[Resolved] Allow only one submission of the form

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[ioannisM-2]

Hi, I have the following issues:

1) If a user hits the back button he can submit a cred form multiple times. How could I use cred before save data to validate and allow the submition of the form only if a specific custom field is empty?

2) The users can create a profile that is a custom post type. How could use the same hook to validate and allow the creation of a profile post only once? I know I can use a conditional to hide the cred form if a user has a profile but he still can hit the back button and create multiple profiles

[Christian Cox]

Hi, the cred_before_save_data hook will not prevent a Form from creating multiple posts or editing a post multiple times. You should set up this validation with the cred_form_validate hook instead. Here is an example you can review to see how this could work. In this example I am testing to see if a custom field value has already been set for the post being edited. I am also testing to see if the current User already has a profile post by querying posts with the current User as author. You probably won't use these two validations for the same form since one is for editing, the other is for creating, but you can get the idea.

add_filter('cred_form_validate','profile_exists_validation',10,2);
function profile_exists_validation($error_fields, $form_data)
{
    global $current_user;
    //field data are field values and errors
    list($fields,$errors)=$error_fields;
    //uncomment this if you want to print the field values
    //print_r($fields);
    //validate if specific form
    if ($form_data['id']==12345)
    {
        //check custom field value
        if (isset($fields['wpcf-sel1']['value']) && $fields['wpcf-sel1']['value']!='')
        {
            //set error message for my_field
            $errors['wpcf-sel1']='This custom field has already been defined for the post.';
        }


        //check if current User is already the author of a "Profile" custom post
          $args = array(
          'author'          =>  $current_user->ID,
          'orderby'         =>  'post_date',
          'order'           =>  'ASC',
          'posts_per_page'  => 1,
          'post_type'       => 'profile'
        );
        $profiles = get_posts( $args );
        if ( sizeof($profiles) > 0 )
        {
            //set error message for post title
            $errors['post_title'] = 'Profile already exists, so you cannot create another one.';
        }
    }
    //return result
    return array($fields,$errors);
}

Note that you must attach the "post already exists" error to some input field. I chose the post title. More information about this API: https://toolset.com/documentation/programmer-reference/cred-api/#cred_form_validate

Let me know if you have questions about this approach.

[ioannisM-2]

Christian thank you so much for your so clarifying answer! I have just a last question. Could it be possible, when showing the errors to the user to replace the label of the field with the value of the same field? Is that possible?

[Christian Cox]

No, I'm afraid not. That part of the error message is not easily manipulated with code. We have an internal ticket in place to increase the flexibility of that area but it's not currently ready.

[ioannisM-2]

ok, thank you again Christian for your support!