Using GravityMath inside a GravityView Custom Content field
When using the [gravitymath] shortcode inside a GravityView Custom Content field, you may encounter issues with merge tags being processed in the wrong order. This article explains the problem and provides a workaround.
Understanding the Problem #
GravityView processes merge tags in Custom Content fields before shortcodes run. This means any merge tags inside your [gravitymath] shortcode get replaced by GravityView before GravityMath ever sees them.
Example Scenario: Sales Team Dashboard #
Let’s say you have two forms:
Form A (ID: 10) – Sales Reps
- Field 1: Sales Rep Name
- Field 2: Region
- Field 3: Email
Form B (ID: 20) – Orders
- Field 5: Sales Rep Name (dropdown matching reps from Form A)
- Field 6: Order Total
- Field 7: Order Date
You create a View using Form A to display your sales team. For each rep, you want to show how many orders they have in Form B.
What you might try (and why it doesn’t work)
In a Custom Content field, you add:
Orders: [gravitymath scope="form" id="20" filter="filter_5={Sales Rep Name:1}"]{Order Total:6:count}[/gravitymath]Expected result: Each sales rep shows their order count.
Actual result: The count is wrong or empty.
Why? GravityView processes {Order Total:6:count} first. Since field 6 doesn’t exist in Form A (the View’s source), it fails. GravityMath never gets to process it.
The Workaround #
We need a way to tell GravityView to leave certain merge tags alone so GravityMath can process them. The workaround below uses an alternate syntax (tildes ~~ instead of curly braces {} ) to mark merge tags that should be handled by GravityMath.
Step 1: Add the helper snippet
Add this code to your site (where to add code):
/**
* Allows using ~Field:ID~ syntax in GravityMath shortcodes.
* Prevents GravityView from processing these merge tags prematurely.
* The snippet converts ~~ to {} right before GravityMath runs.
*/
add_filter( 'gravityview/math/shortcode/before', function ( $formula ) {
preg_match_all( '/~[^~]*?:(\d+(\.\d+)?|[a-z_]+)(:(.*?))?~/mi', $formula, $merge_tags, PREG_SET_ORDER );
foreach ( $merge_tags as $merge_tag ) {
$updated_merge_tag = str_replace( '~', '', $merge_tag[0] );
$updated_merge_tag = sprintf( '{%s}', $updated_merge_tag );
$formula = str_replace( $merge_tag[0], $updated_merge_tag, $formula );
}
return $formula;
} );Step 2: Update your shortcode
Wrap merge tags that reference the queried form (Form B) with tildes instead of curly braces:
Before:
Orders: [gravitymath scope="form" id="20" filter="filter_5={Sales Rep Name:1}"]{Order Total:6:count}[/gravitymath]After:
Orders: [gravitymath scope="form" id="20" filter="filter_5={Sales Rep Name:1}"]~Order Total:6:count~[/gravitymath]Now each sales rep’s row correctly shows their order count from Form B.
Which Syntax to Use #
| Syntax | Processed by | When to use |
{Field:ID} | GravityView (first) | The field is from the View’s form and you want its current value |
~Field:ID~ | GravityMath (after snippet runs) | The field is from the queried form and GravityMath should process it |
In our example:
{Sales Rep Name:1}uses curly braces. This is from Form A (the View’s form). We want GravityView to replace it with the current rep’s name so it can filter Form B.~Order Total:6:count~uses tildes. This is field 6 from Form B (the queried form). We need GravityMath to count it after applying the filter.
More Examples #
Counting filtered entries
Count orders for the current sales rep:
[gravitymath scope="form" id="20" filter="filter_5={Sales Rep Name:1}"]~Order Total:6:count~[/gravitymath]Summing filtered values
Sum order totals for the current sales rep:
[gravitymath scope="form" id="20" filter="filter_5={Sales Rep Name:1}"]~Order Total:6:sum~[/gravitymath]Calculating an average
Average order value for the current sales rep:
[gravitymath scope="form" id="20" filter="filter_5={Sales Rep Name:1}"]~Order Total:6:avg~[/gravitymath]Troubleshooting #
Still not working?
- Make sure the snippet is active on your site
- Verify the field IDs match your actual forms
- Check that the filter field (e.g., Sales Rep Name) has matching values in both forms
- Remember: use
{}for the View’s form fields,~~for the queried form’s fields
If you’re still having trouble, contact our support team and we’ll be happy to help you set this up.
