Calculated Fields Form Tutorials

Tips and cases of use for a successful WordPress website with calculated forms.

Tutorials / How to Display Complex Calculated Field Results in Your Forms

How to Display Complex Calculated Field Results in Your Forms

Video tutorial included below - scroll down to watch.

When you're building forms with Calculated Fields, everything feels simple... until your equation produces a result that's too long, spans multiple lines, or includes HTML. Suddenly the output gets cut off, formatting breaks, and the form looks nothing like what you intended.

If that sounds familiar, you're not alone. It's one of the most common questions we receive - and the good news is that the fix is both clean and incredibly simple.

Why Calculated Fields Can’t Display Complex Results

Calculated Fields show their output inside an <input> tag. That’s great for short values, but it comes with two built‑in limitations:

  • <input> tags can't display multiple lines
  • They don't render HTML

So if your equation generates a table, formatted text, or anything longer than a single line, the Calculated Field just can't display it properly.

The Simple Workaround

Instead of trying to force the Calculated Field to show the final result, use it strictly as a helper to perform the calculation.

Then display the output in an HTML Content field.

All you need is an HTML tag with a data-cff-field attribute pointing to the Calculated Field you want to display:

<div data-cff-field="yourCalculatedFieldName"></div>

This gives you full control over formatting, styling, and layout - no more cramped input boxes.

A Practical Example: Mortgage Amortization

In the video, we start with a basic mortgage calculator that collects:

  • Property price
  • Down payment
  • Loan term
  • Annual interest rate
  • Start date

From there, we add a new Calculated Field using the CALCULATEAMORTIZATION operation to generate a complete amortization table.

The result is long, multi‑line, and full of HTML - exactly the kind of output a Calculated Field can't display.

So we move the output into an HTML Content field, hide the original Calculated Field, and the form instantly becomes cleaner, more professional, and far more informative.

Watch the Full Tutorial

Below is the full video where I walk you through the entire process step by step:

Final Takeaway

Whenever your equation produces a result that's too complex for a Calculated Field, don't fight the limitations. Use the Calculated Field for the math, and display the final output in an HTML Content field instead.

It's flexible, reliable, and works beautifully for tables, formatted text, and any multi‑line content your form needs.

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