How to create a survey table with wpDataTables and Forminator

Using user forms and surveys is a day-to-day activity for some of us. The thing with these surveys is that they’re a bit lifeless and you can’t really use them in a visual way.

Or can you?

Actually, yes, yes you can.

If it wasn’t obvious enough from the intro and maybe from the title, we’re going to show you not only that it is possible to create a survey table, but also how to do it.

First things first

Let’s start from the beginning.

First, for you to create a survey table you’ll need a data source that contains form data. In our example, we’ll use the Forminator WordPress plugin for creating a survey form. It’s really easy to use so we’ll skip this part.

Let’s get to the part about making that form data visually appealing. For that particular task, we’ll use the free Forminator integration add-on that wpDataTables has.

Did you get it from wordpress.org?

Great. Let’s move on.

Obviously, you’ll need wpDataTables too, either in its free or premium version. I recommend you would use the premium version. The sheer number of features that you have in the full version is something that you absolutely need if you’re working with data.

And you’ll also need the free or pro version that Forminator has.

Let’s start creating

The first step of the process involves creating a survey form with the Forminator plugin. In this example, we’ll create a “Customer satisfaction survey”, something that you’ve most likely done yourself in the past.

This process is extremely easy thanks to the Forminator’s wizard. More info on this is in their docs.

Did you do that too? Good! Now let’s publish your form on your page or post so you can collect data from your users. You’ll need that.

Let’s say you actually did that now while reading these lines and you already received some useful entries.

Then, go to wpDataTables -> Create a Table, and choose the “Create a table linked to an existing data source” option, and click “Next”.

Next, choose “Forminator Form” as the Input data source type. After you choose “Forminator Form” as a table type, a new select-box “Choose a Forminator Form” will appear. With this select-box, you can choose a Survey form that is already created with the Forminator plugin.

After this step, you will see a select-box “Choose fields to show as columns” that allows you to choose the fields from the Survey form that you will use as columns. We’ll choose all form fields and from common fields only the Entry date (you can choose all of them if you need that).

After clicking on the “Save Changes” button, a table is created.

Tadaa!

Now you have a survey table on your WordPress site. And it wasn’t even difficult to create one.

Because in most of the survey forms, questions can be very long, you might want to adjust the column width by changing the “Display headers” input on the Display tab in the Column settings.

Alternatively, you can adjust the whole table by setting the “Limit table width” and “Word wrap option”. If you like more, you can set the Scrollable or the Responsive feature on desktops.

For the main questions (columns) you can set different filter types (Advanced filtering) and in our case we’ll set it as a Select-box filter type and turn on the “Filters in form” option on Sorting and Filtering tab in the table settings to show the filters above the table.

If you need additional customization of tables, there are a lot of options on

  • the Customize tab
  • Display tab, Sorting and filtering tab
  • Table tools (export table data)
  • Placeholders(dynamic filtering of tables)
  • Forminator settings (additional filtering options) in the table settings.

A detailed explanation of all of this can be found in text and video tutorial form in our docs.

If you need to highlight or change the cells, rows, or even the columns based on the content of the cells it can be done very easily with Conditional formatting.

Now you will need to add a table on your page or post and that is it.

And in a few quick steps, you have managed to present beautifully a survey table on the front end for people to see.

Where can you use this?

  • Public Directories –  The Forminator form collects your data and displays it in a sortable, searchable table, thanks to the wpDataTables addon.
  • Data Dashboards – Similar to public directories, this can have different charts and tables generated from your form entries.
  • Quiz Leadership Board – Create a quiz and show the results for everyone who has taken it.
  • Polls – Want to have poll data displayed as a graph? This is the way

What else can wpDataTables do?

If you work with tables, here are some reasons why a wpDataTables license will suit your needs.

  • It makes working with tables and charts easy.
  • wpDataTables is a global best-selling WordPress table plugin with frequently released updates and great customer support.
  • Already more than 40,000 satisfied companies and individuals are using wpDataTables.
  • It is used in financial, scientific, statistical, commercial, and other data management applications.

With It, You Can Create Responsive WordPress Tables and Charts

Tables created with the wpDataTables plugin are intrinsic and fully responsive. There is no restriction when it comes to platforms or device types.

You Can Create Large Tables

Large tables are not a problem. wpDataTables handles tables with millions of rows rapidly and reliably. The MySQL server processes all operations. 

Advanced Filters and Search Options

Individual filters for your dataset can be developed. This is very useful in narrowing down the data in a WordPress table. 

Editability

wpDataTables has the option of making it editable. The content of WordPress tables can thus be edited inline or in a generated form.

Cell Highlighting

Our WordPress tables plugin has a functionality similar to Conditional Formatting in Excel. Depending on their content, you can highlight columns, rows, or individual cells.

Lots of Charts Options

The data in WordPress tables can be used to generate WordPress charts. Three powerful engines are used to generate these charts, which are updated in real-time.

What Forminator can do for you

Its devs are calling it not your typical form-making plugin, and it’s true, it’s not. Forminator is a really easy-to-use form builder for any website you’d have.

Among its most prominent features, we have:

  • You can accept payments with Stripe and PayPal integrations
  • You can create custom user registration and login forms (with Multisite support)
  • You have advanced forms with eSignature, calculations, conditional logic, dynamic pre-filling, and multi-step options
  • It enables you to drive more engagement with interactive quizzes and polls
  • It has spam protection with Honeypot, Akismet, and Google ReCAPTCHA
  • You get unlimited notifications with email routing and conditional emails
  • It has an integrated submission management with scheduled exporting

Here’s an in-depth video showing you how to use it:

If you enjoyed reading this article on how to create a survey table with wpDataTables and Forminator, you should check out this one about WordPress table generator plugins.

There are also similar articles discussing survey graph makers, survey chart types, creating a Google forms results graph, and Chart.js examples.

And let’s not forget about articles on chart designs, types of charts, Highcharts alternatives, and WordPress charts.


Milan Jovanovic
Milan Jovanovic

Product Lead

Articles: 208