Very Simple Contact Form with settingspage
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Dear users of Very Simple Contact Form,
I’m thinking about making several major changes which can effect your contact form.
These changes are:
- Adding a settingspage
- Relocate most (shortcode) attributes to this settingspage
Advantages for you:
- Most settings on 1 page
- You don’t have to fool around with (shortcode) attributes anymore
Please note:
- You should set your custom (shortcode) attribute(s) again
But first I would like your opinion (as a user). So please give me some feedback.
Guido
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Settings Page would be fine for setting defaults.
But please do not remove shortcode attribute abilities! ..so that one can make forms that differ from defaults.
Would be a dealbreaker for me, because I use multiple forms with different settings throughout the Site.Hi @surml ,
Thanks for your response. What are your different settings? The labels itself, the “thank you” message, different email addresses, something else? Please let me know.
How I see it now: the regular form label attributes via the settingspage (name, email, message, “thank you” and error message) but attributes such as email address, subject and hide subject field via the shortcode.
By the way.. in next version I will add a great new feature: submissions will be saved in database and listed in dashboard!
Guido
Hi again,
Have worked on it tonight.
The (shortcode) attributes that won’t be listed on the settingspage are:- email address admin
- the “from” email header
- custom email subject
- hide subject field
- the “thank you” message
- auto reply message in mail to sender
Meaning you can still set them for each form separately using (shortcode) attributes.
I don’t think there’s need to set other parts of my form separately.
Guido
Hi Guido,
thanks for your effort!
But why would you remove any features your plugin already has? As far as I see it, it would be very simple to expand vscf-form.php and vscf-widget-form.php by an array filled with all options from the admin page and then placing these settings as defaults into shortcode_atts() instead of the hardcoded ones you have now (while these could be the new hardcoded defaults of the admin page fields). That way none of the functionality would be lost and all available settings could be set both ways.
Would be fine for users like me who need shortcode_atts and would be easier for non-power users, because for one simple form everything could be set in the admin page without touching shortcode_atts at all.Cheers, Michael
Hi Michael,
Main purpose to do this is that I want to make it more simple, so even users without attribute experience (non-power users, as you call them) can fully customize my form. But, users like you (with multiple form) should be able to use several forms with different settings.
I assume you don’t have set different labels for regular fields such as “Name”, “Email”, “Message”? That’s why I will remove those attributes. To be honest, I don’t want useless attributes (code) in my plugin 😉
The ones that stay will NOT be changed! You will be able to change them via the settingspage, but you can still overwrite them using the attribute. So this will not affect the attributes mentioned in my previous post. So I guess (hope) this will not affect your forms as well.. if it does, please let me know.
Guido
Hi,
I have updated plugin. Changelog:
- major update
- new: you can now list form submissions in your dashboard
- new: added settingspage with all general settings and labels
- removed all field label (shortcode) attributes
- all field labels can be changed via the settingspage
- all other (shortcode) attributes still work as before
- updated most files
So if you’ve added (shortcode) attributes to change regular field labels, you should go to the new settingspage and set them again.
Guido
Thanks for this update but I’m a bit confused here…
I’m using previous version with shortcodes at different sites and I would like to know what changes before updating to latest version.Is it possible to have a clear documentation of what exactly can be used in shortcodes and what at settings page?
Thanks!
Hi John,
I understand.
The only (shortcode) attributes I have removed are the field labels; Name, Email, Subject, Enter number, Message. Those can now be changed via the settingspage. I have removed those attributes because I think a user will not have different field labels for each form.
There are 3 things that can be changed via the settingspage but are overwritten when using the relevant (shortcode) attribute: thank you message, activate auto-reply, auto-reply message in confirmation email to sender. Just to make plugin more user-friendly.
Other attributes aren’t changed nor removed. The current attributes are descriped on the main plugin page. Check section “Shortcode Attributes”. Have added 2 new screenshots on this page too. Might help you as well.
Guido
OK, thanks, I think I got it now.
Will try to update then and see what happens…If you didn’t change field labels your form should be the same as before the update..
If you still have doubts, please let me know which attributes you’ve set, so I can tell you if this update has any (visible) effects for you.
Guido
Thanks Guido, that’s fine I think, no problem.
Guido,
thanks for the nice plugin.
The new rules and regulations in the EU make it mandatory to not just send a confirmation email, if someone uses the contact form, but to send a double-opt-in email, for him to confirm his request for info. Do you have plans to add this feature?
best regards
Hi,
As far as I know a double-opt-in is only required when a user signs up for a newsletter and such? To confirm his or her email address, that will be used for the newsletter.
And my plugin is a regular contact form plugin.
Guido
Hi Guido,
I’m pretty sure Double-opt-in is not just to confirm an email address, main reason for douple-opt-in is to have him or her confirm you are allowed to send emails.
Sending a message via contact form is pretty much the same as signing up for a newsletter.
Also, with the new rules and regulations it is highly recommended to add a check box (which needs to be empty by default) in the contact form, to have him or her to confirm having read the privacy statementHi,
I understand that a checkbox which should be checked before submitting the form can be useful in cases you save the submission in dashboard or when sending an auto reply. Will think about how to include this in a future update.
But I cannot find any info about the necessity of double-opt-in for regular contact forms. Only for newsletter type forms. So if you have info about this, please send me the link to that website.
Guido
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