EntryPort for Gravity Forms

Description

Import Gravity Forms entries from CSV or Excel files in the Exportly for Gravity layout, with strict file checks and a one-click sample CSV.

🚀 Spreadsheet Rows to Gravity Forms Entries, In a Few Clicks

EntryPort for Gravity Forms adds a dedicated import screen inside the Gravity Forms admin menu. Select a form, upload a CSV or Excel (XLSX) file, and the plugin creates one new Gravity Forms entry for each row in your file.

EntryPort is the companion to Exportly for Gravity. Where Exportly downloads your form entries to a spreadsheet, EntryPort reads that spreadsheet back in and recreates the entries inside a Gravity Form. Together they let you move, restore, and migrate form data with ease.

Getting existing data into Gravity Forms — from a spreadsheet, an old system, or another website — is normally slow and error-prone. EntryPort makes it a guided task, and it checks your file before importing: if the file does not match the exact column structure of the selected form, the import stops with a clear message before any entry is created.

✨ Why Choose EntryPort for Gravity Forms?

• One Simple Screen — No extra menus or settings pages. Pick a form, choose a file, and import.
• CSV and Excel — Upload a .csv or .xlsx file, whichever your team prefers.
• Mistakes Caught Early — Strict structure validation rejects a mismatched file and tells you exactly which column is wrong.
• Ready-Made Template — One click downloads a sample CSV with the exact columns the selected form requires.
• Clear Results — Every import reports how many entries were imported, how many rows were skipped, and why.
• Safe for Existing Data — Imports only add new entries. Current entries are never modified or deleted.
• Admin-Only — Nothing changes on the public-facing website. Visitors see no difference.

⚙️ How It Works

1. Choose — Open Forms > EntryPort for Gravity Forms and select the form you want to import entries into.
2. Prepare — Use a file exported by Exportly for Gravity for the same form, or click Download Sample CSV to get a correctly formatted template.
3. Validate — When you upload a file, EntryPort reads its header row and compares it, column by column, with the structure Exportly for Gravity produces for that form: six fixed columns followed by one column per form field, using the field labels as headers. If the columns do not match, the import stops and an error explains exactly which column is wrong.
4. Import — When the structure matches, each remaining row is turned into a Gravity Forms entry with GFAPI::add_entry(). The fixed columns populate the entry’s metadata and the remaining columns populate the matching form fields.
5. Review — A notice reports how many entries were created and lists any rows that could not be imported. The new entries appear under Forms > Entries for that form.

🧩 Features at a Glance

• CSV Import — Import Gravity Forms entries from a CSV file.

• XLSX Import — Import Gravity Forms entries from an Excel (XLSX) file, read with the bundled PhpSpreadsheet library.

• Strict Structure Validation — The uploaded file must match the selected form’s Exportly layout, or the import is rejected with a specific error, such as the wrong number of columns or a column in the wrong place.

• Download Sample CSV — A one-click button generates a template with the exact columns for the selected form, plus example rows you can replace with your own data.

• Clear Import Results — An on-screen message reports how many entries were imported, how many rows were skipped, and a short explanation for any row that could not be added.

• Multi-Part Field Support — Fields such as Name, Address, and Checkboxes are supported, with one column per part, so their information is imported correctly rather than lost.

• Content-Based File Verification — Uploaded files are verified by their actual contents, not just their file extension.

• Formula-Injection Round Trip — Restores values that Exportly escaped to prevent spreadsheet formula injection, so they come back as they were originally entered.

• Standards-Compliant CSV Reading — CSV reading follows strict RFC 4180, so values containing backslashes import unchanged.

• Sensible Row Handling — Completely blank rows are skipped automatically, and rows without a valid Entry Date are given the current date and time.

• Permission-Aware — Uses the WordPress admin area and Gravity Forms capabilities to control who can import.

• Accessible Import Screen — Reduced-motion support and a visible focus indicator in Windows High Contrast Mode.

📄 Know Exactly What Your File Needs

For an import to succeed, your file’s columns must exactly match what the selected form expects. This is the same layout Exportly for Gravity produces, so a file exported by that plugin for the same form imports without changes.

Standard information columns come first, in this order:

• Entry Date — the date and time of the entry (leave blank to use the current time)
• User Agent — browser and device information (optional)
• User IP — the submitter’s IP address (optional)
• Source Url — the page the entry came from (optional)
• Is Starred — whether the entry should be starred (use 1 for yes, 0 for no)
• Is Read — whether the entry should be marked as read (use 1 for yes, 0 for no)

Your form’s field columns follow: one column per form field, in form order, using each field’s label. Multi-part fields such as Name or Address use one column per part. Display-only elements — section headings, page breaks, plain HTML blocks, and CAPTCHA — are not included.

Do not rename, add, remove, or reorder the columns. The import checks them exactly, and any change causes the file to be rejected. The safest starting point is always a file exported by Exportly for Gravity for the same form, or the Sample CSV.

🔐 Who Can Import

Access to the import screen is controlled by WordPress and Gravity Forms permissions, so only trusted staff can add entries to your forms:

• Administrators — full access.
• Roles granted the Gravity Forms “edit entries” permission — can open the import screen and import entries.
• Editors, Authors, and Contributors — no access unless they are explicitly granted that permission.
• Subscribers, customers, and visitors — no access.

🔒 Privacy & Data Handling

• Importing only adds new entries to the form you choose. Existing entries are left untouched.
• There is no separate settings page and nothing is saved between sessions. You make your choices each time you import.
• The plugin works entirely inside the WordPress admin area and makes no changes to your theme, pages, or forms.
• Import files can contain personal information. Store them securely and remove the ones you no longer need.

🔁 Round-Trip With Exportly for Gravity

Pair EntryPort for Gravity Forms with Exportly for Gravity for a complete export-and-import toolkit: export from one place, import into another.

• Move entries between sites — export a form on the source site, then import the file into the matching form on the destination site. The destination form must have the same fields, in the same order, as the source form.
• Restore a previous export — upload a file you exported earlier into the same form.
• Back up before large imports — export a form’s existing entries first, so you can always return to a known-good state.

EntryPort is a separate plugin and does not modify Exportly for Gravity. You can run both at the same time.

💡 Best For

• Agencies and site owners moving entries from a staging site to a live site, or between websites.
• Teams bulk-loading entries from a spreadsheet or an old system instead of adding them by hand.
• Administrators restoring entries from an earlier Exportly export.
• Anyone who wants a file check before the import, not a clean-up after it.

📋 Requirements

• WordPress 5.8 or newer.
• Gravity Forms, installed and activated.
• A Gravity Form to import into. The form must already exist.
• PHP 8.1 or newer, because the bundled PhpSpreadsheet dependency requires PHP 8.1.

Disclaimer

This plugin requires Gravity Forms to be installed and active. It is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Rocketgenius, Inc. or Gravity Forms. Gravity Forms is a trademark of Rocketgenius, Inc.