Limit Dates 1.1.36 – for Gravity Forms

I use Limit Dates for Gravity Forms when a date picker must obey real booking rules instead of letting users click anything and fail later. It solves a narrow but important job: block unavailable dates, restrict ranges, disable weekdays, cap lead time, or enforce schedule windows directly on the form front.

This addon fits booking forms, delivery cutoffs, appointments, rentals, and event registration. On those projects, native Gravity Forms date fields are too open. I’d rather stop bad input at the picker level than clean it up later with custom validation and support tickets.

How it behaves inside WordPress

The addon extends Gravity Forms date fields and stores its settings inside the form config in the database, same as normal field settings. You configure it in Forms → Edit Form → Date Field Settings, not in theme files. Rules like min/max date, excluded days, dynamic limits, or blackout logic are attached to the field, then rendered into the frontend date picker script.

That means most changes are editable from the adminka. If the rule is supported by the UI, I don’t touch PHP. Hardcoded work starts only when the project needs custom validation logic or a nonstandard source for availability. In those cases I use Gravity Forms hooks, not direct plugin edits.

On the front, the addon depends on Gravity Forms scripts and datepicker assets initializing in the right order. If the calendar opens but blocked dates aren’t actually blocked, I check DevTools → Console for JS errors and Network for missing form scripts. Typical break: cache/optimization plugins delay jquery-ui-datepicker, gform_gravityforms, or jquery-core, and the limit logic never binds correctly.

Where it usually breaks

The most common issue is date restrictions looking fine for admins but not on the public page. Root cause is often page cache serving stale form markup or old inline config after field settings changed. Fast fix: clear page cache, object cache, CDN cache, then hard refresh and retest in incognito. If the form is embedded through a builder block or popup plugin, I also check whether the script initializes only on page load and not when the popup opens.

Another real problem is timezone mismatch. I’ve seen “today” become selectable or blocked incorrectly because WordPress timezone, server timezone, and custom PHP date logic were out of sync. The fast fix is in Settings → General → Timezone: set the real site timezone, not UTC by habit, then retest the form close to midnight and around date cutoffs.

A classic frontend conflict is script optimization breaking the picker entirely. If clicking the field does nothing, or every date stays selectable, I disable JS delay for Gravity Forms and jQuery UI handles first. In performance plugins, exclude form scripts from minify/combine before debugging PHP. If a theme replaces native inputs with its own UI library, I test with a default theme to confirm the conflict.

Activation and update behavior

Limit Dates for Gravity Forms Add-on is activated and fully working, without restrictions — I verified it personally. It runs as expected. Without an official key, what usually disappears is auto-updates, official support, and vendor account update access, not the core runtime.

Manual updates are simple: upload the new ZIP through Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin or replace the folder via FTP. Make a backup first. Any direct edits inside plugin files will be overwritten, so I keep custom date rules in snippets or a small site plugin.

FAQs (the stuff people actually trip over)