Learn how to create a form in WordPress with a fast and easy drag and drop form builder. Make any type of form now and don't box yourself in for the future.
New to WordPress? There's a lot to learn, right? Luckily, form building is one of the easiest parts of building a WordPress website.
Phew! One less thing to worry about eh?
In this step by step guide, we'll show you how to use the form editor to create a super fast contact form in WordPress. After that, you'll be on your way to crafting an amazing WordPress site in super speed!
All you need is solid a WordPress form plugin.
To create a WordPress form, follow these steps:
Step 1: Install a WordPress form plugin
The first step is to install and activate a great WordPress form builder plugin. There are a lot of choices. We're going to use the most powerful option, trusted by more than 300,000 businesses.
Formidable is a drag and drop form builder that makes creating a form easy and fast. The best part is it's completely free!
Of course, there are plenty of advanced features in the pro version. But in this tutorial, all you'll need is the basic plugin.
Here's how to install the free version of Formidable Forms:
- Go to your WordPress Dashboard, and go to the Plugins → Add New page.
- Search for 'Formidable' and click the Install button. After installing, click the Activate button that appears.
Step 2: Create a form
Now that you've installed your new contact form plugin, it's time to create a new form. Stay in your WordPress admin and look at the sidebar on the left side of your screen.
- Go to Formidable → Forms. There is already a contact form created for you. If that's what you're looking for, skip ahead to step 4. For this tutorial, we'll create a contact form anyway to show you how. Click Add New at the top of the page.
- Click Create Form under Blank Form.
- Give your new form a name and click Create to start building your form.
Need more details? Read our 'create a form' help documentation.
Step 3: Add form fields
Once you've created a new form, all you need to do is add a few form fields. We told you this would be quick and easy!
Now you should be seeing the drag and drop form builder page. From this interface, form design is simple.
Just hover over each field and click or drag the ones you need for the new form. You can drag the fields around to adjust the order of the fields as you like.
As you can see, there are quite a number of fields to choose from. For a simple contact form, you'll add fields like a Single Line Text, Email Address, Paragraph Text, and a reCAPTCHA.
A Single Line Text field can be used in a variety of ways. For a contact form, you'll want to allow users to leave their name.
To do this, click on the field name for your single line text field. Then change the Field Label in the Field Options section in the sidebar.
Using the above method, you could add another text field so users could add a subject to their message too. You can come back and edit your form any time if you decide you'd like more fields.
The form button is added for you, but the text can be changed on the Settings page for this form.
For more info on fields, check out our field types help doc.
Step 4: Publish the created form
Now that you've created a form, you'll just need to publish it. You want people to contact you, right?
First things first, you need to create a new page or post where the form will be published.
Once that's done, you can add the newly created form in a few ways. The fastest option is to insert the form using a block. Just select the form for the block settings and you're set.
If you are using the Classic editor, the shortcode is the next best option. If you've never used a WordPress shortcode before, don't worry. They are very easy to use. You can easily spot a shortcode because they are always wrapped in square brackets [like this].
Your newly created form will have a shortcode that can be found in the Settings tab just above the form builder.
What's next?
Congratulations! You've created and published a form! Fast, wasn't it?
As you might have guessed, this form is just the tip of the iceberg. After publishing the form, you can expect people to start submitting the form. Those form submissions will show up in the Formidable → Form Entries tab.
Learn More: How to Add Email Subscription Forms in WordPress
Here are a few more ideas to keep the momentum going. We cover topics for beginners and developers.
- Learn about the different ways to use forms in WordPress
- Learn more about sending confirmation emails with WordPress Forms
- See our list of the best WordPress plugins or the best Free WordPress Form Plugins
Not using Formidable Forms yet? Get started today with our free plugin or the full-featured pro form maker!
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