provide integration to some services for email marketing including ConvertKit so you should look at the options for setting it up that are available.
Advanced Add-ons for Gravity Forms
Third party services such as PayPal, Help Scout, Fresh Books, Slack and Dropbox can be integrated using the advanced add-ons. User registration can be enabled on your WordPress website with custom forms. One of Gravity Forms’ key features is the vast amount of options for integration. There is the option of a Personal license for $39 with Gravity Forms core features if you don’t intend to have third party services integrated into forms on your website. There are other reasons you might pick the upgrades offered.
Gravity Forms Add-ons by Third Parties
Extensions from third parties are also available for the plug-in. Code snippets from Gravity Perks and Gravity View will also you to enhance the ability to publish entries to forms on websites ran by WordPress. These make it easier to accept testimonials and guests posts. There is a section of free add-ons in the Plugin Directory on WordPress for Gravity Forms.
What Users Experience with Gravity Forms
This WordPress forms plugin is powerful and packed with features. Do users have a negative experience when it comes to how easy it is to use? Testing the experience is the only way to find out.
First Using Gravity Forms
There are no pre-existing forms added to sites which means that you have to make a form to start using the plugin. Even when comparing Gravity Forms to basic form plugins offered for free it is an easy way to put a form on a WordPress website. You will be walked through creating forms in the next section and see how some of the features work.
Using Gravity Forms to Create Forms For WordPress Sites
“Forms” is the new menu added to the administration sidebar in WordPress by Gravity Forms. This is where you will set up the plugin’s configuration, create forms and view entries to forms. First, create a name for the form then add a field to it. Fields are added by simply clicking on the button that says field. The order of the fields can be changed by dragging and dropping them where you want them to go.
Field Customization
Click on the field to customize it. The labels can be changed and field descriptions entered by using the General settings. Fields can also be marked as required if you need this feature on the forms. Users can be guided with example placeholder text which can be created through the Appearance tab. Default text can be overwritten with custom validation messages if a field is not correctly filled out. There are three field sizes preset and the default styling of the form can be overridden with a custom CSS.
Advanced Settings
*Custom Admin Label
*Default Value – current date, ID or title of post that forms are embedded into, or the IP address of the user are all dynamic values that can be used.
*Field Visibility- who the form is seen by either administrators or all users
*Conditional Logic – determine when fields are shown by using the date that is entered into the form
After the fields are configured you can continue to the next step in form creation and preview it during the process to see how visitors will see the form once it is on your site.
Form Configuration
There is a lot of control over the way forms work with the advanced WordPress plugin Gravity Forms. Forms settings allow you to do the following:
*Customize form button text
*Control form field labels placement settings
*Set form availability
*Limit amount of entries accepted for each form
Restrictions Settings Section
This section is good to use with offers that are volume or time sensitive like job opportunities and promotions. Visitors can be kept informed if forms are not available by custom messages such as “application limit reached” or “offer ended” which can help avoid issues.
Confirmation Option of Form Submissions
There is a default confirmation message provided by Gravity Forms in order to save time for the user. This is displayed after form entries are submitted by visitors, and you can customize it. The Configuration section in the settings is where you will do this. Placeholders can be used to insert dynamic data into the message while making a custom message for confirmation. The email address or user’s name can be used as a value from the form entry. Other information including the IP address of the user, page URL of the form if you more than one on the website, or the date can be among the other information that you use. Users can be redirected to any page or URL that you pick after submitting forms. Conditional logic allows you to have a number of options and define their use.
Form Notifications
Gravity Forms provides several options for notifications about form entries. Each form can have multiple notifications.
*Email notifications – Who gets the notification and what is in the notification
*Email Confirmation – Users get confirmation that the form was submitted
*Destination email – Entries on forms can be set to certain emails based on the contents of the form.
*Streamline Workflow for team projects- reduces chances of missed messages by sending the form submission to the correct inbox
Appearance of Forms Can be Customized
The options to customize form style and appearance are more limited. You can add custom CSS to forms and fields but the WYSIWYG is not available to edit the appearance of forms. The forms go nicely with the theme of WordPress, but there are tools available from third parties both paid and free to allow form appearance customization. These include CSS Hero, Gravity Forms Styler, and Styles and Layouts for the plugin.
Form Publication
A few clicks are all it takes to embed the forms into the content once you are satisfied. The buttons you need are added to the editor in WordPress making the publication of forms easier for you. AJAX can be enabled to submit the forms without making the users reload the webpage. The feature does not work as smoothly as you would expect so it comes with some caution as to when it is made available to users of the plugin.
Facts About Changes to Forms
Changes to forms are applied to all of the places the form appears on your website because shortcodes are used for embedding the forms into websites. Advanced forms can be integrated into projects by developers. The forms can be embedded into theme files using Gravity Forms.
Form Entry View
Entries made into forms can be found in through the dashboard in WordPress in addition to the emails that are sent. The Entries section will allow you to track correspondence. Email notifications for individual entries can be resent and notes added to the entries. This allows follow up messages to be sent quickly, and the notes make it easier when there are multiple people working on submissions. There are also widgets to add quick links making sure important messages are not missed.
Pricing of Gravity Forms
*$39 Personal License: no add-ons, single site usage
*$99 Business License: basic add-ons, allows usage on up to three sites
*$199 Developer License: basic add-ons, advanced add-ons, unlimited sites, priority ticket support access
Licenses of Gravity Forms are valid for a year and can be renewed after expiring for a reduced rate.
Conclusions About Gravity Forms
The Gravity Forms plugin is impressive and there are not many limitations to the forms that can be created. You are given complete control over the functionality of the forms with the options and settings. Add-ons give you a range of integration with services and products from third parties with the more expensive plans.
Good News
Usability is not complicated by the advanced features, it is still easy to use Gravity Forms. When something more than a simple form is required Gravity Forms could be the correct choice for you.
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