With a web development career that spans more than 25 years, Philip Levine knows what works—and what doesn’t—when it comes to building efficient, scalable websites. After founding South Florida Web Advisors in 2014, Philip now manages over 150 direct clients and provides tier 2 support for agencies overseeing 400+ additional sites.
In this case study, Philip shares how discovering GravityKit in 2015 transformed the way he builds directories, staff listings, and data-driven front-end displays, without the need for custom PHP. From migrating legacy form data using GravityImport to streamlining workflows with GravityExport and GravityView—GravityKit has become a key part of his toolbox.
Can you tell me about your background and what you do now?
I’ve been doing website design and development since 1997. My educational background is a degree in Management Information Systems from R.I.T.
After college, in the early 2000s, I worked for a web development company that built their own CMS and we often compared features to what WordPress could or could not do at the time.
In 2010, I left that company to work with a local agency that focused on small local businesses doing HTML sites and transitioned to WordPress sites fully in 2012. In 2014, my business partner decided to retire and I started South Florida Web Advisors.
I now manage and support over 150 direct clients. I also provide tier 2 support to a number of agencies supporting over 400 other sites.
How did you hear about GravityKit?
I found out about GravityKit back in September of 2015 when I needed a way to import entries into Gravity Forms. I was migrating sites to WordPress at the time and needed a way to pull in old form history.
Can you share one or two examples of projects involving GravityKit, including the outcome of those projects?
I frequently use GravityKit to display form entries in a table on the front-end. Some of the more unique ways I’ve used it involve the DIY layout.
In one project, I built a printed membership directory for an association that needed to include the president and four key contacts for each member organization. To achieve this, I used GravityView with GV Logic to dynamically generate the layout, including page breaks and section headers. This allowed the system to automatically assemble a print-ready PDF with structured, consistent formatting.
It just works. It’s a clean UI. The drag and drop works. The modal window works. The little merge tag window is there. Everything just works.
In several projects, I needed to create a staff directory with both an archive-style listing view and individual detail pages for each staff member. Instead of using Custom Post Types with a plugin like PODs, I opted to use Gravity Forms and GravityView.
This approach gave me far greater flexibility in designing the form, managing the data, and building the layout—without the overhead of custom templates or extra HTML/PHP coding typically required with CPTs. It streamlined both development and maintenance.
GravityKit has enabled me to get creative across a variety of websites, building powerful features without the need for custom PHP or complex coding. It’s saved me significant development time.
Why did you decide to use GravityKit over another solution?
When I first started building WordPress sites I was using Formidable Forms for creating basic directories as they had a “views” feature. At the time, I only used Gravity Forms for sites that needed eCommerce as their features were much better.
However, in 2018, I saw Gravity Forms and GravityKit as the better long-term solution and upgraded to the All Access Plan. The following year I upgraded to a lifetime license! In my opinion, nothing compares to what GravityKit offers when it comes to extending the power of Gravity Forms.
Everything has been fabulous. The whole team is very responsive… Even if there’s a thing you can’t help with, you at least give direction. I recommend GravityKit wherever I can.
Are you planning to use GravityKit for any upcoming projects?
I install it on most of my sites by default. I’ve found that even if I do not need it from the start I will eventually. For example, I often start with GravityImport and GravityExport—then I may add GravityActions and then eventually GravityView.
I would 100% recommend GravityKit to other web designers or agencies. For anyone with basic HTML/CSS skills, it gives them endless possibilities to extend WordPress (without needing to know PHP). Plus, there’s a great support and development team behind the products.
What one thing would you most like us to improve?
Just keep doing what you are doing!
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