GFSearch
Gravity Forms is one of the most flexible form builders in WordPress, but there’s a catch: once users hit submit, the data mostly lives in the admin panel. For teams that need to surface that information on the frontend—whether for dashboards, portals, or reporting—this limitation can be frustrating.
That’s where our journey started. We built GFSearch, a lightweight shortcode snippet, to unlock that data and make it usable anywhere on a site. It was a simple tool that solved a big problem: letting us pull exactly the right Gravity Forms entries into context, format them however we wanted, and display them dynamically.
What began as an internal quick fix quickly became essential to how we built client dashboards and internal reporting tools. And over time, it grew into something bigger: GravityOps Search, a fully maintained WordPress plugin that brings those same powerful capabilities to everyone—without the headaches of managing snippets.
The Snippet Era
GFSearch began life as a snippet—a small piece of code you could copy and paste into your WordPress site. At BrightLeaf, we built it to solve an immediate need: bringing Gravity Forms entry data out of the admin panel and into dynamic front-end experiences.
From the start, GFSearch stood out for its flexibility. With a single shortcode, you could:
- Search against any form field and decide which fields should be searchable.
- Control how many results were returned.
- Separate search logic from display logic, giving you full VLOOKUP-style control over output.
- Format results with Gravity Forms merge tags, custom HTML/CSS, or even other shortcodes nested inside.
This design made GFSearch incredibly versatile. We used it in client dashboards, member portals, enrollment pages, and financial or transactional views. Anywhere we needed to surface user-submitted data in a clean, contextual way, GFSearch was there.
But being a snippet came with trade-offs. Upgrading was cumbersome, every update meant another round of copy-and-paste, and it was hard to keep track of which version lived on which site. On top of that, the snippet format made it harder to share publicly and limited wider adoption.
These limitations set the stage for the next chapter in its evolution.
Why We Turned It Into a Plugin
The pain points of running GFSearch as a snippet eventually became impossible to ignore. Each time we improved or fixed something, every site using the shortcode needed a manual update. It was too easy to lose track of versions or end up with different behavior from site to site. And because it was just a code snippet, getting it into the hands of more people was an uphill climb.
Turning GFSearch into a plugin solved those problems in one move:
- Better maintainability – updates can now be delivered through the WordPress plugin system, making it simple to stay current.
- Greater visibility and discoverability – a plugin listing on our site and WordPress.org makes it much easier for new users to find.
- Simpler adoption – instead of copying and pasting code, users install and activate like any other plugin. No more wondering, which snippet version am I running?
By productizing GFSearch as GravityOps Search, we ensured that both existing users and newcomers could rely on a stable, up-to-date, and easy-to-install solution.
Introducing GravityOps Search
GravityOps Search takes everything GFSearch did and makes it easier, cleaner, and more reliable. At its core is the [gravops_search] shortcode, which works as the engine for searching and displaying Gravity Forms entries on the frontend.
With this single shortcode, you can:
- Target one or more forms to search against.
- Define which fields are searchable and how results are filtered.
- Choose operators like equals, contains, like, in/not in, or numeric comparisons (greater than, less than, etc.).
- Control the output with merge tags, placeholders like
{num_results}, or full custom HTML. - Handle multi-input fields such as Names, Addresses, and Checkboxes with precision.
- Sort results, limit how many display, and ensure uniqueness when needed.
There’s no separate settings screen to configure. Everything happens through the shortcode itself, giving you total control right where you need it. And to back it up, GravityOps Search has a dedicated documentation hub that walks through every attribute, operator, and display option.
This approach makes the plugin powerful without being bloated—flexible enough for developers, but still approachable for site admins who just want to drop in a shortcode and see results.
Backward Compatibility
When we transitioned from GFSearch to GravityOps Search, we made sure no one would be left behind. The original shortcode is still supported, so existing sites can continue working without disruption. That means you don’t need to scramble to update every page or dashboard overnight.
At the same time, the new [gravops_search] shortcode is the path forward. It carries all the improvements, new features, and ongoing updates. You can safely run both on the same site, which makes migration smooth: keep legacy pages as they are, and start using [gravops_search] for any new builds.
The result is a plugin that respects the work already in place while giving you a clear upgrade path to the modern, fully supported version.
Real-World Applications
GravityOps Search has already proven itself in a variety of real-world contexts, starting with our own projects at BrightLeaf. Internally, it became the backbone for dashboards that show clients their balances, programs, or latest activity without ever touching the WordPress admin.
Beyond that, it shines anywhere data needs to be displayed on the frontend:
- Client portals – give users a secure, customized view of their own entries.
- Enrollment and program visibility – surface active signups or participation lists.
- Financial or transactional views – display histories, recent payments, or summaries.
- Complement to GravityView – pair it with GravityView for advanced layouts and filtering.
Its reputation as the “Swiss Army knife” for presenting Gravity Forms data comes from this flexibility. Whether you need something lightweight and quick or deeply customized, GravityOps Search adapts to the job.
Looking Ahead
While GravityOps Search is already a powerful tool, we’re always thinking about how it could grow. Some ideas under consideration include:
- Export tools – making it easier for admins to pull search results into files for reporting.
- Live-refreshing output – so results update automatically when new entries are submitted.
- Visual shortcode builder – a guided interface to configure
[gravops_search]without writing attributes by hand. - Block editor support – giving users a drag-and-drop way to insert and configure searches directly in Gutenberg.
These are not promises, but areas we’re actively exploring. Our goal is the same as it’s always been: make it easier for anyone to unlock and display Gravity Forms data in the way that works best for them.
The Journey Continues
What started as a small snippet to solve our own needs has grown into a fully supported plugin available to everyone. GravityOps Search carries forward the flexibility and power of GFSearch, while removing the headaches of copy-paste maintenance and version confusion.
By turning it into a plugin, we’ve made it easier to install, easier to update, and easier to discover. Whether you’re building dashboards, portals, or dynamic reports, GravityOps Search is designed to fit right in.
Explore the docs, try it out, and see how much smoother your workflows can be:
This is just the beginning—we can’t wait to see what you build with it.