Gravity Forms

There are a shocking number of parts to even a fairly basic website. Non-web developers would probably be quite surprised if they knew everything that went into creating a new site from scratch.

One of my least favorite tasks is the creation of forms. I hate making forms. There, I said it. The basic contact form is usually easy, at least in WordPress, because there are plenty of great plugins that take the work right out of it. However, most sites require at least a few forms, and there isn’t an easy to use all-in-one solution.

Sure, there’s cforms II. While certainly a powerful solution, it’s far from user friendly. Extremely far. I’d rather hand-code forms than use cforms II, and I bet I’m not the only one. Of course, hand-coding forms is very time-consuming, and not a fun way to spend your days.

Enter Gravity Forms.

After discovering Gravity Forms, I will never create another form by hand again. Ever. It’s that easy, and that powerful.

Want to create a new form? Click on the Forms tab in your WordPress admin dashboard, and hit New Form. Use the visual editor to create your form. Some of the most commonly used items are built right in – things like name, address, email, phone, etc. If you don’t see it, you can *easily* add it.

What about data validation?

Are you serious? Gravity Forms has that covered. Your customer won’t be able to enter “Giant Dog” in the phone number field – it will throw a friendly error.

Dropdowns, multiple chioce, file uploads, captcha, multiple choice, if it can go in a web form, it’s in Gravity Forms. Tons of stuff I’ll probably never use, too, but it’s there if I need it.

All your data saved
Sure, every time a form is submitted, you get an email, which is the way it should work. Gravity Forms goes a step further, and stores every form submission in your WordPress database. No worries if you accidentally delete an email for a customer order – just log in to WordPress and get the information you need.

The catch
What, you thought it was going to be free? Not for all this functionality. There are three pricing levels : $39 for a single site, $99 for multiple sites, and $199 for the developer option. I’ll admit it – I flinched, probably just like you are right now. Two hundred bucks for a WordPress plugin? WordPress is free, for crying out loud.

Then I thought about the time.

Just a few hours saved from coding forms, and Gravity Forms pays for itself. If you have multiple sites, you’re talking about many hours saved, much frustration saved, and more time that you can spend working and being productive. Gravity Forms is cheap for what it does.

I can talk all day long about how much I like Gravity Forms, but the best thing I can say is this: I use Gravity Forms on GL3 Media. Every single form you see on this site is powered by Gravity Forms. If I didn’t think it was the best solution available, I wouldn’t recommend it, and I certainly wouldn’t use it.

Start with the $39 single site license if you’re having doubts. Once you fall in love with it, you can upgrade to a multi-site or developer license for a reduced price.