Looking for the best database plugin for WordPress? This WordPress relational database plugin has everything you need to easily search and manage data!
Want the best WordPress relational database plugin? There are a number of options you'll find on the WordPress.org directory. These include popular plugins like SearchWP, Participants Database, and wpDataTables.
While the above WordPress plugins can do the bare minimum, the best database plugin for WordPress for creating relational databases is light years beyond the basics. In fact, this plugin can do a lot more than create a searchable database in WordPress.
The database and form-building plugin we're referring to is Formidable Forms. That's right, it's a WordPress form-building plugin! Not what you were expecting? Then it's time to raise your expectations!
Why is a form-builder the best WordPress database plugin?
Using a form-builder plugin to create relational databases gives you the flexibility to collect information and generate leads through a number of resources.
For example, with an all-in-one plugin, you can use landing pages, subscriber forms, gated content, and more to collect user emails and boost traffic. Why download a plugin for one purpose when you can use a plugin that does far more than manage databases?
But finding a plugin that can properly handle relational databases for WordPress is why we're here. So let's talk about what a relational database plugin should do:
- Provide tools for defining fields and uploading and importing data
- Include tools to display data from the database in a variety of ways.
Formidable Forms is more than capable of handling those basics. What's more, it can help you not only manage the data from your forms but build them also!
In today's post, we'll show how our plugin can give every database on a WordPress website a serious boost. And in case you're confused:
Formidable doesn't replace the default WordPress database, it extends it. You'll have the power to import data and search it with ease.
Create a Searchable Database Now
Tools for uploading & importing data
When using Formidable Forms, you can easily create a WordPress contact form with file uploads. But that's not all. You can upload data to your WordPress site in a few ways:
- Manually input the data
- Using CSV files & XML files
- Submitting forms in the front end of your site
We often take this ability to easily import and export files for granted and you should, too! This is because Formidable Forms comes with fully functional data tables in the backend of WordPress. With the user-friendly UI, you can easily input data into your database manually.
As you can see in the image above, there's a button for importing entries, too. Using this feature you can import CSV and XML files, as well as export them. Just make sure your form has the custom fields you need, and you'll be set!
And if you want users to upload data to your site, but don't want them poking around the backend, that's possible too! Create a form with front-end editing enabled, and users will be able to upload whatever data you want them to.
There are tons of possibilities here. For example, users can upload images directly to your WordPress document library. They can also upload blog posts or whatever post types you use on your site. Or they can simply upload long lists of data.
And with Formidable's Views add-on, you can have submitted displayed real-time on the frontend of your website. This is ideal for real estate listings, reviews, polling results, and more!
Tools for searching, filtering & displaying data
But we all know a good database doesn't just collect information. You need to be able to search and use the data, too! This is why Formidable is an excellent option.
Here are a few searchable features Formidable Forms allows its users to use in their WordPress relational databases:
- Backend user interface
- Lookup fields, chained selects, dynamic fields
- Advanced views to display data
With your data uploaded, you need a way to access it. The built-in Formidable UI has you covered! There are a ton of options ready to go:
You can also take things further with this powerful search tool:
And of course, you can sort your database easily, too:
You can even edit entire entries easily from the backend:
These are all standard features built into the core Formidable plugin (even our free version). But there are even more form-building features that can take your database even further.
Tools to build powerful relational database features
Formidable Forms comes with advanced tools that allow you to build dynamic field relationships inside a database. This is the ultimate feature if you want the best database plugin for WordPress.
For instance, using Lookup Fields allows you to create chained selects (also referred to as cascading fields or dependent drop-down lists):
Here's an example of a dynamic data relationship in action:
And don't forget about Formidable's powerful Views feature. Views alone allows you to create custom databases with data displayed exactly how you want it every time.
Pull from multiple forms or one to create the necessary database relationships for the results you want.
For example, you can add a file upload field to a front-end form, collect audio files, and automatically add them to an audio library. Views give you the tools to define the layout and how the data will be displayed within your WordPress theme.
When you use Views, you can create almost anything imaginable online. Create a small personal database or a powerful web application to rival industry-leading CRM platforms!
What else can a relational database plugin for WordPress do?
Still not convinced? With Formidable Forms form-building plugin and Views, you can:
- Optimize database after deleting revisions
- Filter out expired transients
- Organize database tables however you want
- Clean and optimize user information with ease
- Display data in appealing charts and tables
- Restore database backups
- And more!
This is only the beginning...
Formidable Forms is much more than the best WordPress database plugin. And it's much more than a drag-and-drop form builder plugin, too! With the above features, it's not hard to see how Formidable can replace a directory, landing page, calculator, or any other single-purpose plugin.
Formidable's flexible, form-building plugin includes dozens of integrations and extensions as well as a huge library of pre-made templates. One of our most popular is our WooCommerce form builder, which allows users to take control of products in ways never thought possible.
Search and manage your database now!
Ready to start managing your relational databases in WordPress? Get Formidable and search and display your data the way you want. With our 14-day money-back guarantee, there's no reason not to
How to Save Form Data in Databases in WordPress
The Best Online Form Builder with a Database
How to Create a Searchable Database on a WordPress Site
This is great information, Ryan. But it's written more as a sales pitch than as an instructional how-to. Could you follow up with pointers to details for any additional detailed onsite documentation about how to accomplish this very thing -- creating a searchable, sortable, filterable records set in Views, for a knowledge-base kind of application? And/or create a brief screen walkthrough that shows how to set up a site of this kind?
I'm hoping for something like the equivalent of the drill-down Lookup Fields that FF Forms have, but used for the purpose of having visitors search a database of existing FF records, rather than submitting new entries to it from the front end -- something like what formidableforms.com/knowledgebase can do, in fact. The FF support team told me just yesterday that this isn't doable -- I'm hoping they're wrong or misunderstood my question ;-).
Could the Forms lookup fields maybe be part of the solution, e.g. by hiding the Forms' Submit button via a checkbox, or using it for submitting a search that does not save a record and that displays found data on the same page as the search drill-down? Or could similar sorts of drill-downs also be created with Views, possibly using the methods described on the FF documentation for nested views and/or custom search forms?
Thanks,
Jim
Hi Jim,
Thanks for your questions and feedback. This article is intended to be a high-level overview rather than a step-by-step guide on setting up a searchable database.
I think you are right that a detailed how-to tutorial in our docs would be a great benefit to many. Is this article what you had in mind?
https://formidableforms.com/how-to-create-a-searchable-database-in-wordpress/
As always, our support team is standing by and ready to answer any questions you run into during the process.
It is an amazing post and you explained it in a detailed way. Nice to see this here. I will bookmark your blog for more details. Keep sharing new things like this.
We sponsor students and get them to several schools.
1, We want to manage our students’ information and keep them in a database. Add their personal and educational information, grades for each subjects etc. we want this to be searchable and add multiple custom form field
2, I also want to display the grades of the total students with graph, Like show how many students got more than 80, 90, etc of the subjects, Is this possible?
Hi Shegar,
Without knowing all the details of your use case, it is difficult to say definitively whether this is something that can be accomplished 100% with Formidable Forms, but it sounds like something that should be possible.
It sounds like a good fit for our plugin features, but you may need to try it out and reach out to our support team with more details to get a better understanding of whether this can be done.