Post on 22-Jan-2018
transcript
Main Program:WordPress Form PluginsSallie Goetsch & Laura Steiner
Forms Are Everywhere in WordPress
Uses of Forms• Comments
• Search Forms
• Email Signups
• Contact Forms
• Payment
• Registration
• Testimonials
• Quizzes
• Polls & Surveys
WordPress Has No Native Form Builder
Early Form Plugins Looked Like This
Oh, wait. Contact Form 7 still looks like this.
Gravity Forms
Gravity Forms Was the First Commercial WordPress Plugin of Any Kind
What Gravity Forms Looked Like in 2011, when I first started using it.
It Shows
The Gravity Forms editor today. Six years without significant UI changes.
You Saw It Here First
Dynamic Population: Populate a field with a value. This value can be passed via Query Strings, Shortcode and/or Hooks.
Conditional Logic: Show or hide a field depending on the values of another field.
Gravity Forms: Form Settings
• Change submit button label
• Show submit button conditionally
• Enable save and continue for long forms
• Limit entries• Schedule form• Enable anti-spam honeypot
Gravity Forms Confirmations
Gravity Forms Notifications
Send notifications to different recipients depending on field values, or create different emails.
Gravity Forms: All Forms
• Toggle Active/Inactive• Form Name & ID• Number of Entries• Number of Views• Conversion Rate
Gravity Forms Entries
Gravity Forms Import & Export
Gravity Forms Official Add-Ons• Active Campaign
• Agile CRM
• Authorize.net
• Aweber
• Batchbook
• Breeze
• Campaign Monitor
• Campfire
• Capsule CRM
• CleverReach
• Coupons
• Dropbox• Emma• FreshBooks• GetResponse• Help Scout• Highrise• HipChat• iContact• Mad Mimi• MailChimp• Partial Entries• PayPal (+Pro)• Polls
• Quiz• Signature• Slack• Stripe• Survey• Trello• Twilio• User Registration• Zapier• Zoho CRM
Gravity Forms Third-Party Add-Ons
More GForms Third-Party Add-Ons
Still More…
Free Add-Ons in the Plugin Directory
Of Particular Note
• Gravity Forms + Custom Post Types
• Gravity Forms Constant Contact
• HubSpot for Gravity Forms
• Drip Email Campaigns
• Personality Quiz
• Infusionsoft Gravity Forms
Gravity Forms Pro & Con
• Flexible, extensible, and well-supported
• Straightforward to use
• Huge ecosystem of extensions & integrations
• Developer license for all official extensions is $199/year for unlimited sites
• Styling them is a bear.
• You need the developer license to get most of the add-ons, even if you only want to use them on one site.
• The UI has gotten dated.
Ninja Forms
Ninja Forms When I First Used It
Ninja Forms Now
Ninja Forms Confirmations
Ninja Forms Notifications
Ninja Forms Settings
Ninja Forms Submissions
Ninja Forms Import/Export
Ninja Forms Add-Ons• Layout & Styles
• File Uploads
• Conditional Logic
• Multi-Part Forms
• MailChimp
• PayPal Express
• User Management
• Front-End Posting
• Stripe
• Webhooks
• Zapier
• Salesforce• Campaign Monitor• Constant Contact• AWeber• Zoho CRM• Table Editor• Capsule• Insightly CRM• PDF Form Submissions• Trello• Vimeo Uploader• Excel Export• WebMerge
• Emma• Recurly• Twilio• ClickSend
Ninja Forms Pro & Con
• Slick Interface
• Solid Free Version
• Add Your Own CSS Classes
• Only buy and install the add-ons you need.
• Conditional logic, entry export, file upload, & multi-part forms are paid add-ons
• Agency package with all add-ons is $499
Caldera Forms
Caldera Forms Form List with Entries
Hover over form name to get edit link. (This is a little janky.)
Caldera Forms: Form Templates
Caldera Forms Layout Builder
Caldera Forms Field Types
Yes, these are all FREE field types.
Caldera FormsPage Navigation
Email Settings
Caldera Forms Conditions
Caldera Forms Settings
• Enable or Disable Entry Capture (storing entries in database)
• Edit Success Message
• Anti-Spam Honeypot
• Custom Callbacks
Caldera Forms Responsive Settings
Caldera Forms Free Add-Ons
• Custom Fields
• Run Action
• Verify Email
• Slack
• Conditional Fail
• Easy Digital Downloads
• Translations
Caldera Forms Paid Add-Ons• Easy Pods
• MailChimp
• Stripe
• Users
• Entry Limiter
• Geolocation
• Nexmo
• Mail Templates
• Easy Queries
• Connected Caldera Forms
• Braintree
• Authorize.net
• Dwolla
• Ingot
• ConvertKit
• Aweber
• Members
• YouTube
• Zapier
Caldera Forms Pros & Cons
• Templates & Layout Builder
• Advanced Features in Free Version
• Good Free Add-Ons
• Third-Party Add-Ons
• All Add-On Bundle is $499
• Individual Add-Ons Are Expensive
WPForms
WPForms Welcome Page
WPForms Form List
WPForms General Settings
Of note here is the ability to choose an email header image and background color.
WPForms Form Templates Not surprising that the makers of OptinMonsterinclude a newsletter signup among their free templates.
WPForms Form Fields
WPForms Form Settings
WPForms Notifications
Note frequent and prominent up-sell messages.
WPForms Confirmations
WPForms Marketing
Only Constant Contact is available for the free plugin. Paid marketing integrations include Aweber, Campaign Monitor, GetResponse, MailChimp, and Zapier.
WPForms Payments
Embedding a Form in WPForms
WPForms Entries
This is the deal-breaker: WPForms Lite does not store form entries in the WP database.
WPForms Paid Add-Ons
WPForms Pros & Cons
• Easy to use
• Decent UI
• Marketer-friendly
• Pricing structure matches GravityForms: $39 basic, $99 pro, $199 developer, $499 lifetime VIP
• Email formatting
• Free version is extremely limited
• Very few free add-ons
• Endless upsells
• Fewer integrations than Gravity Forms (no polls or quizzes)
Formidable Forms (Free)
Formidable Add Form
Helpful prompts and option to load template. Most fields are limited to pro version.
Formidable Contact Form Template
This is the only template available for the free version of Formidable.
Formidable Field Options & Layout
Though there are many options for form field layout, the interface is a little kludgy.
Formidable Form Settings
“Show message” is the only confirmation option in the free version.
Formidable Form Actions
Email notification is the only free option, but you can create several emails.
Formidable Email Notification
Formidable Form Styling
Some people love these things. I would personally just rather write CSS, because you never really get what you want with these. You can only have 1 style in the free version.
Formidable Customize HTML
This looks a little confusing, but lets you use your own classes and wrappers for complete customization.
Formidable Global Settings
Choose where to load form styling & whether to use HTML5, set user permissions for form management, enter reCAPTCHAkeys, and modify the default messages.
Formidable Form Export/Import
Entry export and import are available in the pro version.
Formidable Insert Form
Formidable Official Add-Ons
These are available either separately or as part of a pro bundle. Some interesting ones: action automation, WPML, Polylang, Locations, User Tracking.
Formidable Third-Party Add-Ons
Okay, I was impressed with how many of these there were relative to the comparatively small collection of official add-ons.
Formidable Pro-Only Features
Laura demonstrates these in her presentation.
Formidable Pros and Cons• Add-ons can be purchased
either separately or as part of a pro package.
• Customize HTML
• Styling options (for those who like them)
• Lifetime unlimited package available.
• Views and many other features are built in to Pro
• Great for data wonks
• Free version is very limited
• Styling options (for those who don’t)
• Form layout and shortcodes-for-everything are a bit clunky
• Pro prices a little higher than GF except for Lifetime
• Definite learning curve
Tying It All Together
Best Free Option: Caldera Forms
• Multiple free templates
• Terrific layout builder
• Great selection of field types
• Advanced features like conditional logic
• Good free add-ons
Best Paid Option: Gravity or Formidable
Both are great in terms of features and add-ons, though neither has a UI as slick as Caldera. Formidable has built-in views that GF needs add-ins for. GF provides better pricing for annual licensing, but Formidable has a good lifetime package. It’s going to come down to personal preference and the specific requirements of the site you’re building.
Don’t forget to watch Laura Steiner’s presentation on Formidable Pro!
About Your Presenter@salliegoetsch on Twittersallie@wpfangirl.com(510) 969-9947
Sallie Goetsch (rhymes with ‘sketch’) built her first HTML website in 1994. Since discovering WordPress in 2005, she hasn’t looked back. Sallie became the organizer of the East Bay WordPress Meetup in Oakland, California, in 2009. She runs her WP Fangirl consulting and development business from her home and appears regularly on the WP-Tonic Live panel.