Gravity PDF 6.17.0 fixes an error when the system requirements weren’t met, and patches legacy templates producing blank PDFs when running Gravity Forms 3.0+. There’s also a new system report to detect deprecated features on a site, and instructions for how to upgrade to the modern equivalent.
Restoring Legacy Templates (Temporarily)
We officially stopped supporting legacy PDF templates in 2017, and strongly encouraged any site using a legacy custom template to swap over to the modern structure. These legacy PDFs kept working thanks to a compatibility layer in the plugin, which was included to allow site owners time to modernize.
Fast forward to today: Gravity Forms 3.0 removed a bunch of deprecated code the 2017 era custom templates relied on. Sites still running these old templates started generating blank PDFs, and there has been a surprising number of support tickets about the problem.
Looking back in hindsight, we should have done a better job alerting admins that a site was using deprecated / legacy features. So instead of pulling the rug out from long-term users, Gravity PDF 6.17 restores the status quo and these old templates will work again until Gravity PDF 7.0 is released.
Detecting Deprecated Features
The Gravity PDF 7.0 release will remove a number of deprecated and legacy features from the plugin. To help site owners/admins prepare well in advance, the plugin now detects if a site is using anything outdated, and will flag it in the Gravity Forms System Report, WordPress Site Health tool, and a dismissible admin notice.
Currently, the following items are detected:
- Legacy templates: custom PDF templates written for Gravity PDF 3.0. The report makes a distinction between standard legacy templates and Business Plus templates.
- Legacy download URLs: the old style links. Gravity PDF checks your form settings, confirmations and notifications, and also logs any still being served.
- Deprecated hooks: flagged if code is hooked into any of the actions / filters being removed
If anything is detected, treat it as a to-do list rather than something urgent. Gravity PDF 7.0 is still months away, so you can schedule in a suitable time. We may add to the detection list as we get close to the next major release.
How to Update Gravity PDF
You can update automatically using WordPress one-click update feature, or download the latest version on GravityPDF.com and manually install.
If you have any questions or need assistance with updating, our friendly support team is happy to help.
Changelog
Feature
- 🎉 Add a legacy features alert to Site Health and System Status reports
Bug Fixes
- 🐞 Fix fatal error during update checks when the plugin requirements are not met
- 🐞 A temporary fix for rendering legacy templates on Gravity Forms 3.0+
Developer
- 🧑💻 Deprecated functionality now triggers
_deprecated_function(), so it appears in the WordPress deprecation log and Query Monitor
