Shortcode Builder

This feature is available in GravityOps Search Premium.

Overview #

The Shortcode Builder is a visual, point-and-click tool built directly into the GravityOps Search admin page. It lets you construct [gravops_search] shortcodes interactively without writing any shortcode syntax by hand. Every attribute, search filter, display option, and output template is wired to a live UI control, and the shortcode preview updates in real time as you configure it.

Navigate to GravityOps → GravityOps Search → Shortcode Builder to open it.

---

Building a shortcode #

1. Target forms #

Choose which Gravity Forms to search:

• All forms — check “All forms” to query every form on the site (target="0").
• Specific forms — leave the checkbox unchecked and tick one or more forms from the list. The first selected form is the primary form and drives the field-aware UI (field dropdowns, sort options, entry meta display, etc.). You can reorder the selection or mark a different form as primary using the “Make primary” button on each chip.

2. Attributes #

The Attributes card covers the core shortcode settings:

Setting	Shortcode attribute
Match mode (ALL / ANY)	search_mode
Search empty values	search_empty
Sort by / direction / numeric	sort_key, sort_direction, sort_is_num
Secondary sort	secondary_sort_key, secondary_sort_direction
Limit	limit
Unique results only	unique
Result separator	separator
Default value(s)	default
Wrap in admin entry link	link

3. Search filters #

Three buttons let you add different kinds of filter rows:

• + Add filter — filter by a specific field ID or entry property chosen from a dropdown.
• + By label — filter by field label. The builder emits search_label and resolves to the actual field ID(s) at runtime, so the shortcode works across multiple forms even when field IDs differ.
• + By type — filter by field type (e.g., email, text, select). The builder emits search_type.

Each row has:

• Mode selector (By ID / By Label / By Type) — set when the row was added; can be changed at any time. Switching mode resets the field/label/type value.
• Field / label / type input — for By ID rows, a dropdown populated from the primary form’s fields, entry properties, and detected entry meta (including Gravity Flow workflow keys). For By Label or By Type rows, a free-text input.
• Operator — available operators adjust to the field type for By ID rows (numeric fields get gt, lt, etc.; boolean fields get = and != only). By Label and By Type rows show the full operator list.
• Value — plain text, a number, a date picker, or a comma-separated list for in / not in operators.

Rows can be reordered by dragging the numbered handle on the left. Click Remove to delete a row.

Field match (label and type rows) #

When at least one By Label or By Type row is present, a Field match setting appears:

Value	Behaviour
first (default)	Resolves to the first field in each target form with the matching label or type
all	Resolves to every field in each target form with the matching label or type

This emits field_match="all" in the shortcode when set to “All matches”; the attribute is omitted when using the default first.

Operator and content ordering #

When shortcodes mix search types, content pipe positions and operator positions follow this order: By ID rows first, then By Label rows, then By Type rows. The builder handles this automatically — the live shortcode preview always reflects the correct ordering.

Validation hints #

The validator warns when:

• A By Label or By Type row has no label/type set.
• Label or type filters span multiple forms without search_mode="any" — different field IDs resolve per form, so ANY mode is usually correct in this case.

4. Display #

Switch between the two output modes using the tabs under the Display card:

Simple field list — tick one or more fields, entry properties, entry meta keys, or special values (meta, num_results). Each entry outputs those values in order. Use “Discover available meta keys for this form” to run a quick introspection query that lists every key present in the most recent entry.

The field list groups items under:

• Entry properties — standard GF entry fields (ID, date created, payment status, etc.)
• Fields — [Form title] — all fields on the primary form, including sub-inputs for Name and Address fields.
• Entry Meta — [Form title] — extra meta keys detected in the form’s most recent entry (e.g., Gravity Flow workflow step meta, custom plugin meta). This section only appears when at least one entry exists.
• Special — meta (dump all available keys) and num_results (count of matched entries).

Template builder — stack blocks to assemble a per-entry output template:

Block type	What it does
Text	Literal text inserted verbatim
Field placeholder	Inserts a field, property, or meta value: {13}, {gos:workflow_step_id}, etc.
HTML wrapper	Wraps child blocks in an HTML element with optional attrs/classes
Nested shortcode	Emits a {{shortcode}} that the plugin resolves after placeholder substitution
Special	{num_results} or {gos:num_results}

Blocks can be nested inside HTML wrappers and reordered by dragging. The field placeholder picker includes the same Entry Meta group as the simple field list, giving you access to Gravity Flow and other plugin meta in templates.

---

Sidebar tools #

Live shortcode preview #

Displays the current shortcode. Click Display Shortcode to refresh, or Copy Shortcode to copy it to the clipboard with one click.

Validation #

Runs automatically and flags common issues:

• Error (red) — the shortcode will not work correctly as configured (e.g., no form selected, pipe character in a value, bare gos:id used with a text key, By Label/Type row with no value set).
• Warning (yellow) — likely unintended configuration (e.g., in operator with no values, label/type filters spanning multiple forms without search_mode="any").
• Info (blue) — informational notes (e.g., multi-form mode, limit="all" performance reminder, default/display count mismatch).

Test run #

Click ▶ Run shortcode to render the current shortcode on the server and preview the output in the panel. This is a live query — it reflects the actual entries in your database.

Save shortcode #

Enter a name and click Save to persist the current shortcode and its builder state to the Saved Shortcodes tab. Saved shortcodes are stored site-wide and visible to all users with the appropriate capability.

Presets #

Presets are personal (per-user) saves of the full builder state. They are useful for storing partially-built configurations or frequently reused setups that you want to come back to without saving a final shortcode. Presets are separate from Saved Shortcodes.

Starter templates give you a pre-configured state as a starting point for common patterns.

---

Saved Shortcodes tab #

Navigate to GravityOps → GravityOps Search → Saved Shortcodes to manage all shortcodes saved from the builder.

Each card shows:

• Name and the date it was saved.
• Shortcode — click anywhere on the code block to copy it to the clipboard. The block flashes green on a successful copy.
• Edit in Builder — loads the saved state back into the Shortcode Builder tab so you can modify it and re-save.
• Delete — removes the entry after a confirmation prompt.

---

Data storage and cleanup #

Data	Where stored	Removed on uninstall
Saved shortcodes	wp_options (gosp_saved_shortcodes)	Yes
Per-user presets	wp_usermeta (gosp_sb_presets)	Yes — all users