Setting Up a WordPress Contact Form with CF7 or WPForms

Option 1: Using Contact Form 7

Contact Form 7 is free, flexible, and widely used.

1. Installation:
   • Go to Plugins > Add New in your WordPress dashboard.
   • Search for “Contact Form 7”.
   • Click Install Now and then Activate.
2. Create a Form:
   • Go to the Contact menu in your admin screen.
   • Edit the default form or click Add New to make another.
   • Use simple tags for fields. Example:

   <label> Your Name (required)
       [text* your-name] </label>
   
   <label> Your Email (required)
       [email* your-email] </label>
   
   <label> Subject
       [text your-subject] </label>
   
   <label> Your Message
       [textarea your-message] </label>
   
   [submit "Send"]

3. Configure Email Settings:
   • Switch to the Mail tab in the form editor.
   • Set To, From, Subject, and the body.

   To: your-email@example.com
   From: [your-name] <wordpress@your-domain.com>
   Subject: Contact Form Submission from [your-subject]
   
   Message Body:
   From: [your-name] <[your-email]>
   Subject: [your-subject]
   
   Message:
   [your-message]
   
   --
   This e-mail was sent from a contact form on Your Site Name (your-website.com)

   Replace your-email@example.com with your address. Use a wordpress@your-domain.com format for the From field to help avoid spam filters.

4. Add the Form to a Page:
   • Copy the shortcode at the top (e.g., [contact-form-7 id="123" title="Contact form 1"]).
   • Paste it into the page or post where you want the form.
5. Protect with reCAPTCHA (Optional):
   • Insert the [cf7sr-turnstile] shortcode above the submit button to add Cloudflare Turnstile CAPTCHA.

Option 2: Using WPForms

WPForms provides a drag-and-drop builder.

1. Installation:
   • Go to Plugins > Add New.
   • Search for “WPForms”.
   • Click Install Now and then Activate.
2. Create a Form:
   • Go to WPForms > Add New.
   • Choose a blank form or a template like “Simple Contact Form”.
   • Use the builder to add, remove, and arrange fields.
3. Configure Email Notifications:
   • Go to Settings > Notifications.
   • Set the notification email address, subject line, from name, from email, and message.
4. Add the Form to a Page:
   • Click the Embed button in the builder.
   • Select or create a page; WPForms adds the form automatically.
   • Or copy the shortcode and paste it into any post or page.
5. Spam Protection:
   • WPForms has built-in spam protection.
   • You can also add hCaptcha or Google reCAPTCHA.

General Tips

• Test the form to confirm submissions are sent correctly.
• Check mobile responsiveness on smartphones and tablets.
• If you collect personal data from EU users, add a consent checkbox and a link to your privacy policy for GDPR compliance.