Essentials 1.8 for YOOtheme Pro - Save Form Submissions to a Database, CSV, or Google Sheet with Dynamic Content Workflow

Miljan Aleksic
14 Sep, 2022

Today we are introducing a two-way data flow for YOOtheme Pro Dynamic Content, a breakthrough that allows for the incoming form submission data to be mapped to a source with the same convenience outgoing data can be mapped to a layout. And to best illustrate it, we are introducing as well the long-awaited SaveToDatabase action.

Save To a Database

Our YOOtheme Pro Form Builder doesn't assume much about the workflow, we try instead to give you full control over what should happen after a form has been successfully submitted. We do so using After Submit Actions, and we wondered if we could use YOOtheme Pro Dynamic Content the other way around to improve the actions workflow. We let the idea mature while learning more with each new addon, and with the recent release of Dynamic Addon and its ability to resolve sources in more versatile ways, we finally got our answer. It turns out, yes, we can!

Hooking into the Dynamic Content workflow we are able to set a form submission as a source and use it to map its data as any other dynamic content. Finally, we had all the tools in place to release a proper SaveToDatabase action!

The new action allows you to choose an existing database table in any of the databases you have access to and save a new record using any submitted data, any dynamic content or even fixed values. But we went ahead and refactored all “save to” actions to support Dynamic Content and introduced the ability to enrich the submission with contextual data or alter it before being saved. You can now add the date & time of the submission, the current page URL or any other information your submission needs!

Conditional Execution

Executing an action based on dynamic conditions was already possible, but with the submission as a source interesting workflows are doable. You can execute an action based on the submitted data, for example send an email only if a certain checkbox has been marked.

Dynamic Configuration

Some actions would be more suitable with a dynamic configuration, for example, an Email Action subject could be set as the current page title: this is now possible for most configuration fields.

Data Placeholders

Submission data placeholders are still being supported as those are necessary when multiple data is mapped to the same field. But now it is even easier to use them by simply selecting the placeholder from a dropdown list, which will copy the content to the clipboard allowing you to paste it into the field as required.

Conclusion

With the submission as a source and the SaveToDatabase action combined with a Database Source more advanced workflows are now possible. We are excited to get your feedback on this release so let us know what you think in the comments below.

1.7.x Highlights

Additions worth mentioning from Essentials v1.7 last releases.

  • Friendly Captcha anti-spam solution.
  • Datetime comparison support for Dynamic Access rule.
  • Legend Position, Align and Reverse settings for Chart element.

Comments (25)

This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

YES! Thanks for that :)
Danny

Danny Malouin
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Very nice !
This open new possibilities and perspectives !
Thx.

Pascal Devif
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Excellent work guys, I've been using CSV files to dynamically add content to tables, and it is really amazing that I can do this. Used with Flart Studio's Table 9 with data tables, it is really powerful.

Nicholas Dring
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Whow cool,

question is it possible to overwrite the database
or can you only fill out a empty field?

Thx for the Update

Bodo Neumann
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

A new record will be created each time. Overwriting a record as in Update Record option, yes, will be considered :)

Miljan Aleksic
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Are there also plans to make calculations in the form, based on the options chosen in the form fields?

Webcube CommV
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

There are plans, although is not coming soon. For now the best option is to create a custom field.

Miljan Aleksic
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Very nice,

RSS Feeds for Source will be nice!

Karlheinz Franz
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Thanks for the great work! There should be another possibility to enter an ID as well as the date and time of the transmission of the form in the database. Would that be possible somehow?

Stephanie
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Ok, it all works so far. Very good. Unfortunately, there is only the date, e.g. 15.09.2022, but the time is missing. What do you have to set for the time?

Stephanie
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Format the value with the time included, eg Y-m-d G:i

Miljan Aleksic
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

.....it works fine now! Thank you

Stephanie
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Sounds really interesiting – Could you give a real world example for what purpose)s) this could be used?

Rob Sari
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Sure, you can simply use a table to store your form submissions, or you could create workflows where the submissions are further processed, eg a Poll which results are displayed in a table and a chart.

Miljan Aleksic
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Wow! Wow! Wow!!! May God keep you safe and bless you with good health! Thank you and keep up the good work.

Debo Ogungbeje
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Thank you :D

Miljan Aleksic
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Just so we understand, this is for custom database tables only, and not for creating standard frontend/backend accessible content likes posts and custom post types?

Shawn Wright
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

You are correct, although that is coming next.

Miljan Aleksic
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Great job.

Kasjan Bojarowski
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Waited this for long, extending subscription without any hesitation!
Great great job, Bravo!

Ding Hui
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Thank you!

Miljan Aleksic
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Hey great work Zoolanders. Can you give us an unsupported userplace e.g. forum to exchange informations for examples ?

Ronald Wegert
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Hey Ronald! Currently we're using Github Discussions for gathering ideas and discuss our products in general, would that be ok?

https://github.com/joolanders/feedback/discussions

Daniele Rosario
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

For some time we were considering Discord and we have decided to give it a go. Join our server with https://discord.gg/3BT5nHauWr

Miljan Aleksic
There are no comments posted here yet