--- title: "Connecting Researchers With Students for Research Projects" date: 2018-10-10 author: "Kiefer Szurszewski" link: "https://staging.gravitykit.com/connecting-researchers-with-students-for-research-projects/" --- # Connecting Researchers With Students for Research Projects *On our blog, we recently featured [a case study of one of our users, Adam Cavotta, who is a Senior University Training Specialist at New Mexico State University.](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/?p=576497) NMSU uses GravityView in nearly 10 different ways. In this ongoing blog series, we'll teach you how to create similar applications for yourself.* **Want to read more about using GravityView at universities, schools, and other educational institutions?** [Check out our guide.](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/?p=575446)--- In this post, we'll create a searchable database for research projects. Our final product will look like this: ![Research Database final product ](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/19-1-1024x801.png) *Our research projects database will have the following functionality: - Allow professors and researchers to post and continually update research projects* - Allow students to browse and search through research projects Let's get started! ### Step 1: Create a Form First, you'll need to create a form in Gravity Forms. To do this, go to *Forms > New Form* on your WordPress sidebar. ![New Form](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/01-1-150x150.png) *Name the form "Submit a New Research Project." This form will allow professors and researchers to submit their projects to the database. !*[New Form Name](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/02-1-1024x865.png) Now we need to add some fields to our form. We want each research project to have the following fields: - Project Name - Faculty Member - Keywords - Department - Description - Number of Students Sought - Number of Students Already Selected - Link to Application Page Let's go through and create a field for each one. To add a field to the form, click on it or drag it to the left into your form. For *Project Name,* we'll use a *Single Line Text* field. Be sure to rename it. You can also limit the field to a certain number of maximum characters. ![Project Name](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/03-1-1024x699.png) For *Faculty Member,* we'll use the *Name* field, which is under Advanced Fields. We could also just use a *Single Line Text* field - it depends on your particular needs. Don't forget to rename the *Name* field to "Faculty Member". You can also add a description. ![Faculty Member field](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/04-1-1024x820.png) For *Keywords,* we have a few options. The simplest solution is to use a *Paragraph Text* field, which will let users type in any relevant keywords. You can also use a *List* field, which will allow you to keep each keyword separate. For this example, we'll stick with the standard *Paragraph Text* field. ![Keywords field](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/06-1-1024x414.png) Want to make the text input box smaller? Click on the *Appearance* tab in the field settings and change the *Field Size* option. ![Text Field Size](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/05-1.png) For the *Department* field, we want to use one of the following: - A *Radio Button* field, if a project can only belong to one department - A *Dropdown* if a project can only belong to one department + we want to keep our form as compact as possible - A *Checkbox* field, if a project can belong to more than one department. We'll go with a *Dropdown* for this example. Once you add the field, don't forget to add your choices. ![Department field](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/07-1-1024x254.png) For *Description*, we want to use a *Paragraph Text field* field again. ![Description](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/08-1-1024x482.png) For *Number of Students Sought,* we'll use the *Number* field. If you anticipate researchers having projects with a non-specific number of students sought (e.g. 5-10, "as many as possible", etc.) then you can also use a *Single Line Text* field. ![Number of Students Sought](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/09-1-1024x247.png) For *Number of Students Already Selected,* we can also use a *Number* field. This field will be useful for researchers to update on a regular basis (more on how to do that later!) ![Number of Students Already Selected](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/26-1-1024x275.png) Finally, for the *Link to Application* page, we can use the Advanced Field, *Website.* Don't forget to rename it. ![Link to Application field](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/10-1-1024x289.png) *We'll have another guide coming soon on how to create this application page. For now, check out*[our Job Applicant Management System post](http://dummy) - it is a fairly similar process. Now that we've created our form, let's put it on a page. Press *Update* and then create a new WordPress post. Under the title bar, click *Add Form* and select the form we created. ![Add Form](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/11-2-1024x318.png) *Then save and view the page. ![Form](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/12-1-735x1024.png) Everything looks good*! Let's move on to the next step: *Creating a View.* ### Part 2: Creating a View ***Note:** For this part, we'll assume that you've added a number of research projects to your form already. Already have a file of research projects and want to import it? Not a problem. [Check out our Import Entries plugin.](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/products/gravity-forms-entry-importer/)* Now that we have a form, we need to create a View. A View will let us display and modify this information on the front end of our WordPress website. To do this, go to *Views > New View* on your WordPress sidebar. Title your View "Browse Research Projects" and select the form we previously created ("Submit a Research Project") as your Data Source. ![Data Source](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/13-1-1024x533.png) Now we need to chose a View layout. For this project, we want to use a *Table* layout. This will display our research projects in a table (that looks like a spreadsheet). ![View Type](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/14-1-1024x648.png) Now we are on the *View Configuration* page. We'll start by customizing the *Multiple Entries* page. This is the "default" page that visitors will see upon navigating to our view. At the top, we can add some widgets. Let's add the *Search Bar* widget to the top. ![Widgets](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/15-1-1024x492.png) To edit the settings of a widget, click the blue gear icon next to it. If you scroll down, we can also add widgets at the bottom, below the *Entry fields.* Let's add *Show Pagination Info* and *Page Links* here. ![Below Entries Widgets](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/16-1-1024x569.png) Now, let's add the entry fields themselves. To add a field, simply click *+Add Field.* Then, select the field you want to add. Since our *Multiple Entries* page displays many entries at one time, we should only add a handful of entry fields. Let's add the following: - Project Name - Keywords - Department ![Entry Fields](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/17-1-1024x538.png) To edit the settings of a field, click the blue gear icon next to it. We want to link the *Project Name* field on the Multiple Entries page to its more detailed entry (called "the Single Entry page.") To do this, click the blue gear icon next to *Project Name.* Then, check the box next to *Link to single entry.* ![Link to Single Entry](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/18-1-1024x281.png) Now let's publish our View and see what it looks like. Click *Publish* then *View on website.* ![View](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/19-2-1024x801.png) Everything looks pretty good! If we click on a project name, we'll be taken to the *Single Entry* page. We haven't set this up yet, so let's do it now. ![Single Entry](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/20-1-1024x384.png) The Single Entry page is the "more detailed" page for our entry. Since it is a single page that covers only one entry, we have more space for adding fields. To add a field, click *+Add Field.* Be sure to add all of the fields we created. ![Entry Fields](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/21-1-1024x713.png) Now save your View and preview it again. Click on a *Project Name* field and you'll see the Single Entry view. ![Single Entry](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/22-1-1024x565.png) As you can see, all of our fields are listed. Everything looks good! ### View Settings Finally, at the bottom of the *View Configuration* page are *View Settings.* There are a number of options here, but two in particular are relevant for our research projects database. ### Allow User Edit + Allow User Delete ![Edit and Delete](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/23-1-1024x565.png) If enabled, Allow User Edit and Allow User Delete (which are under *View Settings*) allow users to edit or delete their entries after they have submitted them. The *Edit* functionality is particularly useful for our *Number of Students Already Selected* field, as it will allow researchers to conitnually update how many more students they need for their project. ### Sort by Field ![Sort by Date](https://cf61600d-90c1-49ac-b4a6-d97914c46f41.cv03.conves.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/24-1-1024x459.png) By default, all entries on the Multiple Entries page will be sorted by the date they are created. However, if you want to organize and filter the research studies by a different field, like *Department* or *Faculty Member*, you can do that here. --- And that about wraps up our guide to creating a research study database with Gravity Forms and GravityView! In an upcoming guide, we'll walk through creating the other half of this project - a form and View for students applying to research projects.