{"id":22874,"date":"2025-01-19T08:28:31","date_gmt":"2025-01-19T13:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gravityforms.com\/blog\/auto-draft\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T16:34:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T20:34:21","slug":"dynamic-population-tutorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gravityforms.com\/blog\/dynamic-population-tutorial\/","title":{"rendered":"Gravity Forms Dynamic Population: The Complete Guide for All Users"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Gravity<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interested in Gravity Forms’ dynamic population feature but not sure how, or even why<\/em>, to use it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dynamic population opens up a lot of options for helping you create more effective and user-friendly WordPress forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it is a slightly more advanced feature, so it can take a little bit of time to wrap your head around how to use it most effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To help you get the most from Gravity Forms’ dynamic population, this post will not just show you how to set it up, but also explain some of the reasons why you might want to use it and give you some examples of when it can be helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you already have a specific use case in mind, you can click this link to jump straight to the tutorial part of this article<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Otherwise, we’re going to get started with a general introduction to what dynamic population is, the different ways it can be utilized, and some real examples of when to use each approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, we’ll get into the step-by-step tutorials for how to use it on your site\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is Gravity Forms Dynamic Population?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In a nutshell, Gravity Forms dynamic population lets you pre-fill\/pre-select fields in your form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These could be fields that are visible to the visitor (and that the visitor could edit if needed), but they could also be hidden fields that are only visible to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, you could pre-fill the “Email” field with the user’s email address or you could pre-select a checkbox in a list based on the link that a person visited from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dynamic population has two high-level benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the people submitting your forms, it lets you create a better user experience by eliminating as much friction as possible. Rather than requiring users to duplicate their efforts or manually fill in information, you can pre-fill\/pre-select the form as much as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For WordPress admins, it lets you create more optimized workflows. For example, you could easily create contact forms for a whole team of sales people from one base form. Or, you could add helpful backend information to forms that’s only visible to admins using dynamically populated hidden fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Should You Use Dynamic Population?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It’s impossible to list every use case for dynamic population, but we can talk about some high-level situations in which it can be helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Add Backend Information to Improve Workflows and Differentiate Forms<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

First, dynamic population can be helpful for adding backend information to forms to improve your workflows and help you differentiate between different forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can do this using hidden fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, let’s say you run lots of events. To let people register for each event, you want to include an event registration form on each separate event page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One option would be to create a unique form for each event. However, this would quickly become complex as you’d need to manage a bunch of different forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, you could just create one form and then use dynamic population to add the correct event name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So if a user submitted the form on the “GravityNY” event page, it would show the event as “GravityNY”. But if a user submitted that same form on the “GravityUK” event page, it would show the event as “GravityUK”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can do something similar with landing pages, to help you track which landing pages are driving the most sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or, you could use dynamic population to track how user behavior connects to your form. For example, you could pre-fill certain information in a public or hidden field based on a specific browser cookie that a user has.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pre-Fill Information to Reduce Friction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Dynamic population can also help you reduce friction by pre-filling information in your forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, if you already have a user’s email address, there’s no reason to ask them to enter it again. Instead, you could use dynamic population to pre-fill the email field with the user’s email address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If a user is logged in to WordPress, you can also pre-fill the form with the user’s information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also pre-fill non-user information, such as filling in the current date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or, you could nudge users in the right direction, while still letting them adjust the field if needed. For example, let’s say you have different sales agents and you want to let users choose which agent to message using a drop-down. To create a better experience, you could pre-select an agent based on the page from which a user accessed the form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, if the user accessed the form from the agent listing page for “Jon Brown”, it would pre-select Jon Brown in the drop-down (while still allowing the user to edit the drop-down if they want to message another agent).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Four Different Methods of Gravity Forms Dynamic Population<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In total, Gravity Forms gives you four different options for dynamic population. While each approach shares some similarities, your use case will help decide which makes the most sense for your form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a quick list – we’ll explain them in more detail below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Query string<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Shortcode<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Block<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Hook<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    When to Use Query String Dynamic Population<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Query strings are small bits of code that you append to the end of a page’s URL. They’re not unique to Gravity Forms, but Gravity Forms does support using them to dynamically populate a field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Here’s an example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \nhttps:\/\/siteurl.com\/form-url\/?your_parameter_name=value\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    In this case, the query string starts at the question mark – ?your_parameter=value<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It will still display the base URL – https:\/\/siteurl.com\/form-url\/<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    However, adding the query string lets you pass additional information alongside the URL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Here’s an example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Gravity<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This method is especially helpful if you want to dynamically populate a form based on the link that a user clicks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    However, one downside of using query parameters to populate fields is that the field value is visible in the URL. For this reason, you shouldn’t use this approach for any information that might cause a problem if a user accidentally shared the URL that includes the query parameters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When to Use Shortcode Dynamic Population<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    You can also set up dynamic population using the regular Gravity Forms embed shortcode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The shortcode method of dynamic population is especially helpful when you want to modify the value of a field based on the post that it’s embedded in. Instead of needing to create a separate form for each post, you can just create a single form and then use dynamic population to automatically adjust things based on the post in which the form is embedded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The example above of creating an event registration form that you use for different events would be a good fit for the shortcode method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Shortcode dynamic population can also be helpful when chaining two forms together because you can use the shortcode to pre-fill information in the second form with information from the first form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When to Use Block Dynamic Population<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Block dynamic population works pretty much the same as the shortcode method above. The only difference is that you’re working from the Gravity Forms block and the block settings instead of the shortcode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As such, the block approach has the same benefits and use cases as the shortcode method – it really just depends on which interface you prefer using.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The shortcode method is more versatile in a few specific areas, though, most notably if you want to chain two forms together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When to Use Hook Dynamic Population<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Finally, you can also use PHP to dynamically populate your forms using the gform_field_value_[parameter] filter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This lets you dynamically populate a field with the result of any PHP function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Because you can use any PHP function, the main advantage of this method is that it gives you the most flexibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You can easily pull in data from other parts of your WordPress site as needed. Or, you can use PHP functions in other ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Here are some examples of how you might populate field data using this method, to give you an idea of its flexibility<\/p>\n\n\n\n