Global Search for Gravity Forms searches every form, entry, and note from one box. Version 1.7.1 is a housekeeping release for the index behind that box: it silences a database error that logged on every submission, keeps entry metadata out of your search results, and fixes search outright on strictly configured MySQL servers.
What’s new in 1.7.1?
The live indexer used to read the whole entry record — the form fields, but also the housekeeping Gravity Forms stores beside them: IP address, browser string, currency, the payment columns. The empty columns failed to insert and wrote seven or more database errors to the log on every submission of every form. The rest went into the index as searchable text, so a search for an IP address, or the word “Mozilla,” could return entries. 1.7.1 indexes form fields and notes, nothing else. A one-time cleanup sweeps the stray rows out of your existing index the first time you load the admin after updating.
MySQL’s default configuration since version 5.7 refuses two of the plugin’s old queries: the search itself, and the insert that indexes a new entry. On servers running those defaults — many managed hosts do — searches came back empty. 1.7.1 writes both queries the strict way, so the same code now runs on a lenient server and a strict one.
Notes are indexed more truthfully. Deleting a note now removes it from search results at once, instead of at the next full rebuild. A note’s index row carries the date the note was written and the person who wrote it; earlier versions stamped note rows with the entry’s date, and a rebuild credited every note to the entry’s author.
Rounding it out:
- Editing an entry re-indexes it in place; before, an edit could add duplicate rows to the index.
- Answers of “0” now survive an index rebuild.
- The command bar asks the database for the five results it shows, not for every match on the site.
Why it matters
An index is a claim about your data: whatever is in it can surface in results. Housekeeping strings in the index meant matches you couldn’t explain. Database errors on every submission meant a log you learn to ignore — and an ignored log is where real problems go to hide. 1.7.1 makes both surfaces boring again: the log stays quiet, and every result traces back to something a person typed.
One request: after updating, run the one-click rebuild under Forms → Global Search → Index. The update cleans the stray rows on its own, but the rebuild also corrects note dates and authors written by earlier versions, and picks up any entries a strict database server refused to index in the first place.
The bottom line
Version 1.7.1 is a free update for license holders — it should already be waiting on your Updates screen. New here? Every purchase comes with a 14-day, no-questions-asked refund period. Grab Global Search →
Full changelog for 1.7.1
- Fixed: new submissions no longer log database errors or index internal entry metadata (IP address, browser, currency, payment details) as searchable text
- Fixed: editing an entry no longer multiplies its rows in the search index
- Fixed: deleting a note now removes it from search results
- Fixed: notes are now indexed with the date the note was written, not the date of the entry it belongs to
- Fixed: rebuilding the index now credits each note to the person who wrote it, not the entry’s author
- Fixed: answers of “0” are no longer skipped when rebuilding the index
- Fixed: search now works on servers running MySQL’s ONLY_FULL_GROUP_BY mode (the default on MySQL 5.7 and 8)
- Improved: the command bar now fetches only the five results it shows instead of every match
- A one-time cleanup removes the stray metadata rows earlier versions left in the search index
