Lots of options Once you install the plugin, find the settings page under Forms > Directory & Addons. There are lots of great options here including the number of entries shown per pages, and whether to show your entries as tables, definition lists, or unordered lists. There is an option to show a search field (helpful if you have quite a few listings). The directory shows in list form by default, but there is the option of being able to click on individual entries and see the single listing.
Use any Gravity Form I set up the specific fields I wanted to include in Gravity Forms. This can really include anything you want. This is just a normal form. For my purposes, I just needed the basics. The only thing different is the Approved section you will see at the top. This was very important for my needs, the ability to approve listings before they are displayed. This is done by adding a Admin-only checkbox to the form so Admins can easily approve the listings.
This option is found under the new set of fields that are added when installing the plugin. Just add the Approved field to your form. Make sure that it stays unchecked or your entries will be approved by default.
Easy shortcodes Keep in mind that you will need a page (or post) where people can fill out your form, and then you will need a page to display your directory. Adding your form to a page is the same as always. Adding your directory to a page is just as simple as adding a Gravity Form. This plugin uses the same automatic shortcode insertion method by just pressing the Add Directory button at the top.
Users can view and edit their own listings The things you can do with this plugin are really limitless. Another great feature is allowing users to see and edit their own listings. The listings can be hidden by default and shown only to the user who submitted it. I have needed this capability several times when I had sites that needed long forms and wanted a way for customers to come back later and finish filling out the form.
Choose what to show and what to hide You can set it to show certain information to all users but hide other information. You can show some information in your directory listing and then show more in the single listing. You will see that once you download the plugin, a new Directory tab will show up with each field. That allows you to use each particular field as a link to the Single Entry view, hide the field from the directory view, and/or hide the field from the single entry view. This can allow you to have a quick referral directory and then add more profile information to each listing when clicked on. I can see a lot of uses for this – possibly a listing for houses, cars for sale, teams, etc. You can also use shortcode to hide listings from logged-out users.
*New note (Jan 9,2014) – Just found out that a new function was added to this plugin so you can search the directory by field. Look for it under the directory tab when you are editing your field in the form editor. Very nice addition!
Great option to create a directory easily with lots of great options.
The tutorial given on the plugin site is very helpful, so I’m not going to go into that a lot here. Overall, it’s a great plugin with some really great options. There have been a few bugs, but there is a helpful listing of previous versions, in case you need to revert after a problem with an update. As I was writing this post, there was a bug in the latest update, but the plugin author had it fixed within a few hours of being notified. Let me know if you have tried this plugin and your thoughts.
Rating: 4.5 stars.
Gravity Forms Directory WordPress Plugin
Reviewed by Laura Hartwig on .
shwan michael says
Thanks for giving such an nice info, But I need an solution, Is it possible to show different entries fields in different wp page of same form . Please help me I need it badly .
Laura Hartwig says
Hi Shwan,
I’m not sure I completely understand your question. Are you talking about displaying different forms or different form results? If you are talking about different forms, and you need to have different fields on different pages, why not just duplicate the form and then change the entries you need to change and put a different form on the different page? It is easy to duplicate a form by hovering over the form title in the “Forms” page and click on “duplicate” when it becomes visible.
If that’s not what you’re looking for, can you give me an example of what you want to do?
Chantel B. says
Hi Laura,
Thank you for all of your insightful help! I am wondering if you know how to modify this directory plugin to send the email notification once again after the form has been edited through the edit entry feature?
Any advice will help, Thank you!
Laura Hartwig says
Hi Chantel,
That would be a great feature, but I’m sorry, I don’t know how to make that happen. Possibly submit a feature request to the plugin author? Good luck!
zach smith says
sure wish i could show multiple forms into one directory
David A says
Thanks for the overview. We already have the forms plugin and am interested in whether it is suitable for a business directory for our users. Some examples of sites using it would be handy.
Laura Hartwig says
Sorry, I was just reviewing the plugin as I used it, but I used it on a password protected membership site, so I can’t share it with you. Perhaps the plugin author would have more info?
billy says
hello. thanks for the great article. I’ve done exactly as you have described, but i checked the admin-only approval box on the form (as i want all entries automatically approved). however, it simply will not work. they still have red crosses and need manually approving. have you got any pointers?
Laura Hartwig says
Hi Billy,
It sounds like you might be misunderstanding this. Admin-only approval is for when you want an admin to manually approve the entries. If you want them automatically approved, do not use this field. Did you try that?