Using Forms in Wordpress

Recently, I had some difficulty implementing forms into my blog here. So I set out on a mission to locate an easy to use plug-in to get forms into my blog.

The result exceeded my expectations by a long shot. I stumbled upon the cforms II plug-in for WordPress by Delicious Days.

But let me back up a bit and describe what I was looking for. I wanted something that could create forms that had a Web 2.0ish look and feel. I did not want to deviate too much from my blog theme and wanted full control of the CSS. The forms had to be easy to create and edit. These same forms also had to be easy to integrate into a blog post or page. I did not want a single form for everything, but a variety of forms that I could implement where I saw the need. And the kicker … I wanted to track and store all form submissions in a database so I could identify where feedback was coming from and how I was responding to my visitors.

Given this list of requirements, cforms II did not disappoint.

Immediately after installing the plug-in, I felt a bit confused by the interface provided in the admin panel. But after creating my first form from scratch, the purpose of each of the configuration sections became easily understandable.

I must admit, at first I just integrated the default form into the Contact Us page to see how it would look. From here I went straight into the styling tab to mess with the look and feel. My only disappointment was that after 15 minutes there was nothing left to fool with. I had my Contact form and it worked. Usually things are a bit more difficult than this … or aren’t they supposed to be?

Next task, create a form so that visitors can get a free quotation of our services. This provided a bit more of a challenge and took 20 minutes.

In about a half an hour I had created 2 forms, integrated them into my blog, and sent myself two test posts to ensure that everything worked fine.

I then realized that this was the way things were supposed to work. As described and planned … intuitively … the way humans normally think.

My bottom line is, if you are looking to implement one or more forms into your blog, there is nothing better than cforms II. I have recommended the plug-in to others and they have also been extremely satisfied with the results.

We hope you feel the same way after installing this very well designed plug-in.

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