Gravity Forms – redirect send form values to external API

Intro

In this tutorial, we will delve into a highly practical topic: identifying the appropriate Gravity Forms hook to effectively transmit the data we’ve gathered from our various forms to an external form while implementing a redirect.

Imagine a scenario where you have multiple Gravity Forms, each equipped with its unique array of fields. Your objective is to amass the data submitted by users and then redirect them to another location, carrying over the gathered information as pre-filled values through GET parameters. Subsequently, our API will take charge of these form submissions, either processing them automatically or prompting the user to finalize the submission, depending on the situation.

Redirect Prerequisties

If the API we need to access is hosted on an external domain, there are some essential considerations we must address before establishing a connection. One of the initial steps in this process involves whitelisting the external domain to ensure that it is recognized and trusted by our system.

To accomplish this, we can utilize a specific hook, which acts as a gatekeeper for our system’s security and data exchange. The hook serves as a mechanism through which we can specify which external domains are permitted to interact with our system. By “whitelisting” the external domain using this hook, we essentially grant it permission to access and communicate with our system seamlessly.

This security measure is crucial to safeguard against potential security risks and unauthorized access attempts. By explicitly allowing only trusted external domains to connect to our system, we establish a secure and controlled environment for data exchange. This step helps protect sensitive information, maintain the integrity of our system, and ensure that interactions with external APIs are both reliable and secure. It’s an important aspect of managing connections and ensuring that our system operates smoothly while upholding the highest standards of data security and privacy.

If we haven’t used the specified hook, the default behavior would be to redirect us to the wp-admin section of the website. This practice holds significant merit, as it grants us full control over the redirection process. This ensures that accidental redirects are minimized, and users are directed precisely where we intend them to go.

This approach serves as a robust safeguard against potential security risks. For instance, if our redirection was variable-based and our site fell victim to a hijacking attempt—let’s say, someone aimed to gather our valuable leads and attempted to spoof the URL—the individuals submitting the form would not inadvertently end up on the wrong site. This protective measure also guarantees that no one inadvertently submits a form on an imposter site that mimics ours, with the sole malicious intention of pilfering our leads.

Gravity Hooks

For the purpose of this tutorial, let’s establish a specific objective: we aim to gather and preserve all the data submitted by users and create comprehensive Gravity Forms entries that capture this information in its entirety.

To achieve this, it’s crucial to understand that we must integrate with Gravity Forms’ confirmation hook, a pivotal component of the process. This hook serves as the gateway to a seamless transition from user submissions to the creation of comprehensive Gravity Forms entries. It acts as the bridge that facilitates the smooth flow of data, ensuring that every piece of information provided by users is meticulously recorded and stored within the Gravity Forms system.

By hooking into the Gravity Forms confirmation hook, we can confidently streamline our data collection and entry creation process, resulting in a robust and efficient system that meets our specific requirements. This fundamental step paves the way for a seamless and successful implementation of our data collection and entry creation objectives.

This hook will collect the lead data and construct the final URL using useful WordPress methods and hooks:

• add_query_arg
• allowed_redirect_hosts
• wp_safe_redirect

WHERE TO GET GRAVITY FORMS FROM👇