Ajax Contact Form

Are you looking for a contact form plugin that includes all the essential features, is easy to use and efficiently prevents spam? Stop searching and discover what our plugin can do for your website.

On this page I will tell you more about the plugin’s features:

• Create and embed contact forms
• Autoresponders
• Collect submissions and other settings
• Spam protection
• WordPress hooks

Do you need support for this plugin? Please post your question via the plugin support forum at wordpress.org.

General plugin installation

The installation of the plugin is the same as with any other plugin that you can install via the WordPress repository.

1. Go to Plugins > Add new plugin via your dashboard and search for “fws contact form”.
2. Install and activate the plugin with the name “Ajax Contact Form” that appears.

For users still using the old shortcode version!

If you have been using the plugin for a while, you may want to switch to the new post-based form function. In this case, the attributes and properties are no longer set via the form shortcode but through a user-friendly interface.

You can continue to use the old version for the time being, but we will no longer develop new functions for it.

Create a new contact form

After activating the plugin, you can start creating your first form right away.

Navigate to ‘Contact Form’ and click the ‘Add New Form’ button. The next screen allows you to enter all attributes and properties. Start with a descriptive title for your form. This title is only visible within the WordPress dashboard.

Form Options

• Email address (From): The email address from which notifications and autoresponders are sent.
• Email address (To): The email address where new message notifications are sent.
• Email subject(s): Enter one or more email subjects. If only one is provided, it will be used for notifications. If multiple subjects are entered, a dropdown menu will be created in the form, allowing visitors to choose a subject.

More Fields

As indicated on the screen, basic fields are mandatory and cannot be changed.

For the following fields, you can choose whether they are visible, hidden, or required:

• Company name
• Phone number
• Website
• Terms Checkbox

The terms checkbox can be used for various purposes, such as agreeing to terms and conditions, a privacy policy, or subscribing to a newsletter.

The following two fields work in conjunction with the terms checkbox:

• Label/Text for the terms checkbox: The text displayed next to the checkbox.
• Error message if unchecked (required only): A custom error message shown when the checkbox is required but not checked.

Additional 

• URL for the thank-you page: Redirect visitors to another page after submitting the form. This can be an internal or external URL.
• Thank-you message: The success message displayed after form submission.
• Responder email: Select the autoresponder to be used (must be created first).
• Save submissions: Enable this option to store form submissions in the database. It’s recommended to save submissions temporarily and check them regularly in case an email notification is missed.
• Track events in Google Analytics (v4): Enter an event name to track form submissions in Google Analytics over a specific period.
• Track goals in Clicky: If using Clicky Analytics, enter the goal number you created in Clicky.
• CSS class: Add a unique CSS class name to apply custom styling to the form.

Click “Publish” to activate your form. Above the button, you will see a shortcode like [fws_contact_form id="123"], which you can insert on a page.

Set up autoresponders

I recommend always sending an automatic reply when someone fills out your contact form. This reassures the visitor that their message has been received and also allows you to include useful information, such as a follow-up action (e.g., calling your business or exploring other parts of your website).

Setting up an automatic reply consists of just three parts:

1) Title

Not much needs to be said about the title—simply choose a clear subject line that will also serve as the email subject.

2) Email Body

The email content is sent using an HTML email template, allowing you to include a logo, add links, and format your text with basic HTML elements.
You can use the variable %name% to personalize the message.

3) Optional email fields

At the bottom, there are two additional fields you can fill in:

• Preheader: A short introductory text that appears in the email preview in services like Gmail.
• Email footer: Use this section for your company name, address, or Chamber of Commerce number.

Final Step

Once you’ve saved your email message, go back to your form and select the autoresponder under Additional > Responder Email.

Here’s an example of what such an email looks like:

Collecting submissions

When you enable the “Save submissions” option for a form, each submission is stored as a post in WordPress. You can view and delete these posts if needed, for example, to comply with privacy laws in your country.

For each submission, in addition to the completed form fields, you will also see:

• Date and time of submission
• The page from which the form was submitted
• The visitor’s IP address and user agent

Plugin settings

You can find additional settings under Contact Form > Settings. These are divided into two tabs.

Configuration

• Blocked Country Codes: Do you frequently receive unwanted messages from countries where you don’t do business? Enter the two-letter ISO codes of the countries you want to block, separated by commas.
• reCAPTCHA Site Key and Secret Key: Fill in these fields to protect your forms against spam using Google reCAPTCHA.
• hCaptcha Secret Key and Site Key: Similar to reCAPTCHA but with better privacy protection for visitors. Additionally, hCaptcha states that its widgets are more accessible to people with disabilities.
• Include CSS: Enable this option to apply the plugin’s default styling to your forms. If you prefer custom styling, add the following CSS code to your own stylesheet:
  #contactform div.form-group:first-child { display:none; }
  This code hides the honeypot field used for spam protection.

Default form settings

The second tab allows you to save default settings, so you don’t have to re-enter all the details when creating a new contact form. The various fields in this section have already been covered in the form creation section.

How does spam protection work?

A “Honeypot” (a hidden form field) is added by default for each form. If a bot fills in the field, the form will not be processed. In addition, the plugin works with a cookie. This cookie is placed upon arrival on the website. If a form is then sent within the first 15 seconds, the submission will be blocked.

Google reCAPTCHA and hCAPTCHA

Both services validate the submission using an external server. If a submission appears “suspicious”, a window will appear where the visitor must perform additional actions.

Block a submission based on the visitor’s country

You can specify one or more country codes via the plugin settings. When submitting a form, the visitor’s country code will then be retrieved based on the IP address. If the country code is listed in the settings, the submission will not be processed ,and the visitor will receive a notification.

Support for WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam

The form plugin has an integration with WP Armour. Once you install this plugin, the integration is activated automatically. I recommend using WP Armour, also for securing standard WordPress forms (login, registration, comments).

For developers

The plugin currently has one action hook that allows you to manipulate its behavior.
fwsacf_after_success_form
This hook enables you to perform an additional action after successfully submitting the form (and the associated emails). A common use case is using the terms checkbox as a trigger for a newsletter subscription..

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I add extra fields to my form?

We have kept the plugin simple. If you want to build more advanced forms, we recommend using plugins such as Gravity Forms.