Creating complex forms with Contact Form 7
Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2024 8:40 am
Creating complex forms with Contact Form 7 is possible but not that easy. You can use the form editor buttons to insert input types and form elements.
However, there are no advanced features like conditional logic or payment processing, which you can find in other plugins like WPForms and its add-ons.
Clicking on an item will bring up a pop-up where you can select basic options for that field. For example, you can mark fields as required, add placeholder text, and configure them based on the type of entry you are adding.
Setting up advanced options for input fields
You will still need to write HTML such as paragraph and line break tags to correctly display your form.
The overall user experience while creating a qatar email database free complex form with Contact Form 7 is not good. However, if you have basic knowledge of HTML and Contact Form 7, then it is one of the most powerful form builders.
Styling forms created with Contact Form 7
Contact Form 7 automatically inherits the styling from your WordPress theme. Most standard WordPress themes come with predefined styles for form fields and buttons.
Some premium WordPress themes come with predefined styles primarily for Contact Form 7. However, if you need to, you can always add your own custom CSS.
Contact Form 7 adds CSS classes and IDs to all forms. You can use or override these default classes in your WordPress theme or child theme.
Check out this tutorial on how to style Contact Form 7 forms in WordPress .
Extending Contact Form 7 with additional plugins
Contact Form 7 lacks several features that are commonly offered by paid form plugins, such as Gravity Forms. However, Contact Form 7 is open source and highly extensible. Many WordPress plugin authors have created their own add-ons for Contact Form 7 that extend its capabilities.
For example, the author of Contact Form 7 has written an excellent plugin called Flamingo . It allows you to save responses submitted by CF7 forms to the database.
To find other plugins, simply search for Contact Form 7 in WordPress.org plugins.
Support and Documentation for Contact Form 7
Contact Form 7 comes with extensive documentation. First of all, there is contextual help built into the WordPress admin area.
Apart from that, there is more detailed documentation available on the plugin's website. Most of the documentation is in plain text format available in English and Japanese.
Related: How to Create a Multilingual Website .
Users can also submit support queries through the official WordPress support forums . However, free support is not guaranteed.
Alternatives to Contact Form 7
The best alternative options to Contact Form 7 are:
WPForms – The #1 form builder for WordPress that lets you create any type of form you need. It comes with a drag-and-drop builder, templates, spam protection, automated email notifications, marketing integrations, and more.
Formidable Forms : An advanced form builder that is best for surveys, directories, listing views, calculator forms, etc.
Thrive Leads : The best lead generation opt-in form builder with professionally designed themes, WYSIWYG editor, lead segmentation, email integrations, and much more.
That’s our pick of the best Contact Form 7 alternatives. Here’s our final verdict.
Our verdict
Contact Form is a pretty powerful plugin considering it's free. It's a very strong alternative to paid premium plugins in the same category. It comes with extensive documentation and has good community support which ensures that it's going to be around for a long time. It's also fully translated into many different languages.
However, it lacks many features that some paid plugins offer. It is also not very easy to use for beginners. It is well documented but if a user needs extra help, support options are limited. We give it 3.6 out of 5 stars.
However, there are no advanced features like conditional logic or payment processing, which you can find in other plugins like WPForms and its add-ons.
Clicking on an item will bring up a pop-up where you can select basic options for that field. For example, you can mark fields as required, add placeholder text, and configure them based on the type of entry you are adding.
Setting up advanced options for input fields
You will still need to write HTML such as paragraph and line break tags to correctly display your form.
The overall user experience while creating a qatar email database free complex form with Contact Form 7 is not good. However, if you have basic knowledge of HTML and Contact Form 7, then it is one of the most powerful form builders.
Styling forms created with Contact Form 7
Contact Form 7 automatically inherits the styling from your WordPress theme. Most standard WordPress themes come with predefined styles for form fields and buttons.
Some premium WordPress themes come with predefined styles primarily for Contact Form 7. However, if you need to, you can always add your own custom CSS.
Contact Form 7 adds CSS classes and IDs to all forms. You can use or override these default classes in your WordPress theme or child theme.
Check out this tutorial on how to style Contact Form 7 forms in WordPress .
Extending Contact Form 7 with additional plugins
Contact Form 7 lacks several features that are commonly offered by paid form plugins, such as Gravity Forms. However, Contact Form 7 is open source and highly extensible. Many WordPress plugin authors have created their own add-ons for Contact Form 7 that extend its capabilities.
For example, the author of Contact Form 7 has written an excellent plugin called Flamingo . It allows you to save responses submitted by CF7 forms to the database.
To find other plugins, simply search for Contact Form 7 in WordPress.org plugins.
Support and Documentation for Contact Form 7
Contact Form 7 comes with extensive documentation. First of all, there is contextual help built into the WordPress admin area.
Apart from that, there is more detailed documentation available on the plugin's website. Most of the documentation is in plain text format available in English and Japanese.
Related: How to Create a Multilingual Website .
Users can also submit support queries through the official WordPress support forums . However, free support is not guaranteed.
Alternatives to Contact Form 7
The best alternative options to Contact Form 7 are:
WPForms – The #1 form builder for WordPress that lets you create any type of form you need. It comes with a drag-and-drop builder, templates, spam protection, automated email notifications, marketing integrations, and more.
Formidable Forms : An advanced form builder that is best for surveys, directories, listing views, calculator forms, etc.
Thrive Leads : The best lead generation opt-in form builder with professionally designed themes, WYSIWYG editor, lead segmentation, email integrations, and much more.
That’s our pick of the best Contact Form 7 alternatives. Here’s our final verdict.
Our verdict
Contact Form is a pretty powerful plugin considering it's free. It's a very strong alternative to paid premium plugins in the same category. It comes with extensive documentation and has good community support which ensures that it's going to be around for a long time. It's also fully translated into many different languages.
However, it lacks many features that some paid plugins offer. It is also not very easy to use for beginners. It is well documented but if a user needs extra help, support options are limited. We give it 3.6 out of 5 stars.