I’m helping migrate my father’s site to WordPress and rebuilding his forms using Gravity Forms. He’s been using custom programming for about 10 years and needs specific field identifiers to maintain his existing code integration.
The issue I’m facing is that while I can see field IDs in the form builder, they appear to be locked and unchangeable. My dad mentioned he can modify his backend code if needed, but he requires consistent field names for each form element.
What he specifically needs is stable, unique identifiers for dropdown menu options. For instance, when a user selects an option from a dropdown list, that selection must have a predictable field name that he can reference in his database queries.
Each dropdown choice needs its own distinct identifier that won’t change. Can Gravity Forms handle this requirement? I apologize if my explanation isn’t clear - I’m not very technical and I’m typing this quickly.
If Gravity Forms doesn’t support this functionality, could someone recommend alternative form plugins that might work better for this use case?
Gravity Forms will work for you, but everyone’s missing something important. Field mappings can get completely scrambled when you export/backup and restore forms. I found this out the hard way during a server migration - all our dropdown values reset to default numbering. Here’s what saved me: document your field structure before changing anything. Make a simple spreadsheet that maps each field ID to what it does and connects dropdown values to their identifiers. You’ll thank yourself later when troubleshooting or recreating forms. Also heads up - if your dad’s code references specific table structures, he’ll probably need to adjust queries for wp_gf_entries and related tables. WordPress database prefixes can mess things up. The data integrity is rock solid once you get the mapping right. Just test everything in staging first. Build a small form with the exact dropdown structure your dad needs, then have him verify his backend code processes the data correctly before rebuilding everything.
Skip the Gravity Forms hooks and CSS headaches - there’s a way cleaner solution.
I hit this same problem when our marketing team needed form data to match our database structure. The real issue isn’t just field identifiers - it’s keeping them working long-term with your dad’s backend code.
I built an automation layer that handles field mapping and data transformation automatically. Form structures can change, but the backend integration stays solid.
The automation grabs form submissions, maps fields to what your dad’s code expects, and delivers clean data. No more stress about field ID changes or dropdown inconsistencies.
You can add validation, error handling, and backups without touching the form. Your dad gets predictable field names, you get reliability.
This beats wrestling with form builders every time.
Latenode works great for this - bridges forms and existing code perfectly: https://latenode.com
Your dad’s situation is totally manageable with Gravity Forms. I dealt with something similar during a platform migration where we needed legacy integrations to keep working.
Field IDs in the builder stay stable once you create them. They won’t change unless you delete and recreate fields. For dropdowns, use the “value” field in each choice - that’s your consistent identifier.
When you set up dropdown choices, you get two fields: label (what users see) and value (what gets stored). Put your database-friendly identifiers in the value field. So if you’ve got a “Product Type” dropdown, the label might say “Premium Service” but the value could be “prod_premium_001”.
This way your dad’s queries can always look for “prod_premium_001” no matter how the display text changes later.
Form submissions pass these values exactly as you set them. No surprises in the database.
I’ve seen this work reliably across WordPress updates and plugin changes. Just be consistent with your naming convention from the start.
If you need dynamic behavior or complex validation, the gform_pre_render hook lets you modify fields before display without breaking the core identifiers.
Gravity Forms definitely handles this, though it took me forever to figure out the right approach when migrating a client’s old system. The trick is understanding how Gravity Forms structures its data output. Beyond the dropdown values others mentioned, your dad should know field IDs follow a predictable pattern in $_POST data. Field 3 becomes “input_3”, field 5 becomes “input_5”, etc. These stay constant unless you delete fields. For dropdowns, the selected value passes through exactly as you define it in the choice value field. Here’s what most people miss though - you can also reference these programmatically using the GFAPI class if your dad prefers that over parsing POST data. I’d suggest creating a test form first and examining the actual data structure that gets submitted. Use a simple script to dump the $_POST array or check the entry data in the Gravity Forms entries page. This gives your dad a clear picture of exactly what identifiers and values he’ll be working with in his existing code.
gravity forms does this quite well! you can set custom css classes & values under the advanced tab for dropdowns. also, check out the gform_pre_submission hook - it ensures the values stay consistent, even if the display text changes. been using it for years on various sites!