When we introduced Formidable Geolocation 3.0 Beta, we announced a complete rebuild powered by WPGeo Framework, along with new fields including Distance & Duration, Nearest Locations, Drawing Tools, and Drawing Shape.
Formidable Geolocation 3.0.0-beta9 continues that work with two major improvements: WPGeo Framework is now included directly inside the plugin, and a dedicated migration system provides a safer upgrade path from Formidable Geolocation 2.3.1.
Customers no longer need to install or maintain WPGeo Framework as a separate WordPress plugin. The migration system also protects existing settings, forms, field configurations, and saved location data as they are converted to the new 3.0 structure.
Beta 9 additionally includes important security and reliability improvements for the Nearest Locations field and further refinements to the shared foundation that powers Formidable Geolocation.
This remains a beta release. Please back up your site and test the update on a staging or development environment before updating a production website.
WPGeo Framework Is Now Built In
WPGeo Framework provides the shared foundation used by Formidable Geolocation and our other compatible WPGeo-powered plugins.
In earlier Formidable Geolocation 3.0 beta releases, WPGeo Framework was installed and updated as a separate WordPress plugin. Starting with Beta 9, WPGeo Framework 1.0.0-beta27 is included directly with Formidable Geolocation.
For customers, this creates a simpler installation and update process:
- Install and update Formidable Geolocation as one plugin.
- No separate WPGeo Framework download is required.
- No additional framework plugin needs to be maintained.
- Compatible WPGeo-powered plugins can share the same framework foundation.
This change does not remove any of the benefits of the shared framework. It simply places the required framework directly inside the plugin package so WordPress can load a compatible version automatically.
What Happens to the Standalone WPGeo Framework Plugin?
Existing sites that already have the standalone WPGeo Framework plugin are handled through a safe transition process.
On an ordinary single-site WordPress installation, if the separate framework plugin is no longer required, it may be automatically deactivated and marked as safe to delete.
The standalone WPGeo Framework plugin is not automatically deleted. You remain in control of removing it from your site.
WordPress multisite installations are handled more conservatively. A network-active framework plugin will not be blindly deactivated because another site or plugin on the network may still depend on it.
If you use more than one WPGeo-powered plugin, they can share one compatible framework foundation without requiring you to manage multiple framework installations.
Safer Upgrades from Formidable Geolocation 2.3.1
Formidable Geolocation 3.0 introduces a dedicated migration system designed to carry existing plugin data into the new version without requiring customers to rebuild their forms.
The migration process has been verified using a complete upgrade from the previously published Formidable Geolocation 2.3.1 release to Formidable Geolocation 3.0.
During the upgrade, the migration system preserves and converts:
- Global plugin settings used by the existing installation.
- License information and feature access associated with the plugin.
- Existing forms and form-level geolocation settings.
- Legacy geolocation fields and field options used by existing forms.
- Repeater and nested-field configurations.
- Existing entry values and saved Coordinates data.
- Saved Map values and map snapshots.
- Existing Directions values and related field configurations.
- Legacy GEO my WP integration settings required by existing workflows.
Older configurations that provided Directions functionality through another geolocation field can also be converted into the dedicated Directions and Directions Panel fields used by version 3.0.
This helps existing forms adopt the new field structure while preserving their configured routing behavior and saved data.
Designed for Larger Sites and Incomplete Migrations
Existing entry data is migrated in controlled batches so sites with many entries do not need to process every saved value during a single request.
If more work remains after a batch is processed, the migration can continue during a later request instead of being marked complete prematurely.
If an error prevents part of the migration from completing, the process can retry rather than incorrectly treating the upgrade as finished.
The migration is also designed to be safe to run again. Once settings, fields, and entry values have been converted, another migration check does not repeatedly modify the same data.
If a migration needs attention, Formidable Geolocation can notify an administrator without unnecessarily preventing the public-facing website from continuing to load.
Migration Testing
The migration process has been tested with existing plugin settings, license data, forms, geolocation fields, repeaters, nested fields, entry values, Coordinates, Map data, Directions values, and frontend form output.
Testing also confirmed that migrated forms continue to appear in the Formidable Forms builder and render on the frontend after the upgrade.
The obsolete Google Maps China endpoint setting is intentionally not carried forward because it is no longer part of the current Formidable Geolocation configuration.
Although the migration has been extensively tested, every WordPress site can contain different forms, field combinations, custom code, and stored entry data. A complete backup and staging test remain essential before upgrading a production website.
Nearest Locations Security and Reliability Improvements
The Nearest Locations field finds and displays the closest matching locations relative to an address, coordinate, or selected map location.
Beta 9 strengthens how public Nearest Locations requests are processed, particularly when locations are loaded from a database.
Public requests no longer provide the database configuration used to locate records. Instead, Formidable Geolocation resolves the trusted Nearest Locations field settings saved by the site administrator before querying available locations.
This keeps public requests within the configuration established in the Formidable Forms builder rather than accepting raw location-source settings from the browser.
Additional improvements include:
- Improved manual-location parsing for supported location-list formats.
- Stronger coordinate validation before locations are processed.
- More consistent zero-distance results when the origin and destination represent the same location.
- Better enforcement of result limits configured by the administrator.
- Refined Google Routes Matrix options for travel-based nearest-location calculations.
- Short-lived server-side caching for identical Matrix requests.
The short-lived cache can prevent unnecessary repeat requests when the same calculation is requested more than once within a brief period. This can improve efficiency while preserving the configured location and routing behavior.
These are proactive security and reliability improvements. They do not indicate a known exploit, customer-data compromise, or emergency security event.
A More Consistent Shared Foundation
Embedding WPGeo Framework helps ensure that Formidable Geolocation is distributed with the framework functionality it requires.
The shared framework allows compatible products to use the same underlying geolocation components while each plugin continues to provide integrations and workflows designed for its supported platform.
For Formidable Geolocation customers, this means fewer separate components to manage and a more predictable update process as development of version 3.0 continues.
The Distance & Duration, Nearest Locations, Drawing Tools, Drawing Shape, geocoding, mapping, and routing features introduced during the 3.0 beta cycle remain part of the product according to the plan allocations described in the original beta announcement.
Existing plan names, feature allocations, and site allowances are not changed by this framework and migration update.
Google API Reminder
Formidable Geolocation 3.0 uses the current Google Maps Platform services, including:
- Places API (New) for relevant address and place functionality.
- Routes API for routing, Distance & Duration, and relevant Nearest Locations Matrix calculations.
Please confirm that the required services are enabled in your Google Cloud Console before testing the beta.
For instructions, see our Google Maps API setup guide.
Google Maps Platform usage may consume API quota and can result in charges from Google depending on your account, configuration, and usage.
What to Check Before Updating
Before installing Formidable Geolocation 3.0 Beta 9:
- Back up your website and database.
- Install the update on a staging or development site first.
- Confirm that existing plugin and license settings remain available.
- Review important forms and their geolocation field settings after migration.
- Test existing entries, Coordinates values, Maps, and Directions data.
- Test form submissions and newly saved location values.
- Verify repeaters, nested fields, calculations, conditional logic, Dynamic Fields, and custom integrations that depend on location data.
- Confirm that Places API (New) and Routes API are enabled where required.
- On multisite, review the network status of the standalone WPGeo Framework plugin before making manual changes.
If your site uses custom PHP or JavaScript integrations, test those customizations carefully before updating production.
Download Formidable Geolocation 3.0 Beta 9
Formidable Geolocation 3.0 Beta 9 provides a simpler one-plugin installation, a dedicated migration path for existing 2.3.1 customers, and stronger security and reliability for Nearest Locations workflows.
Existing customers can download the beta from their account under File Downloads.
This is still beta software. Please use staging, create a complete backup, and verify your important workflows before considering an update to a production website.
Your feedback continues to help us prepare Formidable Geolocation 3.0 for its stable release. Please report any bugs, compatibility problems, or unexpected behavior through our support page.