5 Tips for Gravity Forms & Pardot’s Form Handler

I have a few years experience with maintaining a high traffic WordPress website that uses Gravity forms to capture leads and hook into Salesforce via Pardot’s form handler feature. Here are my favorite tweaks to capture leads from WordPress and into Pardot. Gravity forms just happens to be my favorite tool to do so.

  1. Limit the number of Pardot form handlers you create. In this example we use three. All of them ask for name, email, and hidden fields for utms and the page the visitor converted on.
    • Blog Subscribers: Lowest barrier to entry into Pardot
    • Gated Content: Ask for more fields, like Company, job title, or phone number
    • Demo Request: Ask for everything you need to qualify the lead
  2. Keep your required fields in Pardot form handler feature to a miniumum.
  3. Leverage hidden fields between both platforms. We capture utm fields, another for any modal/pop-ups, the page title, and the page url the visitor converted on.
  4. Plan out your custom field names for both platforms.
  5. Utilize Pardot’s automation rule feature to perform various completion actions (the downside is you have no control as to when the automation rule is triggered).
    • UPDATE: Pardot now allows you to perform conditional completion actions within the form handler screen itself. (so you now have control as to when the completion actions run)

Here’s an example of the Redirect URL from Pardot form handler

Insert the Pardot form handler url into Gravity forms’s confirmation Redirect URL screen.

You can set the thank you page url either in Pardot, or by explicitly adding it in here.

https://PARDOTFORMHANDLERURL?success_location=THANKYOUPAGEURL

Here’s a sample of the query string:

firstname={Name (First):3.3}&lastname={Name (Last):25.6}&email={Email:4}&post_title={posttitle:15}&page_url={pageurl:16}&referrer_url={referrerurl:14}&utm_source={utm_source:17}&utm_medium={utm_medium:19}&utm_campaign={utm_campaign:20}&utm_content={utm_content:23}&utm_term={utm_term:21}&html_form_id={html_form_id:24}

Here is a more complex example for multiple landing pages.

If your company has a lot of different WordPress landing pages and you want to share gated content and funnel those form fills into Pardot here is one way to do it.

  • Create multiple confirmations in Gravity forms and have the confirmation fire if a hidden field matches the landing page url
  • Use the same Pardot form handler url, but set the success_location to the destination, whether that be a file or a thank-you page.

LED Everything – Z3 M Coupe

I went on a strange quest to convert almost every bulb on the Z3 M Coupe from incandescent to LED. I think the results look great. Note, I’ve also bypassed the dimmer rheostat, so I cannot attest to any dimming capability or effectiveness. I am also keeping the headlight low and high beam 9006/9005 for now as they work well enough for me.

All the previous how-to guides are now a bit dated, or missing pictures. Below is a running list of LED’s you can use to convert your M Coupe, M Roadster, Z3 Coupe, or Z3 Roadster.

Note: To avoid hyper-flashing turn signals, you’ll either need to spend $200+ on this funky computerized flasher relay, or spend $5-50 modifying your existing flasher relay. See how-to below.

Exterior

LocationDetailsQuantity
Front Turn Signals1157 LED Bulb – Dual Function 27 SMD LED Tower – BAY15D Bulb Amber – 2 Pack1
Rear Turn Signals1156 Boat and RV LED Light Bulb – (18) SMD LED Tower – BA15S Retrofit Base – 325 Lumens Amber- 2 Pack1
Rear Brake Lights1156 Boat and RV LED Light Bulb – (18) SMD LED Tower – BA15S Retrofit Base – 325 Lumens Red – 2 Pack1
Rear Parking Lights67 LED Light Bulb – (12) SMD LED Tower – BA15S Base Red2
Front Bumper194 LED Landscape Light Bulb – 5 SMD LED Tower – Miniature Wedge Retrofit – 95 Lumens Natural White2
Side Turn Signals194 LED Landscape Light Bulb – 5 SMD LED Tower – Miniature Wedge Retrofit – 95 Lumens Amber2
Backup Lights1156 LED Light Bulb – (51) SMD LED Tower – BA15S Base with Lens Natural White – 2 Pack2
License Plate Housing194 LED Landscape Light Bulb – 5 SMD LED Tower – Miniature Wedge Retrofit – 95 Lumens Natural White2
Third Brake LightTo be continued.

Interior

LocationDetailsQuantity
Rear Coupe Cargo6451 LED Bulb – 6 SMD LED Festoon – 42mm Warm White2
Interior Overhead3710 LED Bulb – 6 SMD LED Festoon – 38mm Warm White1
Interior Overhead MapBA9s LED Bulb – 5 SMD LED Tower – BA9s Bulb Warm White2
Gauge Cluster small bulbsB8 LED Bulb – SMD Instrument Panel LED Warm White
*note that you can probably get by with 4 to illuminate parts of the dials, the rest are individual warning/error bulbs. You also have to slightly bend the tabs to make a secure fitment in the cluster.
18
Gauge Cluster Primary bulbs194 LED Landscape Light Bulb – 5 SMD LED Tower – Miniature Wedge Retrofit – 95 Lumens Amber
*note, you may prefer warm white
3x
HVACT1-3/4 Wedge Base Socket – Wired 74 Socket
*note, must cut and solder in. One housing must be shaved down to fit the vertical position.
2
HVAC, Cigarette Light, Headlight Switch74 LED Bulb – 3 SMD LED – Miniature Wedge Base Amber
*two for HVAC, one for cigarette light, one for headlight switch
** you may prefer warm white vs amber
4
VDO Gauges194 LED Landscape Light Bulb – 5 SMD LED Tower – Miniature Wedge Retrofit – 95 Lumens Amber
* you may prefer warm white vs amber
3

Hazard / Flasher Relay

When you switch over to LED lights in the turn signals, you’re going to get hyperflash when signaling. You may like that, or may not. You have a few options to solve this. The modify solution is described below.

How-to: Modify your 7 pin hazard / flasher relay to work with LED

credit goes to this post (and this pdf), but I will repeat it here for internet longevity. If your relay does not look like the one above, well then you probably pulled the wrong relay out from under the hood, or its not an original bmw relay.

Required Parts, Skills and Tools

  • 1 original 7 pin relay
    • Z3 E36 Z3 M Relay for hazard-warning lights K16
    • 61351392414
      61361388533
      61361388547
  • 1 diode. I sourced 10x of these from Mouser electronics
    • Mouser #: 863-80SQ045NRLG
    • Description: Schottky Diodes & Rectifiers 8A 45V
  • soldering iron, solder
  • small flat head screwdrivers 2x, 1x small drill bit, 1x small pliers

M Coupe Project

Well, after about eleven years of ownership and nearly 100k miles that I’ve put on the car, it’s finally time to spend the time and money doing the differential reinforcement project, plus a whole lot more. I chose to put this project off for a long time. The green shoe has made it through grad school, four different city relocations, getting married, first house purchase, first child, second child being born and then some. The driveshaft center support bearing went out on me the other week at a BMW CCA autocross event and felt pretty awful in the handling dept. Can’t blame it, the car has 176k miles on it. It was tempting just sell as is and let someone else fix it up, but the family CFO gave me the green light to save it. Also found a local shop willing to take on the project (Barber Race Works in Greenville, SC). I think being my first BMW, it’s just too much of a story at this point to ever let go of it – barring any emergency.

Goal really is just to be a great driving car again, whether it’s a mountain road or a track day. Cooling system, brakes, and shocks/springs are all decent and have been replaced.

Originally bought from a gentleman in Ohio that was afraid that his kids were going to drop something on it in the garage. His day job was playing with Ford GT / race division, so he really didn’t see much use in holding onto it. It had around 70k miles and picked up for 16k in 2009. No, I don’t have the mudflaps anymore. Sold to someone else around here that thought they were cool.

It’s pretty much always had a Dinan stage 1 chip, m50 manifold and eurosport intake on it. I’m curious to add more power after I recover from the current big project.
At one point I had CCW LM wheels on it, that were gorgeous, but too heavy overall to really enjoy. Sold them. Wish I had this photo still in high-resolution, but lost the original copy years ago before I knew the value of backing up my photos.
A few weeks back I took it to BMW Performance Center for a CCA autocross. Super uncomfortable and slow, but still had fun – and was where I really noticed things needed to be fixed. One of the employees could remember when they had a fleet of M Coupes to play with and take out for fun. The golden days of Greer’s BMW plant.
I don’t know if I could feel this diff mount while driving, but once we dropped the subframe to tackle bushings and more, the writing was on the wall. Thankfully Randy had a kit ready to ship out.

Update! After three months of living at a shop, the project is back in my hands and driving fantastic.

Backup Cameras & Wireless Apple CarPlay in E90 and E60 BMW’s

I have been using wireless Apple CarPlay in my 2010 BMW 535 Wagon for more than a year now, as well as wireless Android Auto. Before this vehicle I installed just the backup camera in a 2009 328 E91 wagon. The hardest part with both installs is running the backup camera wiring through the tailgate latch and up behind the dashboard. I’m told it’s a much easier process on sedans, coupes and convertibles. This same installation info should also apply to BMW X5, 6 series bmw, f series bmw, etc. This is written for someone inclined to DIY and can handle a few quirks.

Installation Parts List (excluding tools)

Once everything is installed you will have to tweak the resolution a little bit. The password for changing this setting is 1314 on my unit. I would also recommend using a different launcher for the Android screen if you’re buying all of this primarily for wireless Apple CarPlay. FCC Launcher is a great app to use as the default launcher.

If you’re only looking to do wireless Android Auto, grab Headunit Reloaded app. You don’t need the carplay adapter.

Silver Comet & Chief Ladiga

So what’s it like to ride 195 miles solo in two days?

I rode 101 miles this past Friday with headwinds the entire way from Smyrna, GA to Anniston, AL – and then back to Jacksonville, AL to spend the night. Got back up and rode all the way to the new Braves stadium in Marietta, GA (95 ish miles). Total trip was roughly 16 hours on the bike and 195 miles of pedaling. Solo.

Turkey sandwich at Soli’s hit the spot.

I made multiple stops along the way to get relief from the 15-35 mph headwinds. Ate a sandwich at Soli’s Soup, Salads & Sandwiches in Rockmart, GA – which is right by the trail.

Bike the Silver Comet & Chief Ladiga Trail

I then grabbed a double-shot espresso in Cedartown and a peanut butter cookie at the Ideal Bakery. That hit the spot. These two towns are great stops right along the trail.

After the the ‘big hill’ and eventually the GA/AL state line, the ride is pretty dang remote. I barely saw anyone Cedartown, GA all the way to Jacksonville, AL. This was a test of the mind and body. A forest service truck was parked on the trail… I guess tending to wild game. I saw a turkey that would probably come up to my waist in height.

Sorry to say it folks, but the end of the Chief Ladiga trail in Anniston is kinda boring. You can camp out at a really nice campground, or have someone pick you up, or turn around and head back to Jacksonville. The tailwind put me in a good mood so I even found a halfpipe drain to ride in before making my final push up the hill to the B&B.

Once I got to the B&B, I got situated, out of the silly lycra and into the shower. After that my host graciously lent me a car to grab some dinner. It was a pretty special ride considering it was a BMW Z3 convertible that she’s owned for ten years (I’ve owned a z3m coupe for roughly the same amount of time). Once I filled my belly to the brim with Loco Mex – I tried to pass out, but my body was too wired from the day to really sleep.

I looked up just about every possibility to avoid riding a bicycle again back to Atlanta. Uber doesn’t exist in Jacksonville, AL – and a cheap pickup truck on Craigslist tempted me to cheat my way home. A few hours of sleep, clean clothes (B&B washed my cycling kit – how nice!), a great breakfast and cooler temperatures in the morning was enough motivation to get back on the bike and ride back to Atlanta.

Bike the Silver Comet & Chief Ladiga Trail

I set my finish line for Antico Pizza in Battery Park (aka new Braves stadium). There were a lot more cyclists on the trails on Saturday, but I only saw two or four riders that were bikepacking. A gal on an aero tri-bike came alongside me at about mile 60, so I hopped on her wheel to pick up the pace for a while.

Bike the Silver Comet & Chief Ladiga Trail

This lifted my spirits a good bit and hopefully didn’t freak her out too much. We rode along for a good 10-15 miles until she dropped a bottle – and I kept going. Of course she passed me again, but it’s kinda hard to do 24 mph on a 1×11 gravel bike without someone breaking the wind.

Once the Silver Comet trail ends – you’re on a trail extension pretty much the entire way to the park. It was on a game day so the roads were a little crazy and the crowds were probably giving me funny looks, but I didn’t care because my wife was there to greet me with a big smile.

We took a few pictures, got out of the silly lycra, ate some pizza and drove back to the burbs of ATL. This was a great trip. Sure, it would’ve been more fun with a buddy riding with me, but I also was content to spend some time pedaling solo for the two days.

Day 1
Day 2

In conclusion, this ride was awesome. Sure, there aren’t many scenic overlooks like you get on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but you also don’t have to deal with climbing mountains – or worrying about cars for the most part. GA/AL is fortunate to have such a long continuous trail system. I’m glad to mark this one off the bucket list.

Lost 30 by 30

and gained most of it back five years later 🙁

Several years ago we lived on the westside of Atlanta, near Smyrna, GA. I wasn’t much of a cyclist back then – and to be fair Atlanta isn’t the easiest place to be one. Anyway, our local Publix was close to the Silver Comet trailhead – which is a paved trail that goes all the way to the Georgia/Alabama border, then continues on to Anniston, Alabama on the Chief Ladiga trail.

After we moved to Charleston, SC I got into cycling – and due to my self-employment work I could free up many hours to ride long distance rides. This was great for my physical fitness. I once set a goal to lose 30 lbs in less than six months! I achieved that goal – and then some, knocking off close to 40 lbs of weight.

That was almost five years ago – and a lot has changed in our lives. Greenville, SC is home. Our son is almost two years old. Several job changes later and most of that weight has crept back. It turns out you won’t always have 10 hours a week to dedicate to working out. And if you don’t have great discipline at meal time, or snack time, or late night snack time you’ll end up right back where you started.

Anyway, tomorrow I’m going on a long ride again. First day will be over 100 mile ride from Smyrna, GA to Anniston, Al. Spend the night at a Bed&Breakfast, then wake up and ride back to Smyrna/Atlanta. The goal is to rack up 200 miles in two days.

Thankfully there are no cars to worry about – so in theory it’ll be ‘easy’.

Here’s the bike I’ll be riding, with a few bits and bobs bolted to it for comfort and gear.

Rodeo Labs Flannimal

To quote my friend Mountain Man Bill – “Hike your own hike – and finish”. Maybe one day he’ll see the light about bike touring vs just walking.

There is this really cool app called Epic Ride Weather and it shows me temperature, precipitation, wind and wind direction along my planned routes. Since I’m a newbie at solo long-distance riding, I welcome any tool that can help me anticipate challenges I may encounter.

It’s Back

I have some good news. My 10 year old photography website is back! Even though I stopped making pictures for a paycheck, I never stopped shooting. Head over to andrewdonnanphoto.com if you like pretty pictures. Want pictures? Let’s talk.

We all want our website to be faster, mobile responsive, high ranking on google and easier than ever before to update. Or perhaps you want to get your products listed on Amazon, eBay or Walmart, but haven’t a clue where to start. I can help.

I have been building websites on the side for many years and have found a few things that work. Whether it’s a three page small business site or serving the needs of a 2M E-Commerce platform, I can steer you in the right direction. I can’t promise you fame and fortune, but I can equip your business with the tools it needs to thrive online.

Here are a few websites I’ve worked on.

Stay tuned. There’s a lot more to come.