cformsII
cforms is a feature rich plugin for Wordpress, offering convenient deployment of multiple Ajax driven contact forms throughout your blog or even on the same page.
IMPORTANT REQUIREMENT
cforms v.10.5 requires PHP 5+ ! Make sure your web server is running PHP5 before installing the update!
If your web site runs on PHP 4 and you don't want to upgrade to PHP 5, cforms v10.4.1 (download) is the latest version that support PHP 4.
Do you have any customized files?
cforms supports a separate custom user folder to store your tailored CSS, font and image files! Simply create the folder:
/plugins/cforms-custom
and move or copy your my-functions.php, CSS stylesheet file (including images!), font & background image files (for CAPTCHA, too) to it.
New Installs
1. Download & extract plugin using its default directory
2. Upload plugin directory to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory
3. Activate the plugin via 'Plugins' in WordPress
Upgrading
Before you use this plugin or are getting ready for an update, you should...
Make a database backup (this is always a good thing to do!)
Keep a copy of your old cforms plugin folder
Deactivate cforms
Upload the new version
Reactivate it
Moving to a different site
When moving cforms to a new site make sure to...
Backup your cforms settings (under Global-Settings Tab/Backup)
Copy/Move cforms plugin folder to new site
Activate cforms (if already activated, toggle status!)
Check/Adjust abspath.php for correct path (in your cforms folder)
Check/Adjust js/cforms.js for correct path (var sajax_uri =...)
Clear your browser cache etc.
Generally
if you're upgrading from an older release I recommend you skim through the ____HISTORY.txt file to keep up on all the enhancements and bug fixes, some may require re-configuration of your settings (e.g. date-picker, WP comment form feature etc.)
Please see the version history & ____HISTORY.txt in the zip file for what is new.
General Features
Multi-Part / Multi-Page form chains
"Wizard Mode" to limiaid form creation process
Preset forms to "jump start" your own
Ajax supported form submission (incl. graceful fall-back)
Multiple forms on one or many pages / posts
WP Dashboard Support (showing last 5 entries)
"WP Comment/Message to author" Feature (supporting: extra comment fields, threaded comments, Comment Luv, Subscribe To Comment & WP Ajax Edit Comments)
Full localization support (see section below)
Tell-A-Friend functionality, see Help documentation
File attachments / Upload, fully configurable per form
Multiple upload fields allowed
Backup & Restore
Role Manager support
Database based tracking of submitted data (XML, CSV, TAB)
Cloning / duplication of forms
Drag and drop form management
Fully integrated with TinyMCE and default WP editor (via button)
Submission limits (e.g. registrations)
Timing of forms (start & end dates)
Widget support
Supported Form Fields
Inclusion of custom fields (from a post)
Read-only & disabled support
Fancy Javascript date picker
Configurable text elements (non input fields)
Custom field NAMES & ID's
Various standard input fields:
fieldsets
single and multi-line input fields
select boxes (drop down)
multi select fields
check boxes
check box groups
radio buttons
...and a few special ones:
"CC me" check box for visitors
visitor verification
multiple form recipient (drop down list)
password fields
hidden fields
HTML support for field labels & err, success messages
No resetting of form for quick resubmission
Styling
Clean separation of CSS styling and form code
Fully customizable Look & Feel (optional label ID's and list item ID's!)
CSS can be completely turned off
Built in CSS theme selector and CSS editor
Set of predefined themes
Input & Validation
Supporting DISABLED form elements
Default values for single/multi-line input field
Form validation & regular expressions
Individual error messages (HTML enabled)
Submission status (success/failure) optionally via Alert Box
Fancy error display options (inline errors, field highlighting etc.)
Messaging
Fully customizable auto confirmation message & form email (TXT & HTML)
Message(s) can contain system variables and form based variables!
Multiple recipients per form (optionally selectable by visitor)
BCC to copy additional admin(s)
Anti SPAM / Security
SPAM protection Q &A
SPAM protection using CAPTCHA
Ajax driven CAPTCHA reset button
Full CAPTCHA image customization
Extensibility
API function to extract user data
APIs to control application logic
Post processing of submitted data via custom functions: filter and actions (see Help! page)
Support for alternative SMTP server (in case you can't use PHP mail())
PHPmailer 2.0 included (for SSL/TLS support)
POP before SMTP authentication
Generate dynamic forms in real-time
Filtering & Download of recorded data
3rd party email tracking support, e.g. readnotify & didtheyreadit
Page redirection on successful form submission
Alternative form action supported (please read config info!)
I attempt to keep the user interface in sync with the latest WP release. This could potentially lead to slight layout issues with older WP versions, if you come across any UI issues, let me know.
The user interface supports Drag & Drop for form fields, color-, date- and time-picker as well resizeable text areas to provide an intuitive user experience.
Inserting a form (or more) into your posts and pages couldn't be any easier: cforms offers -if enabled- a TinyMCE button. Alternatively you can of course insert a cforms form tag manually as well (e.g. in the Code Editor).
Don't like the default theme or need to change/adjust it to your CI ? Check out the Help! section for lots more info and examples on how to change the look and feel of your forms, how to setup the various input fields and other special fields/features.
Would you like to track submissions and export later? Make sure to enable cforms' DB tracking feature which will give you a safety net in case an email gets lost...
...with the ability to export later in XML, TAB & CSV formats.
On a general note:
Always keep backups! cforms allows you to backup either individual forms & settings or all cforms options in one backup file (see Global-Settings). Individual form backups may come handy when you setup a lot of similar forms, complete backups for when you have to re-install WP or move to a different site.
cforms offers several themes (select via the Styling sub menu tab) that have been revised to work with the default or any other additional form you've created. If you want to further tailor the CSS to meet your individual needs, you can use the CSS Editor on the same page to do so. You may also find these quickly thrown together guides (PDF ~230KB) useful.
My recommended approach: Get Firefox & Firebug as an excellent basis for CSS (web) development. If you'd like to take the customization further you can activate Label and Input Field ID's (via Styling), which will add a unique label ID to each label element.
And finally, many WP theme developers aren't particularly cautious and tend to define global CSS declarations that may have an impact on how cforms' forms are rendered - hate to say, but if your form doesn't look right, 99.5% it's your WP theme that interferes.
Do you require more flexibility in your forms? Then create and deploy forms at run-time. Mind you, to use this feature it requires basic and possibly more advanced PHP knowledge, examples you'll find in the HELP! section of plugin admin pages.
This will essentially allow you to pull data from an external source and feed it into your ad-hoc created form fields. I've deliberately not included any sort of external data administration, as everyone will have a different file or database table syntax. Any of the fields described in the HELP! section can be created at run-time and shown online. Minor drawback: this works only in non-Ajax mode.
Post processing of user input
cforms comes with several adjustable functions (and examples) that allow you to filter and modify user input on the fly as well as trigger an action after user input has been accepted, you can even change cforms settings during run-time, such as page redirection & admin email. All great capabilities to incorporate your own application and business logic!
If you'd like to contribute a language translation, please get in touch.
Here is the current .pot file, poedit, 10 (general) steps that should get you started. If you have suggestions or would like to point out typos etc, please contact the actual author (see list below) of the respective localization:
Bahasa Indonesia * Author: Hendry Lee (download)
Chinese, Simplified * Author: Charles (download)
Danish * Author: Mads Christian Jensen (download)
Dutch * Author: Anja (download)
French * Author: La maison de l'informatique (download)
German * Author: Sven Wappler (download)
Hungarian * Author: Ungvári Béla (download)
Italian * Author: Gianni (download)
Japanese * Author: Hiroaki Miyashita (download)
Polish * Authors: Kasia Nocek & WEST28 (site1, site2)
Romanian * Author: George Hari Popescu (download)
Russian * Author: Sofia Panchenko (download)
Spanish * Author: Samuel Aguilera (download)
Turkish * Author: Resat Diker (download)
Ukrainian * Author: Stas Mykhajlyuk (download)
Please note that I'm not a full time programmer and this plugin doesn't claim state of the art programming principles. I'm not sure I've covered every possible exception, nor have I checked compatibility with the zillions of other plugins out there.
I believe that the use of the plugin and it's functionality is pretty self-explanatory (make sure to visit the Help! section in the plugin admin pages), however do check with the Frequently Asked Questions page and the cforms support forum in case you need further help.
Take a look at the version history to keep up with WHAT'S NEW and bug fixes.
The good news are, cforms of course remains free for everyone! Heck, it's even released under GPL now! Feel free to use it free of charge on your personal or commercial blog.
If however you're happy with cforms feel free to support future development/support with a donation.
Patches:
Updated May 1st, 10:36 am CET: Patch_10.5.1.zip (admin email fix/enhancement)
Updated May 17th, 9:36 pm CET: Patch_10.5.2.zip (WP comment form fix (email part))
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