GravityView Featured Entries

GravityView Featured Entries is a GravityView extension that allows you to highlight specific entries within any published WordPress view, visually prioritizing them over the rest without altering the database or permissions of the original form. It's ideal for operators managing complex directories, listings, or catalogs where certain records require greater visibility in a controlled and reproducible way.

Introduction to GravityView Featured Entries

When an editorial or directory operation grows and the administrator needs certain records to always appear first—without manually reordering the view or touching the underlying form settings—this plugin eliminates exactly that friction, providing a layer of visual prioritization that works on top of the GravityView ecosystem without breaking established workflows.

The tool operates at the view level, not the form level. This means that the "featured" field does not contaminate the original Gravity Forms data, reducing the risk of errors when bulk updating entries or exporting records for external integrations.

An administrator managing a supplier directory, for example, can mark premium listings from the back end without editing the form or creating duplicate entries. The view updates the order visually, and the marketing team can verify the results in real time without opening the Gravity Forms dashboard.

Product overview

This extension acts directly on the GravityView presentation layer, offering sorting and highlighting control that impacts the stability of the content flow, the end visitor's experience, and the operator's ability to maintain editorial consistency in directories or catalogs that scale over time.

Before this module was implemented, highlighting a record involved modifying form fields, creating ad hoc conditional logic, or manually reordering each time the selection changed. The process was fragile and depended on someone remembering to undo it.

• Without the add-on: The operator modifies values in form fields to simulate priority, generating inconsistencies in exports and subsequent reports.
• With the active add-on: The "featured" state is activated directly from the view in the GravityView back-end, without touching the form or input data.
• Observable result: Featured entries appear first in the public view, the order is persistent and reversible, and form data remains intact for reporting or integrations.

Requirements and compatibility

To function correctly, this extension requires GravityView to be operational on the site, as it acts as a direct complement to that platform; before deploying it in production, it is advisable to verify that existing views do not have forced orderings that may conflict with the module's prioritization logic.

• Primary dependency: GravityView must be active and have at least one view configured that consumes inputs from Gravity Forms.
• Functional compatibility with table, list, and DataTables views; also with search filters and native GravityView pagination.
• It is recommended to test in a staging environment when existing views already have custom sorting by fields, to confirm that the prioritization of featured items does not override sorting criteria expected by the editorial team.

Key benefits for your operation

• Prioritization without altering source data: Marking an entry as important from the back end is a completely separate operation from the form data. This prevents reports, exports, or CRM integrations from receiving unexpected values, reducing downstream errors in the data flow.
• Reversible editorial control: The "featured" status can be toggled on and off at any time without affecting the form or other views. The operator regains immediate control over what appears first, which is especially useful for temporary campaigns or editorial content rotations.
• Reduction of operational load in large directories: In directories with hundreds of entries, manually finding and elevating certain records is time-consuming. This extension centralizes that action within the GravityView interface, where the administrator already works, without opening additional windows or external tools.
• Visual consistency in public views: Visitors always see the entries that the operator has prioritized first, which improves the browsing experience in listings where the relevance of the order is part of the product itself—such as service directories, freelance marketplaces, or event catalogs.
• Natural integration with existing flows: It doesn't require reconfiguring existing views or migrating data. The tool integrates seamlessly into the workflow without disrupting what already works, reducing adoption time and the risk of regressions in production.
• Operational scalability: As the directory grows, the highlighting mechanism remains just as manageable. The module doesn't generate accumulated technical debt, unlike makeshift solutions with extra fields or complex conditional logic.

GravityView Featured Entries

• Featured status field managed from the view: The plugin adds a control to the GravityView entry editing panel that allows you to check or uncheck the highlighted status. It is not a Gravity Forms field, so it does not appear in form exports and does not affect the integrity of the original dataset.
• Automatic sorting of featured entries at the top: The flagged entries are automatically positioned above the rest in the public view. Visitors don't need to apply filters or sort manually; the priority is immediate and transparent.
• Compatibility with distinctive visual styles: The extension allows you to apply specific CSS classes to featured posts, making it easier for the design or development team to add visual indicators—badges, borders, backgrounds—without additional logic in templates.
• Bulk management from the back-end: It is possible to highlight or remove the status of multiple entries from the GravityView administration screen, reducing the time needed to update entire listings in campaigns or frequent editorial changes.
• State persistence between sessions: The "featured" state is stably stored in the database associated with the entry and the view, ensuring that it is not lost when updating the view, clearing caches, or regenerating permalinks.
• Compatibility with GravityView search and filters: Featured posts maintain their priority even when the visitor applies filters or search terms. If a featured post matches the search criteria, it continues to appear first within the filtered results.

Who is this product for?

This plugin is especially useful for operators who publish directories, service catalogs, or content listings where the order of appearance has commercial or editorial value, and who need to update that prioritization frequently without relying on a developer each time.

• Site administrators with directories of suppliers, professionals or events who need to highlight specific records in a controlled and traceable manner.
• Teams that manage multiple views or sites with GravityView and require that the highlighting logic be consistent and not dependent on ad hoc custom fields in each project.
• Content or marketing managers who need to rotate featured posts based on campaigns, without access to the code or the underlying form settings.

Real-world use cases

• Directory of providers with premium memberships: A B2B platform offers its suppliers the option to pay for additional visibility in the directory. Without this module, the team manually reorders entries or uses form fields to simulate priority, leading to inconsistencies. With the extension active, each premium listing is marked as featured within seconds and appears at the top of the view. The result: the team can manage dozens of premium suppliers without touching the form and without errors in monthly data exports.
• Catalog of events with sponsors: A local events website highlights sponsored events over free ones. Previously, the administrator edited a text field to simulate the order, which polluted the form data. This module allows sponsored events to be marked directly in GravityView and a distinctive visual style to be applied via CSS. Visitors immediately identify priority events, and the administrator can rotate featured events each week in under two minutes.
• Marketplace for freelancers with verified profiles: A recruitment platform wants verified profiles to always appear first in search results. The workaround required complex conditional logic and caused problems when updating the view. With this extension, verified profiles are marked as featured and maintain their position even when the visitor filters by specialty or location. The operations team manages the verified profile list from the back end without technical intervention.
• List of editorial resources with sponsored content: A digital media outlet publishes a directory of downloadable resources and needs certain sponsored resources to appear first during specific campaigns. With the module active, the editor can mark and unmark featured resources according to the campaign schedule, without touching templates or code. When the campaign ends, the featured status is removed with a single click, and the order reverts to the standard view configuration.

Frequently Asked Questions about GravityView Featured Entries

Short description

An extension for GravityView that allows you to prioritize specific entries in any view without modifying the original form, providing immediate editorial control over the order of appearance in directories and catalogs managed with Gravity Forms.