---
title: Merge Tags and Entry Meta
description: "The plugin exposes its state in two places you can use without writing any code: **merge tags** for notifications and content, and **entry meta columns** for the entry list, searches and exports. --- ## Merge Tags All five appear in…"
url: "https://brightleafdigital.io/docs/merge-tags-and-entry-meta/"
updated: "2026-10-18"
category: Recurring Form Submissions for Gravity Forms / Settings Reference
---

# Merge Tags and Entry Meta

The plugin exposes its state in two places you can use without writing any code: **merge tags** for notifications and content, and **entry meta columns** for the entry list, searches and exports.

---

## Merge Tags

All five appear in the Gravity Forms merge-tag picker under "Recurring Submissions".

| Merge tag | Available on | What it returns |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `{resubmission_progress}` | Child entries | How far through the series this child is. |
| `{is_auto_submission}` | Child entries | Whether this entry was created by the plugin. |
| `{rfsfgf_is_parent_submission}` | Parent entries | Whether this entry is a series parent. |
| `{total_resubmissions}` | Parent entries | How many successful resubmissions this parent has produced. |
| `{rfsfgf_feed_label}` | Both | The feed's label. |

### Typical uses

**Tell recipients which instalment they're looking at**

```
This is submission {resubmission_progress} of your recurring inspection.
```

**Keep an existing notification off automated children**

Add conditional logic to the notification using `{is_auto_submission}` so it only sends for human submissions.

**Label multi-schedule forms**

When a form runs several recurring feeds, `{rfsfgf_feed_label}` tells the reader which one produced the entry. Because **Feed Label** itself supports merge tags, the label can be entry-specific.

---

## Entry Meta Columns

The plugin registers five entry meta values. They can be added as columns in the entry list, used in entry searches and filters, and included in exports.

| Column | Applies to | Contents |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Feed Label** | Both | The resolved feed label. |
| **Is Parent Submission** | Parent entries | Whether this entry started a series. |
| **Is Auto Submission** | Child entries | Whether the plugin created this entry. |
| **Total Resubmissions** | Parent entries | Successful resubmissions so far. |
| **Resubmissions Progress** | Child entries | This child's position in the series. |

None of them are default columns — add them from **Forms → Entries → (the column selector)**.

### What they're good for

| Goal | How |
| --- | --- |
| See which entries are recurring parents | Add **Is Parent Submission** as a column. |
| Exclude automated entries from a report | Filter on **Is Auto Submission**. |
| Export a series' progress | Include **Total Resubmissions** in the export. |
| Sort children by position | **Resubmissions Progress** is numeric and sortable. |

---

## Where These Values Come From

Entry meta is written when the entry is created, so:

- A **child** carries its own progress value from the moment it exists.
- A **parent's** total is updated as its series produces successful children.
- Deleting or trashing a child does **not** decrement the parent's progress — see *Deletions, Trashing and Other Edge Cases*.

---

## Values the Plugin Does Not Expose as Merge Tags

Deliberately not available as merge tags:

- Internal series and attempt IDs — those live in Queue history and diagnostics.
- Worker timing evidence.
- Failure codes and validation field IDs.

If you need those in an integration, read them from the hooks in *Developer Reference: Hooks and Filters* rather than from entry content.

---

## A Note on Child Entries and Count Fields

If a Number field on the form supplies the end-condition count, it is set to **zero** on every child entry.

That prevents a child from starting a schedule of its own, and it's why a child's count field shows `0` rather than the remaining number. Changing that is on the roadmap.