This month we released Gravity Forms 2.8! An exciting new addition to Gravity Forms in 2.8 is the Compact View feature, which makes creating and editing forms even more user-friendly.

At the touch of a button, you can switch to Compact View to get a streamlined overview of your form. By “shrinking” your form fields to a smaller format, Contact View makes it even easier than ever to see the contents of your form at a glance.

Now, navigating your forms, finding the fields you’re looking for, and moving fields into new positions is much more convenient, especially if you’re working with lengthy forms that include many fields.

When it comes to updating Gravity Forms, as with all our major updates, the launch of 2.8 is via a phased rollout (which commenced Dec, 7th, 2023). This ensures smooth adoption and provides a ramped approach to gathering feedback. During the multi-week rollout phase, you’ll receive the update via WordPress Admin.

However, if you don’t want to wait, you can download 2.8 directly from your Gravity Forms account dashboard.

If you’d like to know more about the new Compact View feature, watch the video or read on for the full details…

 

Introducing Gravity Forms Compact View

Compact View enables you to see more of a form, helping to remove the frustration of scrolling to find specific fields that you need to edit.

For those with lengthy forms, switching to Compact View makes it easier to get a bird’s eye view of your form so that you can quickly see more of its contents. This makes it easier to locate specific fields as well as drag and drop fields into new positions.

How to Use Compact View

Once you’ve updated Gravity Forms to version 2.8, you’ll be able to easily use Compact View when editing a form.

Enabling Contact View

To enable Compact View, within the form editor simply click the settings cog icon in the top right corner of the screen, next to the Save Form button.

From the Editor Preferences panel that’s displayed after clicking on the settings cog icon, click on the Compact View toggle switch to enable the feature. At this point, you also have the option of displaying the ID of each field in Compact View.

You’ll then see your form in Compact View. Each field will be shown with just the bounding box and key information, such as the field type icon, the field label, and the field ID if you’ve chosen to display it.

It’s worth noting that what’s displayed depends on the available screen width and layout space, based on your device and what can fit on the screen.

Editing Forms in Compact View

Editing forms in Compact View takes place in much the same way as when using the regular expanded view.

Adding and Customizing Form Fields

When it comes to adding a new field, simply drag and drop it into the required position. Clicking on any field in Compact View will then open its settings panel on the right side as it does in the regular editor view, allowing you to easily customize the field settings for each individual field.

Rearranging Form Fields

Fields can be quickly reordered in Compact View by dragging and dropping them into a new positions. Column control can also be used in Compact View – easily place and order fields in columns to create custom form layouts that work for your web pages.

Duplicating and Deleting Form Fields

Clicking on the three dots on the far right of a field will display the icons that let you perform additional actions, such as duplicating and deleting a field.

Disabling Compact View

Disabling Compact View is just as easy as enabling it.

Simply click on the settings cog icon in the top right corner and then use the toggle switch to turn off Compact View and enable the regular expanded view of the form editor.

That about covers the new Compact View features. As you can see, you’ll now be able to create, edit, and navigate forms much more quickly, especially forms with lots of fields.

For more information on Compact View, check out our 2.8 documentation.

How to Update to Gravity Forms 2.8

As mentioned, Gravity Forms 2.8 is being released via a phased rollout to ensure a smoother adoption. During the rollout period you’ll receive the 2.8 update through WordPress Admin.

Alternatively, you can skip the wait and download Gravity Forms 2.8 directly from your Gravity Forms account dashboard.

Here’s how to update to Gravity Forms 2.8…

• Update Gravity Forms 2.8 in WordPress Admin – All customers can expect to receive an update during the rollout period (which commenced Dec, 7th, 2023). Once you receive the update, simply navigate to the Plugins page within your WordPress Admin, scroll down to Gravity Forms, and select Update Now.
• Download 2.8 from Your Gravity Forms Account Dashboard – If you have an active Gravity Forms license, you can download 2.8 from your GF Dashboard.
• New Customers – Gravity Forms 2.8 is now available to buy. Check out our pricing page to find the plan that best suits your requirements.

Note: Caching and script optimization plugins and services have been known to cause problems with the functionality of forms when Gravity Forms is updated to the latest version. To counter this issue, we recommend clearing/flushing all caches and the browser cache following any updates.

If you have any questions about Gravity Forms 2.8, or the staggered release procedure, please contact Support.

Try the Gravity Forms 2.8 Online Demo

If you don’t have Gravity Forms yet, you can sign up for your own personalized Gravity Forms 2.8 demo. Doing so lets you try out Gravity Forms and all of its great features to see why Gravity Forms is the top choice for WordPress sites worldwide.

Already in love? Purchase our premium WordPress form plugin today!