Gravity Forms v1.6 Is Here!
By Carl Hancock
Published November 1, 2011
After a long development and testing phase we are pleased to make Gravity Forms v1.6 available as a public release. This is a feature packed release that adds a bunch of great new features and enhancements to an already powerful plugin.
From entirely new field types to major and minor enhancements to existing functionality, Gravity Forms v1.6 has a little something for everyone… including all sorts of new hooks and filters for developers to customize Gravity Forms even further!
Please note that documentation for Gravity Forms v1.6 is still 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 the remainder of the documentation. But as with the core features and functionality of Gravity Forms, it’s quick and easy to learn by just getting your feet wet by building a new form.
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.
Here is the complete change log for Gravity Forms v1.6
- Added additional version-specific IE browser classes to gform_wrapper.
- Added support for running Gravity Forms setup from settings page based on “setup” query string. (ie. ?page=gf_settings&setup).
- Added support for merge codes :label to allow field labels to be conditionally written to the outputted only when the field has a value.
- Added hook on preview.php file to enqueue custom styles.
- Added Primary key to wp_rg_form_meta and wp_rg_lead_detail_long tables.
- Added support for :currency and :price modifier on pricing merge tags.
- Added ID attribute to the “Add Form” link.
- Added “gform_post_render” javascript hook to functions to bound to every form render on AJAX enabled forms.
- Added support for additional date formats.
- Added “gform_allowable_tags” hook to allow enabling HTML or specific HTML tags for submitted data.
- Added browser class to gform_wrapper.
- Added a form specific class to the confirmation container. “gform_confirmation_message_FORMID”.
- Added extra classes to pagination steps.
- Added Mask setting to Text Field.
- Added form advanced setting to require user to be logged in to view form and a configurable message.
- Added re-send notification functionality to entry list and entry detail page.
- Added Print to list of bulk action operations so that multiple entries can be printed at once.
- Added hook to change separator of entry export file.
- Added “Other” option to radio button field.
- Added tab index to short code and function to specify starting tab index.
- Added CDATA around scripts to ensure valid HTML.
- Added duplicate field functionality.
- Added update message for bulk actions on entries list page.
- Added post format setting to main post fields (title, body).
- Added option to set post image field as a featured image.
- Added default value settings to simple name field.
- Added visibility setting to product fields so that they can be hidden.
- Added trash and spam functionality.
- Added integration with Akismet.
- Added support for 24 hour time on time field.
- Added Date drop down type to date field.
- Added new gform_after_submission hook that fires early in the process and deprecated gform_post_submission.
- Added hidden product field.
- Added list field type.
- Added lookup by form name on gravity form short code.
- Added checkbox merge variable to return a comma separated list of selected items.
- Added new easier to use field validation filter.
- Added validation so that option field does not get added to a form without a product field.
- Added hook for single product sub labels.
- Added support for merge tags in confirmation URL redirect field.
- Added checkbox input type to Post Custom Field.
- Added an option to send emails in text format.
- Added rg_lead_meta table to be used by Add-On developers.
- Added option to use the “chosen” script on drop downs.
- Added multi-select field.
- Added multi-select field as input type for: Tag, Custom Field.
- Added checkbox (comma separated) to entry list.
- Added ability to save a predefined choice from the bulk add screen.
- Added list field to custom post field.
- Added hook for list field column.
- Added description placement setting (top label only).
- Added new merge tag for displaying Admin labels on notifications(create {all_fields:admin_label} and make it more flexible).
- Dynamically calculating WordPress root directory on files that are loaded outside the WP context (i.e. preview.php, select_columns.php)
- Updated tooltip script printing so that only tooltip specific scripts are printed when calling wp_print_scripts()
- Updated “gform_confirmation_anchor” hook to affect AJAX forms and provide option for AJAX forms that allows you to specify an integer for the scroll position.
- Updated editor “Update Form” button to do a full refresh instead of AJAX.
- Updated form editor UI.
- Updated short code wizard to remove square brackets( [ ] ) characters from form name when placed in the short code.
- Updated default price for options to $0.00 price instead of blank.
- Updated Limit entry option to allow (per day/week/month/year).
- Updated file upload field to increase security.
- Updated product fields to improve pre-population via hooks.
- Updated entry detail and notification emails to hide section break when all fields in that section are blank.
- Removed json.php. Using WordPress JSON class instead.
- Removed donation field button (still providing support for existing donation fields).
- Fixed issue where blank post meta keys are created when empty value is submitted.
- Fixed issue with radio buttons when using jQuery 1.6.4 (WordPress 3.3).
- Fixed issue with post images getting saved in a wrong folder (based on the date of the embedded post/page instead of the newly created post).
- Fixed debug notice messages.
- Fixed issue with Post Format not being selected correctly in the form editor.
- Fixed issue on checkbox merge tag when targeting specific checkbox item.
- Fixed issue with thick box script on upcoming WP 3.3.
- Fixed issue with Post Custom Field (Date field type) not honoring date format when storing post meta.
- Fixed issue with formatting and total calculation of the Swiss Franc currency.
- Fixed conditional logic issue on multi-page forms when AJAX is turned on.
- Fixed issue where the full list of radio and checkbox items were displayed in the admin after editing a choice.
- Fixed erroneous single quote from AJAX inline script block.
- Fixed issue with conditional logic fields not making into notification email when sending notification after payment is made.
- Fixed issue where adding any post field to a form prevented the form from saving if Post Formats were not supported.
- Fixed problem creating warning messages on radio button fields.
- Fixed markup on form list page causing WP footer to overlap with long form list.
- Fixed conditional logic problem when target values have single quotes.
- Fixed number field validation.
- Fixed issue with “gform_notification_format” filter not passing all of the parameters correctly.
You can update to the latest version of Gravity Forms using Automatic Update. Just visit the Updates page under the Forms navigation in your WordPress Dashboard. Update deployment is staged so if you do not see the update available, try again in a few hours. You can also download the latest version of the plugin from the Downloads page.
