GRAVITY FORMS Prepopulating Select Fields with Custom Post Type Data in WordPress Forms

Introduction – GRAVITY FORMS Prepopulating Select Fields with Custom Post Type Data:

To create a more intuitive and user-friendly experience on your WordPress website, optimizing form interactions is key. One powerful way to enhance forms is by prepopulating select fields with data from custom post types. In this blog post, we’ll guide you through the process, including essential code snippets, on how to seamlessly prepopulate select fields with custom post type data in WordPress using the Gravity Forms plugin.

Understanding the Power of Custom Post Types:

WordPress custom post types offer a flexible way to organize and display content beyond standard posts and pages. Leveraging custom post types allows you to structure and categorize your content according to your website’s unique needs.

Prepopulating Select Fields in Gravity Forms:

Gravity Forms, a widely-used form builder plugin for WordPress, provides a straightforward method to prepopulate select fields with data from custom post types. Let’s walk through the steps, including the necessary code snippets:

Step 1: Install and Activate Gravity Forms

Ensure that you have the Gravity Forms plugin installed and activated on your WordPress site.

Step 2: Create a Form

Build the form using Gravity Forms, including a ‘Select’ field where you want the custom post type data to appear.

Step 3: Obtain Custom Post Type Data

Retrieve the data you wish to prepopulate in the select field from your custom post type. This could include titles, categories, or any other relevant information.

Step 4: Set Up the Select Field

Within the form editor, navigate to the ‘Select’ field’s settings. Under the ‘Choices’ section, choose ‘Dynamic Population.’ From the drop-down menu, select ‘Post Type’ as the data source.

Step 5: Configure Dynamic Population Settings

Now, let’s write the code to fetch the custom post type data. Add the following code to your theme’s functions.php file:

// Function to get custom post type data
function get_custom_post_type_data() {
    $args = array(
        'post_type' => 'your_custom_post_type', // Replace with your custom post type
        'posts_per_page' => -1,
    );

    $custom_posts = get_posts($args);
    $choices = array();

    foreach ($custom_posts as $post) {
        $choices[] = array(
            'text' => get_the_title($post->ID),
            'value' => $post->ID,
        );
    }

    return $choices;
}

Step 6: Implement Dynamic Population

Still in your functions.php file, add the following code to enable dynamic population:

// Dynamic Population for Gravity Forms
add_filter('gform_pre_render', 'prepopulate_select_field');
add_filter('gform_pre_validation', 'prepopulate_select_field');
add_filter('gform_pre_submission_filter', 'prepopulate_select_field');
add_filter('gform_admin_pre_render', 'prepopulate_select_field');

function prepopulate_select_field($form) {
    foreach ($form['fields'] as &$field) {
        if ($field['type'] == 'select' && $field['inputType'] == 'single') {
            $field['choices'] = get_custom_post_type_data();
        }
    }
    return $form;
}

Step 7: Save and Test

Save your form, update your post or page, and test the prepopulated select field to ensure it displays the custom post type data as intended.

Conclusion – GRAVITY FORMS Prepopulating Select Fields with Custom Post Type Data:

By incorporating these code snippets into your WordPress theme, you can seamlessly prepopulate select fields with data from custom post types using Gravity Forms. This not only enhances the user experience but also streamlines data entry for your users. Elevate your WordPress forms by integrating custom post type data and make form interactions on your website more intuitive than ever.

If you need custom coding for your Gravity form project please get in touch.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash