Gravity Forms Introduces Partial Entries Add-On
By Carl Hancock
Published March 17, 2016
Gravity Forms Partial Entries Add-On v1.0 Beta 1 is now available. Collect data as it is entered on your forms.
Don’t want to miss out on any possible leads? Now you don’t have to. This has been a highly requested feature that allows you to capture data and create a form entry as a form is filled out.
With Partial Entries you have control over when a partial entry is created. You can utilize conditional logic so that a partial entry is only created when specific fields are filled out, when only required fields are filled out, or when a predefined percentage of the form has been filled out. You can fine tune the conditional logic to suit your needs.
This is a feature aimed at power users and we highly recommend being very selective with when and how you use partial entry capture. We do not recommend using it on every single form.
What are Partial Entries?
Partial Entries are forms that have been partially entered but not fully submitted. A good analogy is partial entries are to forms what abandoned carts are to shopping cart plugins. WooCommerce, Shopify, Amazon and other ecommerce solutions have abandoned cart functionality, now Gravity Forms has abandoned form functionality via the Partial Entries Add-On.
Where Is The Data Stored?
Partial Entries are entries. They can be viewed within the Entries area for a form in the WordPress Dashboard. In the Entries area a new column for Progress will display the progress for the form when it was abandoned. A green checkmark signifies that the form was submitted and the entry is complete.
Gravity Forms Save and Continue functionality is also compatible with Partial Entries so that you can see when a partial entry has been saved by the user with the intention that they would return and complete the form at a later date.
Because Partial Entries are simply entries, this does mean that this will use increased MySQL resources. This is something to keep in mind when enabling this functionality on a form and why it isn’t something that should be used on every form.
What Data Is Stored?
Not all form data will be stored as part of a partial entry. Credit Card field data and File Upload field data will not be stored with a partial entry. Credit Card data is never stored and the File Upload data is only stored when the form is fully submitted.
How Do I Enable Partial Entries?
To enable Partial Entries simply install and activate the Partial Entries Add-On and then enable and configure its settings from within the Form Settings for the form you would like to enable it on.
When Are Partial Entries Stored?
If you have enabled Partial Entries there are a few different situations which will trigger a partial entry being created or updated. The first is utilizing the Heartbeat API built into WordPress. The second is triggered via Gravity Forms processes that occur when a form is submitted and a validation error is triggered, the next or previous buttons are clicked on a multi-page form, or when the user opts to click on the Save and Continue link when Save and Continue is enabled on the form.
Where Do We Go From Here?
This is a beta release. We have additional features and enhancements planned for the future and welcome any feedback and feature requests to help us shape the future of the Partial Entries Add-On.
How Do I Get It?
The Gravity Forms Partial Entries Add-On is now available via the Add-On installer within Gravity Forms and the Add-On Downloads page.