Three new versions of Formidable (v2.0.23-2.0.25) were released in March. Here are some of the most noteworthy changes, including client-side validation, specialized field types & more. Keep in mind that the change log is always kept up to date.
Specialized field types
We've added two new field types to make your form-building faster: address field and credit card field.
While we were at it, we simplified and cleaned up the code for adding new fields. This includes field-specific hooks like:
frm_display_FIELDTYPE_value_custom and
frm_get_FIELDTYPE_display_value.
Address field
With one click, you've now got an address field with two lines, city/province, state, zip/postal code, and country. If you select a U.S. address, your state field will become a dropdown, and your zip code will get specific formatting validation.
Credit card field
The credit card field is the second specialized field type we have added this month. We don't recommend collecting credit card information without an add-on to handle it securely. As a result, you won't see the credit card field listed with your other fields. We are working on an Authorize.net add-on, as well as a Stripe add-on. (Spoiler alert: we are planning on releasing the Stripe add-on this month.) Both of these plugins utilize the new credit card field.
If you're a developer and have another way of processing payments, you can enable the credit card field by adding this line to your code:
add_filter( 'frm_include_credit_card', '__return_true' );
Client-side validation
Many fields can now be validated instantly. Required fields, email format and confirmation, phone format, number format, and reCaptchas are included in this group. After typing into a field the format will be checked, and any error messages included on the field will be immediately removed if the field now passes the checks. In order to enable this validation when the submit button is clicked, you'll need to go to the form settings for each form, and check the box to "Validate this form with javascript."
Be aware that some validation will still be run on the server-side, so your users may see new error messages after all the javascript validation passes. For example, unique validation requires interaction with your server, as well as any validation-related custom PHP you may have added on your site. Depending on the form, your user experience may be better with the javascript validation turned off.
More flexible reCaptcha
You can now do more with your reCaptcha fields: include two on the same page, and set your dark or light theme. Unfortunately, we found that a lot of plugins that include reCaptcha simply don't do it right, and load the script on every page whether it's needed or not. This prevents all of your Formidable reCaptchas from displaying on the page. As a result, you will need to enable to option to allow multiple reCaptchas on a page. This setting is included on the Formidable -> Global settings page.
We've also been finding that many servers aren't up-to-date with allowing communication with SSL sites. On servers with this problem, the reCaptcha was never able to verify and all submissions were accepted, spam or not. If your server is among this group, when you submit your form the reCaptcha will now include an error message. Be sure to contact your web host to update your server if you see these messages.
Trigger actions when a draft is saved
Have you been wanting to send out email notifications when an entry is saved as a draft? Wish granted! You'll now find drafts included in the action triggering options for your email form actions. Enjoy!
jocelyn says
April 8, 2016 at 11:12 amGreat! But the best news is having news! You answered to one of our request in a great way.
Many thanks to the team.
Andrew says
April 8, 2016 at 11:46 amYes, thanks God for He answers our prayers, Formidable Pro Stripe Add-on, I have been waiting on it for a while. You guys are an amazing team, and I have never any regret of switching to Formidable. I pray your organization, and the members and their families be blessed and continue building amazing tools for our community. #FormidableTeamAllTheWay
Steph Wells says
April 13, 2016 at 5:48 pmThat's great to hear! Thank you!
Dennis says
April 8, 2016 at 1:27 pmEverything has been running great with formidable on my site so I have not been keeping up on the draft function, is there an ability for a user to have multiple drafts concurrently that they can revisit and finish when the fast that the form is for has been completed that has been implemented? If not is there any plans in the near future or down the road? Again I can not stress enough for users reading this and contemplating Formidable as a solution that it is very powerful and can accomplish so much more than just forms!
Dennis says
April 8, 2016 at 1:31 pmOops don't know how that happened, should have stated "when the task that that form is for has been completed" so task not fast, stupid autocorrect!
Steph Wells says
April 13, 2016 at 5:47 pmSaving multiple drafts isn't in the immediate plans. The best way to get updates about a specific feature is to vote for it.
https://formidableforms.com/help-desk/save-more-than-one-draft/
We'll post updates on that suggestion as we have them.
bizarrb says
April 14, 2016 at 7:34 pmHi Dennis, I ran into the same thing where I needed users to be able to save multiple drafts, and found a workaround that works for me, maybe you too?... Create the form as normal, and add a field for something like Status where the user can choose draft/final...or whatever options you need. Don't enable Drafts in the forms setting though....
In my situation, if the user wants to save their form and update it later, they just select 'Draft' and submit. In my case, the form data gets emailed on submission, so even though the user thinks they're just saving a draft, it really is the first "Submission" - I've set it to not send an email when the user selects draft, and do send it when they select finalized.
If you create a view that includes the entries, and give your user a link to view past entries or drafts, they can click the link and see them, and if they want to update, they select one, update and save as draft again, or finalize. Hope this is helpful.
bizarrb says
April 14, 2016 at 7:35 pmOops, forgot to include that you'll need to allow users to update entries on the front end too.
Luke says
April 9, 2016 at 11:13 pmGreat updates. Question, exactly where would I put the 'add filter' snippet for credit cards in the plugin's code? Thanks. I accept credit cards via SSL site and process them manually. Regards. L.
Steph Wells says
April 11, 2016 at 9:14 amThanks for posting your question in the help desk!
Harjaap Singh Makkar says
May 24, 2018 at 1:44 pmIs this code inserted in the plugin editor or the HTML settings of the particular form? In either case, where in the code is it to be inserted?
Steph Wells says
May 24, 2018 at 2:24 pmHere's more detail on how to add custom PHP to your WordPress site:
https://formidableforms.com/knowledgebase/formidable-hooks/
Sam Crowe says
April 10, 2016 at 11:48 pmExciting stuff to see! Great work!
Mark Clifford says
April 13, 2016 at 5:17 pmI'm thrilled that a stripe add-on will be available soon. My only concern is will it be available to those on the Grandfathered License?
Steph Wells says
April 13, 2016 at 5:40 pmNew plugins we release may not be available to all existing users, depending on the plugin. The Stripe plugin will be added to our Enterprise collection, but can also be purchased ala cart.
Bjjoha says
April 16, 2016 at 6:04 amAre there progress on the drag and drop file upload feature? I hop it will be included in a future add on.
Steph Wells says
April 18, 2016 at 8:27 amWe're working on it. It's our next top priority after 2.1 is released.
Adam Coates says
April 17, 2016 at 11:55 pmdid the latest upgrade break placeholders? It doesn't seem to save the toggle to 'replace default values on typing' for me...
Steph Wells says
April 18, 2016 at 8:27 amNo, it didn't. Can you please create a ticket in the help desk? Thanks!