Contact Form 7 is a commonly utilized plugin for WordPress, which enables website administrators to conveniently generate and handle contact forms. The pre-existing form design supplied by Contact Form 7 serves its purpose, however, it may not always align with the aesthetic and branding of your website. This article will provide detailed instructions on how to customize Contact Form 7 to enhance its personalization and seamlessly blend with the design of your website.
Step 1: Install and Activate Contact Form 7
To begin customizing Contact Form 7, you first need to install and activate the plugin. You can do this by navigating to your WordPress dashboard, clicking on “Plugins”, and then selecting “Add New”. Search for “Contact Form 7” and click “Install Now” followed by “Activate”.
Step 2: Create or Edit a Contact Form
Once the plugin is activated, you can either create a new contact form or edit an existing one. To create a new form, click on “Contact” in your WordPress dashboard and select “Add New”. Enter a name for your form and click on “Save”. If you want to edit an existing form, go to “Contact” and click on the form you wish to customize.
Step 3: Customize Form Fields
Contact Form 7 provides various form field options such as text, email, textarea, checkbox, radio buttons, and dropdown menus. To customize a form field, you need to understand the structure of the form. Each form field is represented by a specific shortcode. For example, the shortcode [text your-name] represents a text input field for the user’s name.
To add a personal touch, you can modify the placeholder text, add additional classes for styling, or even include HTML elements within the form fields. For example:
[text your-name placeholder "Enter your name" class:my-custom-class]
In the above example, I have added a custom placeholder text and assigned a class name “my-custom-class” for further styling. Feel free to experiment and add your own personal touches to the form fields.
Step 4: Customize Form Layout
If you want to customize the layout of your contact form, you can do so by modifying the CSS code. Contact Form 7 provides a dedicated section in the WordPress dashboard where you can add your custom CSS styles. To access this section, go to “Contact” and click on the “Additional Settings” tab.
.wpcf7-form {
/* Your custom CSS styles here */
}
Inside the .wpcf7-form selector, you can add your own CSS styles to modify the appearance of the form, such as changing the font, color, background, or adding custom borders and padding.
Step 5: Add Validation and Error Messages
Contact Form 7 allows you to add validation rules to ensure that users input the correct data. For example, you can make an email field required or specify a specific format for a phone number field. To add validation to a form field, you need to include the appropriate validation shortcode in the field’s definition.
[email* your-email akismet:author_email class:required]
In the above example, the email field is marked as required using the “required” class, and the “akismet:author_email” validation is applied to check if the email is not associated with spam.
Additionally, you can customize the error messages that are displayed when users submit invalid or incomplete data. To do this, go to “Contact” and click on the “Messages” tab. Here, you can modify the default error messages according to your preference.
Conclusion
Customizing Contact Form 7 allows you to create a contact form that aligns perfectly with your website’s design and branding. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can add your personal touches and commentary to create a unique and engaging contact form that enhances the user experience on your website.