{"id":41,"date":"2026-07-13T11:04:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T05:34:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jnkplugins.com\/blog\/docs\/entryvault-adapters\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T11:05:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T05:35:51","slug":"entryvault-adapters","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jnkplugins.com\/blog\/docs\/entryvault-adapters\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing an EntryVault adapter"},"content":{"rendered":"

An EntryVault<\/a> adapter teaches the plugin how to capture submissions from one form builder. Each adapter is a small class implementing a three-method contract, then registered via a filter. This guide walks through writing one.<\/p>\n

You don’t need to modify EntryVault to add an adapter \u2014 register your class from your own plugin or your theme’s functions.php<\/code> using the entryvault_adapters<\/code> filter.<\/p>\n

The contract<\/h2>\n

Every adapter extends EntryVault\\Adapters\\Adapter_Base<\/code> and implements three abstract methods:<\/p>\n

abstract public function slug(): string;         \/\/ stable id, e.g. \"my-forms\"\nabstract public function is_active(): bool;       \/\/ is the host plugin installed?\nabstract public function register_hooks(): void;  \/\/ hook the builder's submit event<\/code><\/pre>\n
The registry only calls register_hooks()<\/code> on adapters whose is_active()<\/code> returns true, so there’s zero overhead for builders that aren’t installed.<\/p>\n
The normalised payload<\/h2>\n
Your hook callback’s job is to build one associative array and hand it to dispatch()<\/code>. This is the shape EntryVault’s sync engine stores:<\/p>\n
[\n  'source_plugin'   => $this->slug(),      \/\/ who captured it\n  'source_form_id'  => (string) $form_id,   \/\/ which form\n  'source_entry_id' => (string) $entry_id,  \/\/ which submission (see dedupe note)\n  'title'           => $title,              \/\/ card title\n  'email'           => $email,              \/\/ card email (nullable)\n  'fields'          => $fields,             \/\/ list of [key,label,type,value]\n  'created_at'      => current_time( 'mysql' ),\n]<\/code><\/pre>\n
Dedupe: the one rule that matters<\/h3>\n
EntryVault de-duplicates on the triple (source_plugin, source_form_id, source_entry_id)<\/strong>. If the builder gives you a real, stable entry id, use it. If it stores nothing (as Contact Form 7 does), you must synthesise a unique id per submission<\/strong> \u2014 otherwise two unrelated submissions with the same id silently merge into one record.<\/p>\n
Helpers the base class gives you<\/h2>\n
$this->dispatch( $normalized );        \/\/ ingest the payload (idempotent)\n$this->pick_email( $fields );          \/\/ best-guess email from the fields\n$this->pick_title( $fields, $email );  \/\/ best-guess card title (name field, else email)<\/code><\/pre>\n
A minimal adapter<\/h2>\n
A complete adapter for a hypothetical builder that fires myforms_after_submit<\/code> with a form id and a label => value<\/code> map:<\/p>\n
namespace MyPlugin;\n\nuse EntryVault\\Adapters\\Adapter_Base;\n\nclass Adapter_My_Forms extends Adapter_Base {\n\n    public function slug(): string {\n        return 'my-forms';\n    }\n\n    public function is_active(): bool {\n        return defined( 'MYFORMS_VERSION' );\n    }\n\n    public function register_hooks(): void {\n        add_action( 'myforms_after_submit', [ $this, 'capture' ], 20, 2 );\n    }\n\n    public function capture( int $form_id, array $data ): void {\n        $fields = [];\n        foreach ( $data as $label => $value ) {\n            $fields[] = [\n                'key'   => sanitize_key( $label ),\n                'label' => $label,\n                'type'  => is_string( $value ) && is_email( $value ) ? 'email' : 'text',\n                'value' => is_array( $value ) ? implode( ', ', $value ) : $value,\n            ];\n        }\n        $email = $this->pick_email( $fields );\n        $this->dispatch( [\n            'source_form_id'  => (string) $form_id,\n            'source_entry_id' => 'myforms_' . $form_id . '_' . uniqid( '', true ),\n            'title'           => $this->pick_title( $fields, $email ),\n            'email'           => $email,\n            'fields'          => $fields,\n        ] );\n    }\n}<\/code><\/pre>\n
Registering it<\/h2>\n
Add your class to the candidate list through the entryvault_adapters<\/code> filter \u2014 no core edits:<\/p>\n
add_filter( 'entryvault_adapters', function ( array $adapters ) {\n    $adapters[] = \\MyPlugin\\Adapter_My_Forms::class;\n    return $adapters;\n} );<\/code><\/pre>\n
That’s the whole integration. On the next submission your adapter runs, the entry is normalised and stored, and it appears on the board alongside every other builder’s submissions.<\/p>\n
Tips for metadata-poor builders<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • No labels?<\/strong> Humanise the field key (e.g. full_name<\/code> \u2192 “Full Name”) and infer a type from the value.<\/li>\n
  • No pre-send hook?<\/strong> Capture as early as the builder allows so a failed notification email doesn’t cost you the lead.<\/li>\n
  • No entry id?<\/strong> Synthesise one from the form id plus microtime()<\/code> and uniqid('', true)<\/code> \u2014 see the dedupe rule above.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    An EntryVault adapter teaches the plugin how to capture submissions from one form builder. Each adapter is a small class implementing a three-method contract, then registered \u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"parent":5,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-41","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nWriting an EntryVault adapter - JnK Plugins Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jnkplugins.com\/blog\/docs\/entryvault-adapters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Writing an EntryVault adapter - JnK Plugins Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An EntryVault adapter teaches the plugin how to capture submissions from one form builder. 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