We are excited to announce the release of Gravity Forms v1.6 Beta 1. This turned into a much bigger release than originally anticipated with a lot of great new features and enhancements, both big and small, being introduced to Gravity Forms.

We are looking forward to receiving feedback from users who want to help us test out the new features. Please provide beta feedback and bug reports on the Support Forum and make it clear you are referring to the 1.6 Beta 1 release when doing so. Thanks!

We will be releasing v1.6 via automatic upgrade once it has undergone beta testing. Own Gravity Forms and want to give it a try and help us test? Grab a copy on the downloads page!

Please note that documentation for these new items is in progress. Some of the new hooks and filters have been added to the Developer Documentation, however we are still in the process of working on documentation.

Here is a quick rundown of what is new in Gravity Forms v1.6:

List Field

The List Field is an entirely new field type that has been added under Advanced Fields in the form editor. The List Field allows users to enter a list of information into the form. It supports both a single column as well as configurable multi-column lists for capturing more complex data. Users can add additional rows to the list to add additional data when submitting a form.

Multi-Select Field and Enhanced Drop Down

We have added a new Multi-Select field with an option for an enhanced jQuery interface that makes using Multi-Selects easier for end users. We have also added an enhanced jQuery interface to the standard Drop Down field which allows user to search available options when using a drop down field.

Be sure to check the “Enable enhanced user interface” option to see the new jQuery interface when editing a Drop Down or Multi-Select Field. It is not currently turned on by default.

Javascript Masks

The Single Input Field has been enhanced to include a Javascript Mask option. This allows you to use Javascript to automatically format text entered into the field. There are some predefined masks to choose from, or you can choose to create your own custom mask.

Radio Button Other Option

The Multiple Choice field has been renamed to simply Radio Buttons and we have added an option to the Radio Button field to enable an Other option. If selected, the Radio Button field will give the user the option of entering their own value if one of the available options does not meet their needs.

Date and Time Field Enhancements

The Date Field has been enhanced to now support entering the data via Month, Day and Year drop downs. We have also enhanced the Time field so that it now has a 24 hour time format as an available option.

Form Settings Enhancements

We have added a new advanced form setting to require a user be logged in to view the form, or display a message if they are not logged in. The message also supports short codes so you could insert a Gravity Form short code to display an alternative form if they are not logged in.

We have also added additional options to the Limit Entries functionality. You can now limit entries based on time: Per day, Week, Month or Year.

Duplicate Fields

The Form Editor now supports duplicating fields when editing a form. If you select Duplicate when editing a field you can immediately duplicate that field and it will insert a new field with the same values directly below the field you are duplicating.

Post Field Enhancements

We have enhanced several post fields to add new capabilities. One of the most useful new enhancements is Featured Image support for the Post Image field. There is now an option on the Post Image field to set that image as the Featured Image for the post that is created.

The Post Title and Post Body fields now have an additional Post setting to set the Post Format. This is useful for themes that support multiple formats so you can configure the Post Format that is set for the post that is created.

We have added 2 new available field types to the Post Custom Field. You can now use Checkboxes as well as the brand new List Field with the Post Custom Field. This makes storing complex data with Posts easier. Please note that values are stored as multiple custom field items so you must know how to loop through to display custom fields that use the same name to make use of these field types on the front end of your site.

Akismet Integration

Gravity Forms can now integrate with the Akismet anti-spam service to automatically protect your forms from spam. All you need to do to enable Akismet integration is install and activate Akismet and the integration will happen automatically. With Akismet activated there is a new area to the Entry List that allows you to view entries marked as Spam and you can manually mark entries as Spam or Ham (not spam).

Trash Functionality

We have added Trash functionality to form entry management. Now you can add an entry to Trash which does not delete it permanently. If you would like to delete an entry or entries permanently you can view the Trash and delete items permanently or choose to empty the trash. Once an item is deleted permanently so are any files that are associated with that entry.

Custom Bulk Add/Predefined Choices

You can now add, edit and delete predefined choices to the Bulk Add/Predefined Choices menu. This allows you to easily manage predefined choices you want to use in Drop Down, Radio Button, Checkbox and Multi-Select fields.

Resend Notifications and Bulk Print

When viewing entries on either the entry detail or entry list page you can now choose to resend notification emails or print multiple entries at once using the bulk print action.

Other Fixes and Enhancements

• Product Field now supports Hidden Field Type.
• Name Field when using Simple format now supports Default Value.
• Set starting tab index value in shortcode (tabindex=1) and function call.
• Load form by form name instead of id using shortcode.
• All_Fields merge tag enhancements.
• Checkbox field merge tag enhancements.
• Deprecated the Donation field. Use was confusing. Donation transactions must now use the Product Field. The PayPal Add-On will combine all Product Fields to create Donation transaction.
• Added Hook to send email notifications as plain text.
• Added hook to control seperator used when exporting entries.
• Improved file upload security. Thanks to Chris Jean at iThemes for suggestions and input.
• Improved product field hooks.
• Improved validation filter.