Automatic Save and Continue with Gravity Forms
Automatically save users’ data as they progress through a form and automatically repopulate that data when they return.
June 24th, 2022: Updated to support repopulating Nested Form fields from Auto Save & Continue tokens.
Stop! There's a better way.
This snippet is available as a plugin with Gravity Perks, a suite of over 47 premium Gravity Forms plugins!
Overview
The Save and Continue functionality in Gravity Forms is one of my favorite features. I generally have a lot going on, and like many of you my workflow is often interrupted. Between Slack, Zoom, and some needy puppies, changing gears is simply a part of life. If you’ve ever had an interruption while filling out a long form, then you know how frustrating it can be to return to your form and have to start over again. Save and Continue removes that frustration by making it easy to save your progress.
One place where we think Save and Continue can be improved upon is the actual process. It requires more user interaction than we prefer. The normal Save and Continue process looks like this:
- While filling out the form, click Save and Continue at any time.
- The form saves your progress and displays or emails a link that you can use to continue later.
- Click on the link at some point in the future, and all of your progress is restored.
This process works well, but we thought it would be magical if the whole thing could be automated for logged-in users. Since WordPress already knows who is logged into the site, why not use that info to make Save and Continue automatic and seamless? So, we wrote a plugin to do just that.
Using the Plugin
Confirm that you have Gravity Forms installed and activated and that you’ve installed the plugin.
Once installed, simply enable Save and Continue on any of your forms. If a logged-in user adds any values to any page in a multi-page form, those values are automatically saved when navigating between pages. When they return to the form, those values will be automatically populated into the form on load.
If you’d like to see us add support for automatically saving values per field change, please let us know.
Advanced Configuration Parameters
While the plugin doesn’t require any additional configuration, there are some advanced configuration options available. To use the advanced configuration options, you’ll need to add the following code to your theme’s functions.php file.
if ( class_exists( 'GW_Save_Continue_Auto_Load' ) ) {
new GW_Save_Continue_Auto_Load( array(
'form_ids' => array( 1, 2 ),
'enable_inline_confirmation' => false,
'auto_save' => true
) );
}The class has three parameters.
form_id array required
The IDs of the specific forms you want to use the advanced options on.
enable_inline_confirmation boolean optional
Whether to show the Save & Continue confirmation inline rather than on a separate page.
auto_save boolean optional
Whether the form should automatically save progress when navigating between pages. Set this to false to require the user to manually click the Save & Continue link to actually save their progress.
That’s It!
That’s all there is to it. Your site’s users will have a better experience thanks to some magic.
I’ve created a form and enabled save and continue. I’ve done the same in my sandbox and disabled virtually all plugins and deleted the custom code in my functions.php file. We’re using the BuddyBoss theme and platform, LifterLMS and Gravity forms.
A sample form is here:
https://masteraba.academy/test-form/
I tried installing the plugin, but that didn’t have any effect. The code worked as long as I was in the tab (i.e. I could refresh the tab and it stayed) but only logged in as an admin. And if I went to a new tab it didn’t save the data even though I was still logged in as that Admin.
If you can help I’d appreciate it. I’d love to get this working!
Hi Dianna,
This auto-save and continue snippet only save form field values when the user navigates from one page to another. The field value won’t be saved if you open the new tab before navigating from one page to another. If you’re looking for a solution that will save the field values on field change even before navigation from one page to another, then check out our GP Advanced Save and Continue Perk.
Best,
I was reading an issue where if I enter a field via ajax, it doesn’t save to that field when using saving and continue. I read I’m supposed to add some callback to gravity forms so that it will save the field value. I can’t find the instructions anywhere..
Hi Jake,
I’m not sure about the issue you’re referring. However, this is possible with our new GP Advanced Save and Continue Perk if you want to save field value on field input change. You can check it out.
Best,
One issue with this plugin as currently written is that it doesn’t actually check whether the “Save & Continue” feature is enabled for the form in question, which may cause multi-page forms to “remember” values from previous partial submission when they shouldn’t. (This is, in fact, exactly what happened on a site I maintain, and it ended up taking half a day to track down where the phantom values were coming from!)
I’d suggest adding a check similar to the following to the plugin’s is_applicable_form function to prevent this scenario:
$form = GFAPI::get_form($form_id); if (!$form[“save”][“enabled”]) { return false; }
Hi David,
Thanks for the heads up. We’ll pass this on to our dev team for investigation.
Best,
Hi. I really like this extension, thanks for the work! There is one small thing I need to fix, hope you can help with this.
With auto save on a draft submission is saved to the database when navigating to a next page. The gf_token however is not set at that point. This results in multiple draft submissions in the database before submitting (when you have more than 2 pages).
The resume token is set in the $_POST variable when revisiting the page. Is it possible to somehow set that $_POST variable after the first time navigating to a new page?
I can fix it by loading the resume token from the user meta, but to do this I have to edit the core code of Gravity Forms which I don’t want to do.
Not sure if this is bug or just the way it works at this point. If you want I can share an URL.
Thanks!
Hey Menmo, this is how the snippet works and while it is not the most efficient method, it’s fairly innocuous to have the extra draft submissions. With that said, the upcoming plugin version of this saves drafts on field change so we do track the “current” draft and save all changes to that same draft.
Hi,
Would there be anyway for this to function without forcing users filling out the form to login?
Thank you
Hi Anon,
Currently, the auto-save and continue snippet works only if the user is logged in. I’ll forward your request to have it work if the user isn’t logged in as a feature request.
Best,
This feature is coming soon in the perk-version of this snippet called GP Advanced Save & Continue. More on that soon!
Will this addon work with the Gravity Forms Partial Entries Add-On so that users can have a fallback of the URL? Or will that create problems to use both?
Hi Gigi,
The Partial Entries can be set up on the same form with the Save and Continue functionality.
Best,
A follow up question: where can an admin view these partial entries? They are not showing up on my GF backend.
Hi Gigi; those should be visible on the Gravity Forms Entries list.
Best,
Hello,
Thank you for this helpful plugin. I just have a question, I am allowing the users to see what saved forms they have in the user dashboard, so the plugin will show many saved forms for the same submission, is there a way to delete previous saved forms before doing auto save? I am only allowing the user to submit the form once so any other saved draft could be deleted safely. Any idea on that? Also, Is there any possibility that the autosave work at the very beginning when the user visit the page even before entering any data into the form?
Thank you
Hi Eyad,
We do not have a solution for deleting any saved forms. This will definitely require some customization to the snippet. Autosave on page load is also not available although we’re working on a future Perk, that will support autosave on field change which may work for you. If you have a Pro Gravity Perks License, get in touch with us via our support form and submit a feature request with more information on what you want.
Best,
Hi guys,
It would be great too if those completing a form could duplicate it before finally submitting it.
Hi,
I’m not really tracking your request. If you have an active Gravity Perks License, you can get in touch with us via our support form with more information on what you want.
Best,
HI, how about if we have 2 forms that have some same fields and… WE complete and submit one form (from a logged in user with the auto save option), but then we want to fill in the second form. Will these similar fields (from the first one), auto populate?
Thank you!
Hi,
This snippet won’t work for what you do, but our GP Easy Passthrough Perk should work for you. You can check it out. https://gravitywiz.com/documentation/gravity-forms-easy-passthrough/
Best,
Hello, I installed your Save&Continue and tested it on my form. I chose to have the link emailed to me. When it arrived in my email, the link doesn’t go back to the form but instead goes to the following url:
[URL Removed]
Can you explain why this is please.
Thanks. Fey
Hi Fey,
The Automatic Save and Continue plugin doesn’t generate any links. The Save and Continue Link is a functionality of the Gravity Forms Save and Continue Feature. If the link being generated is incorrect, I will suggest you get in touch with Gravity Forms Support so they can look into it.
Best,
I need support for this plugin for a client who has purchased the Perks kit. Do they need to give me their account login for me to access support services, or is there a way for a contractor to request support on their behalf without them having to give me access to their account?
Hi David,
You can either let your client get in touch with us and make us aware you’ll be contacting us on their behave or you can get the account email address and license key from your client and send it to us via email to confirm on our end. Once we confirm that, you can send us a direct email for support on behalf of your client.
Best,
Thank you! What email should I send the information to? I checked the site and didn’t see a support address listed.
Hi David,
You can use our Presale form to send us the information and we’ll continue from there.
Best,
Save and Continue is great in principle. However the form looks poorly formatted when it appears. The Email input field is compressed against the Send Link button. There appears to be no way to customize this form. It is pre-configured with what appears to be a fixed height. Is there some way to fix this?
The functionality is great but customers looking at it are not impressed.
Hi John,
The Save and Continue Feature is a functionality of Gravity Forms Core and the Gravity Forms Support will be the best people to resolve this. I’ll suggest you get in touch with Gravity Forms Support and make them aware of your recommendations.
Best,
I access many different saved forms that share the same form ID.
The problem I seem to be having with this plugin in, is that if I access a saved form that belongs to user A, and then try to access a saved form that belongs to user B, it continues to load the user A data.
Is there something I can do to work around this?
Hi Greg,
We’ve already followed up via mail.
Best,
Would there be a way to prevent one field in a form from being restored from the saved entry or alternatively to overwrite the restored value programmatically? I have a field which I am trying to load dynamically using gform_field_value in my functions code. It works when this plug in is disabled but does not show the updated value after the saved values are restored with the plugin enabled. My assumption is that the saved values are overwriting the dynamically populated value for this field. The field in question is a hidden field that is only used to determine conditional display of other form fields and so does not have to be saved at all. Thanks.
Hi Kathy,
This would require some digging from our Dev team since the form will restore what has been saved. Anything already populated in the form will be saved and restored.
If you have an active Gravity Perks license, you can get in touch with us via our support form so we can assist you further.
Best,
I would love to see added support for automatically saving values per field change. I could really use this!
Hi Sidney,
I’ve passed this feature request to our Product team.
Cheers,
We are still waiting for this amazing feature. Not sure when it will be ready?
Hi Ali,
This is still on our feature request board but there isn’t any ETA yet.
Best,
Maybe a way of solving the logged-out problem is to offer the save and continue function at the beginning of a form, with an email field so users can be encouraged to send themselves a link at the beginning, but still carry on filling in the form.
Is that feasible by a snippet or workaround?
Hi,
We’ve had other customers make similar request, and although our developers have added this to the feature request board, there is currently no ETA for this. I’ll add this to the request list we have for this feature to help increase it’s priority.
Best,
Following up on Samuel’s reply – there is not current stop-gap solution but we’re looking to add support for Save & Continue to Notification Scheduler. I could see an option there to auto-enable Save & Continue and link it to an email field on the form. In this way, if the user doesn’t complete the form, you could automatically email them a link with the Save & Continue token after a specified delay.
Still a ways off but curious if that would be a viable solution for you?
Can we get some additional functionality for this where it saves the users form data in a session and if they enter the same email address again it asks if they want to repopulate their last form submission? Or, maybe save the data locally instead of to a user account? I agree, the S&C plugin could be improved and this seems to do it, but none of the users who submit our forms have an account. We still want them to pickup and start again later though without having to save the link the original plugin generated. Should honestly be something that uses local storage, even if temporary.
Hi Brad,
When using the Save and Continue functionality for non-logged-in Users, the only way to get the user’s data is to use the Save and Continue Link that is generated. Since you’re looking to get the data from the user’s last form submission, a solution that would work for you will be to use GP Populate Anything to populate the form fields with values from the last entry submitted by the user, using the Email Address entered as a filter. Here is tutorial documentation with a similar setup.
Best,
Hi there,
This plugin looks to be exactly what I need for a requirement from one of our users. One question, if I may: how can a user discard the data they’ve entered and start from scratch? If a user returns to a form they partially submitted 2 days ago, they may not want to complete it, and certainly won’t want to clear it down to fill in again.
Thanks! Stephen
Hi Stephen,
We don’t have a ready solution for this one. If you’re a Gravity Perks customer, drop us a line and we’ll be happy to look into adding support for it.
Is there any way to eliminate the confirmation page? Upon the user selecting “Save and Continue” I would like to redirect them to their profile page (or any other page). I see no need to ever display the confirmation content.
Hi Jim,
You can change the confirmation page from the Confirmation settings when you activate the Save and Continue functionality on the form. This is possible by default with the Save and Continue functionality without using the snippet.
Best,
Is the “save and continue” link stored anywhere that an admin (myself) can manually send to a user who has lost their copy?
Hi Mike,
I can’t confirm that there’s a native feature from Gravity Forms to resend Save and Continue links to users.
If you have an active Gravity Perks License, you can get in touch with us via our support form with your account email address and we’ll be happy to dig into this further.
Best,
Hello,
Is it possible to extract the link to resume the form to display it in gravity view?
Hi Raphel,
As far as I know, this isn’t possible. You may want to get in touch with GravityView Support to see if they have a way to do this.
Best,
I’ve activated this plugin including the snippet to limit it to a specific form and I’m still seeing the default GF notice of the link and 30 day expiry, etc.
Hi Scot,
The tutorial helps you add an Automatic Save and Continue functionality for logged-in users and doesn’t modify the default Gravity Forms link and the 30 days expiry notice.
Best,
Hi
Can we do this for Non-Logged In users ? I have this type of requirement : https://stackoverflow.com/questions/69271012/how-to-save-gravity-form-data-for-non-logged-in-user
Hi Parthavi,
Currently, this feature is not supported. If you use GP Nested Forms it could work since Nested Forms save not submitted parent entries in a cookie which can be retrieved by the user later.
If you have an active Gravity Perks License, you can get in touch with us via our support form with your account email address and we’ll be happy to dig into this further.
Best,
This is awesome by the way – great work everyone on this!
Hello, I have the licensed version of Gravity Forms with the Quiz addon installed. I have installed this plugin as well, so that it will automatically save the users progress and they progress through the quiz, however, it doesn’t seem to work. If I manually save, I think it does pre-populate fields with the their entries, but it doesn’t update as they progress automatically.
Any Help would be appreciated!
Hi Raymond,
Thanks for reaching out. When testing locally it seems to be working as expected.
If you have an active Gravity Perks License, you can get in touch with us via our support form with your account email address and we’ll be happy to dig into this further.
Best,
Is there any way to store in ‘entries’ the data that has been saved? So that I can contact a client to check if there has been any problem while filling? Thanks
Hi Jose,
Gravity Forms Partial Entries Addon will be suitable for what you want to do. You may want to check it out.
Best,
what? for free? 🤩 I’ll definitely test it soon. Thank you so much for this! An awesome and essential resource for me that I have a post creator frontend setup with “Gravity Forms Advanced Post Creation Add-On”
I’ll be back in a few days with review and suggestions…