As part of my IT 320 CMS Project at DePaul University, I implemented a WPForms Contact Integration to allow visitors to send messages directly through my WordPress website. The goal was to create a professional, user-friendly, and secure contact system while learning how plugins extend WordPress functionality.
The WPForms plugin provides an easy drag-and-drop interface for building forms. For this project, I designed a simple contact form embedded on the Contact Page.
It includes the following fields:
- Name
- Comments, Questions, Concerns.
After building the form, I configured it to send all submissions to my official DePaul email address. This ensures that any messages submitted through the site are properly routed for me to review. I also set a confirmation message, so users receive immediate feedback once their form is successfully submitted!
To enhance the website’s performance and reliability, I used LiteSpeed Cache and UpdraftPlus to maintain fast load times and daily backups. These tools ensure that my WPForms contact integration continues working even during future updates or theme changes.
In terms of security, I verified the setup through Wordfence, confirming that spam and unauthorized submissions are filtered effectively.
At first, it was a little daunting to install so many important features to what started out as a plain website, but I have since found it very useful and engaging to learn about the different functionality I can provide my website with.
Overall, this WPForms Contact Integration helped me understand the relationship between frontend interaction and backend configuration in WordPress. This was one of the most impactful lessons I have taken from IT-320, and I am excited to experiment with more plug-ins in the future!