The very amazing Yoast authored a great post/tutorial earlier this year on how to use Gravity Forms to submit custom post types. He talked about using Gravity Forms in conjunction with the WP Types plugin to make this relationship work.
Before we go any further, I’d like to back up and explain what both of these plugins do. (Alert: You may step on an affiliate link in this post.)
What is Gravity Forms?
Gravity Forms is a premium WordPress plugin used to create and manage forms on your WordPress site. What makes it stand out from other contact form plugins (and worth paying for) is its add-on services. You can EASILY integrate with Aweber, MailChimp, PayPal, and even register new users in WordPress.
It’s well-documented, supported, and widely used in the WordPress developer community.
What is WP Types?
In short, WP Types is a premium WordPress plugin used to create and manage custom post types, custom fields, and post relationships. Custom post types (CPTs) are not hard to add manually, but this little plugin definitely speeds up the process and reduces the chance of operator error accidents.
The plugin comes bundled with WP Views, which is a display engine used to show off things created with WP Types.
Types and Views are two WordPress plugins that work in perfect harmony, together, enabling rapid development of WordPress sites. – OnTheGoSystems, INC. (plugin creator)
Don’t Mind if… I Do!
These two plugins are a match made in WordPress heaven. If we can continue on the wedding theme a moment, allow me to introduce you to the preacher that united these two plugins in holy matrimony. After that, we’ll dance on into the reception.
Meet the preacher: Gravity Forms + Custom Post Types
Authored by Bradvin, the Gravity Forms + Custom Post Types name explains itself. This plugin provides the bridge that allows form entries to be inserted into a custom post type. In addition to mapping form fields to a custom post type, you can even link a field to a custom taxonomy (think: populate a drop-down box in your form with a list of custom taxonomies).
Let’s Party
You may be thinking “Ok, sounds cool, but what the heck do I do with it?” Good question. Let me give you a simple usage scenario from a recent project I did.
- The client wanted a Testimonials section on the website (I created a custom post type with WP Types).
- Site visitors needed to be able to submit a testimonial through the website (Gravity Forms).
- Form submissions needed to be saved to the Testimonials custom post type (Gravity Forms + Custom Post Types)
- Submitted testimonials needed to automatically be displayed on the Testimonials page (WP Views)
Make sense? There are endless applications here – this couple has a very bright future!
Picking Up Where Yoast Left Off
Going back to the original Yoast article, he walks you through in detail how to create a custom post type with custom fields and follows it up with instructions on creating a form through which people can submit something that fills this post type. Where he leaves off is the final step of creating a browsable interface for the custom post type. That’s where the WP Views plugin really gets to shine on the dance floor.
I’m going to be a buzz-kill and leave off in the same spot for this post. I wanted to introduce these plugins to you and next post I’ll pick up with more details on WP Views and how to show off your custom post types.
Until then, party on Wayne.
Yes, that part works fine. But if you want to let your users update their own submissions from the front end, there is a world programming that has to happen with either templates or several hooks. The Gravity forms product is incomplete.
I am testing Formidable Pro (see http://formidablepro.com/payment/go.php?r=9547&i=b1) and will let you know how that works out.
Looks like Formidable has some great add-ons, like GF. Will be interested to hear your thoughts. Are we friends on Twitter? I’m @cdils.
http://wedevs.com/plugin/wp-user-frontend-pro/
WP user frontend aims to solve this.. which i’m just about to test out now, i have also been using GF and types, but needed a bit more flexiblity and CRED looks bit messy.
Hey Stevie,
I wasn’t familiar with WP User Frontend, but it looks interesting. I’ve heard CRED has improved since it’s initial release, but I’ve never circled back around to try it again.
Thanks for stopping by,
Carrie
Hi Carrie,
Nice article! For front end posting you can also check out the WCK plugin from Cozmoslabs. I used it for my latest property listing project and it worked just fine.
http://www.cozmoslabs.com/wordpress-creation-kit/
Hi I found your post trying to find out a perfect solution to a platform I need to create . The post partially shed light to my problem and I thank you for that. I would appreciate it if you would read on and let me know if you know the whole solution.
The website is a membership and lead generation platform which captures leads(Homeowners) for Contractors. So I need to create 2 custom post types: Homeowners and Contractors. And 1 Web Form for each.
The Homeowners Web form will compose of the basic details like Name, Phone Number, Budget, Project Description etc. and COUNTY (most probably a dropdown/select option) where they belong. By filling up the form they will then be added to the homeowners custom post type and all data will be stored on each custom post (probably custom fields?)
While The Contractors Web form will have details such as Name of Company, EMAIL, Phone Number, etc, and COUNTY(most probably a dropdown/select option) that they cover. By filling up the form they will be added to the Contractors custom post type and thus be registered on the website and their data will also be stored on each custom post (probably custom fields?). If I am correct this is how Gravity Forms and Wp types come in and save the day?
But now here is the other half of the problem: I need the data/information from the Homeowners Web form sent automatically to the emails of all Contractors that belong to the same COUNTY.
So for the Homeowners Web form 2 things need to be done: 1.) Add them to the custom post type of “Homeowners” that shows all their data/information (i.e. Name, Phone Number, Budget, Project Description, etc. and COUNTY 2.) Instantly/automatically sends the captured information to the emails of all Contractors that belongs to the same COUNTY they are in.
While for the Contractors Web form: 1.) They fill in the form they get added on the custom post type of “Contractors” that shows all their data/information (i.e. Name of Company, Email, Phone Number, etc. and COUNTY) 2.) They will now be registered on the website and will be receiving leads if the Homeowner is from the same COUNTY.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
JOHN
Hi
Do you still use Types/Views? I am currently researching what to use with Genesis. Looking at Pods, Advanced Custom Fields and Types/Views. What do you personally use/recommends?
I know most could be hardcoded but I believe using these tools save me a lot of time which in the end save the client money.
Thanks for this tutorial!
Hi David,
I’m still using Types and Views on a few sites, but have moved to manually creating post types/taxonomies/templates. Call me a control freak. 🙂 If you’re just needing to create CPTs and taxonomies, I don’t think you need Types. The Views part is where you can really save some time if you need a lot of custom templates (handy too for a mostly code-free way of displaying post information outside the loop). As for the rest of the toolset… I used CRED when it first came out and was unimpressed, but would hope they’ve improved it since then. I’ve never used Access.
I don’t have any experience with Pods but have heard great things about it. ACF is awesome.
Hope that helps a little!
Carrie
Thank you Carrie
It helps a lot. Yes I have even created my own CPTs with the help of one of your tutorials. Otherwise I also use this http://generatewp.com to help me generate the code. However for custom fields I am dependent on a plugin.
Yes CRED does not seem that great. I think I prefer Gravity Forms and I got that installed on every site anyway.
For filtering post I really like this https://facetwp.com. It is developed by Matt Gibbs who was the one who started Pods. He now has a similar plugin to ACF called Custom Field Suite.
Thanks for reviving this on Twitter. I’m thinking of ways to make it easy for remodelers to submit projects to their own site’s portfolio.
Think Houzz but on their own site. I think this might be it. Any other suggestions?
Hey Tony,
Yeah, if you’re looking for front-end submissions, this would definitely work. I also came across this plugin, though I haven’t worked with it, might be interesting to you.
Cheers,
Carrie
Thanks!
I am using a developer license of Gravity Forms along with a handful of other plugins including paid versions (where applicable) of Gravity Forms User Registration Add-On, Gravity View and and Gravity Forms + Custom Post Types. I also have some custom coding to Restrict Access to Custom Post Types By Users Capability.
I have set up a Custom Post type called “horse,” and I want visitors to my website to be able to submit a “custom post” called “horse” for each of their horses, hopefully through Gravity Forms and custom fields on the post. They should also be able to log back in and review their posts, hopefully using the Restrict Access to Custom Post Types By Users Capability Coding. Basically, I only want folks to be able to view/edit their own horse posts.
Then, visitors to my website will go to an online event registration form built in Gravity Forms, and as part of this form, I want them to be able to link/choose one of their horse custom posts (and only one of theirs). The horse custom fields ideally should populate some fields in the Gravity Form for event registration.
Is this doable?
Heya!
First, I like that we’re working with a custom post type named “horse.” That is a refreshing departure from the usual CPT names. 🙂
I have not worked with restricting access to users on a per-post basis, but I see no reason that can’t be done. The question is whether the setup you have has that baked in or would require additional customization.
Please tell me you’ll write up a post on your site sharing your solution.
Cheers,
Carrie
p.s. I just started tinkering with Gravity Flow – might be worth a look to see if the workflow options it enables are helpful for your scenario.
Who dosent like Gravity Forms?
I’ts just a shame that not more people are using these, probably because of it being a premium extension.