General
Do I need a shortcode?
No. The form is a block that lives in your post or page content. There’s no shortcode, no embed code and no separate builder screen.
Does it work with the classic editor?
No. Forming Forms is built entirely on the block editor. If your site runs the Classic Editor plugin, forms can still go in a block-based widget area or a block theme template, but not in classic post content.
Does it work with block themes and full site editing?
Yes. Put the Form block in posts, pages, templates, template parts or widget areas. See Reusing Forms.
Does it work with Elementor, Divi or another page builder?
Only where those builders can host a block editor block. The Form block isn’t a widget for a page builder’s own canvas.
Can I have more than one form on a page?
Yes. Each Form block has its own ID and its own settings, and submissions are matched back to the right one.
How many forms and submissions can I have?
There’s no limit. Forms are blocks in your content and entries are posts in your database.
Is it free?
Yes. Forming Forms is free and GPLv2+, with no locked features and no trial. Entries, CSV export, every CAPTCHA and the privacy tools are all free.
Forming Pro
What does Pro add?
16 premium field blocks: Signature, Rating, Slider, Toggle, Repeater, Image Choice, Likert Scale, Net Promoter Score, Advanced Date, International Phone, Currency, Masked Input, Password, Confirm Email, Smart Hidden Field and Content. You also get automatic updates and priority support. See Forming Pro.
Do I need to keep the free plugin?
Yes. Pro is an add-on and needs Forming Forms 1.2.0 or later installed and active. If the free plugin is missing or out of date, Pro shows a notice explaining what to do.
What’s the difference between the plans?
Only the number of sites. Every plan includes every Pro feature.
Where do I enter my license key?
Forming → Settings → License, or the license box under Forming Form Builder Pro on the Plugins screen.
“Your license key has reached its activation limit.”
The key is active on as many sites as your plan allows. Open the license panel on a site you no longer use and click Deactivate on this site, or upgrade to a plan with more sites.
I moved my site to a new domain and the license shows “Not active on this site”.
Click Activate again on the new domain. If you hit the activation limit, deactivate the old site first.
I don’t see Pro updates.
Check that the license is Active under Forming → Settings → License and click Check status. Updates appear on Dashboard → Updates like any other plugin.
Where are the Pro fields in the editor?
Inside a Form block, in the inserter’s Forming Form Builder category, alongside the free fields. They only appear inside a form.
Notifications
The notification email never arrives.
Most of the time this is mail delivery, not the form. Check in this order:
- Send a test email from Forming → Settings → Email. If it doesn’t arrive, the problem is your site’s mail.
- Install and configure an SMTP plugin and send its own test email.
- Check the recipients in the Form block’s Notifications panel and the Default recipient(s) in Settings. With neither set, mail goes to your site’s admin email.
- Check spam folders, especially if the From address isn’t on your own domain.
- Check Forming → Tools → Logs for failed emails and the error message.
- Check Forming → Entries. If the entry is there, the form worked and the problem is delivery.
Notifications go to spam.
Set From email to an address on your own domain and leave the visitor’s address out of the From field. The plugin sets Reply-To to it automatically. Then make sure SPF and DKIM are set up for the sending domain, ideally through a transactional mail service.
Can I send a confirmation email to the visitor?
Not from the settings yet. Hook forming_submission_saved, which gives you the validated answers, and send it with wp_mail():
add_action( 'forming_submission_saved', function ( $entry_id, $data, $form_id ) {
if ( ! empty( $data['email'] ) ) {
wp_mail( $data['email'], 'Thanks for getting in touch', "We've received your message and will reply shortly." );
}
}, 10, 3 );Entries
Where do I find my submissions?
Forming → Entries. New ones are marked unread, and the unread count shows on the menu. See Entries & Storage.
How do I export entries?
On Forming → Forms, choose Export entries (CSV) for the form, optionally with a date range.
A submission succeeded but nothing was stored.
Either Store submissions is off for that form, or the submission was caught by a silent spam check (honeypot, time-trap, Akismet or a low reCAPTCHA v3 score). Those return the normal success response but store and email nothing.
The Forms screen is missing a form, or shows the wrong entry count.
Go to Forming → Tools → Maintenance and click Rebuild now, or run wp forming forms reindex.
A form is marked “Duplicate ID”.
Two Form blocks share an ID, usually because one was copied by hand, so their entries are mixed. Delete one copy and duplicate the other in the editor, which gives the copy a new ID.
I renamed a field and my entries look wrong.
The field Name is the key entries are stored under, so renaming it splits old and new entries. Settle on names before a form goes live.
How do I delete old entries automatically?
Set Delete entries after (days) under Forming → Settings → Data & privacy.
Spam and CAPTCHA
Can I add a CAPTCHA?
Yes, for free. Choose Google reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha or Cloudflare Turnstile under Forming → Settings → Spam protection, add your keys, then turn on CAPTCHA in each Form block that should use it. See Spam Protection & CAPTCHA.
The CAPTCHA doesn’t show on my form.
Check that a provider is chosen and its keys are saved, that CAPTCHA is on for that form, and that the site key is allowed for your domain in the provider’s dashboard. With reCAPTCHA v2 Invisible, v3, or invisible hCaptcha, nothing is shown unless a challenge is needed. That’s expected.
reCAPTCHA says the key type is invalid.
v2 and v3 use different keys. Create keys for the type you chose under reCAPTCHA type.
“Too many submissions from your connection.”
The visitor hit the per-visitor rate limit. Raise Submissions allowed per visitor per hour in Settings. If many visitors share an IP (an office, or a CDN or proxy in front of your site), see the forming_client_ip filter.
Real submissions are being treated as spam.
Most likely the time-trap on a very short form, if you raised it with forming_min_submit_seconds, or a reCAPTCHA v3 Minimum score set too high. Lower them.
Submissions and errors
“Your session has expired. Please reload the page and try again.”
The form refreshes its security token automatically on cached pages, so this is rare. If it persists, exclude pages with forms from aggressive caching or JavaScript optimization, then clear your cache.
“This form could not be found.”
The submitted form ID doesn’t match any Form block at its source. This happens if the form was removed or replaced after the page was cached, or if the block’s ID was edited by hand. Republish the page and clear your cache.
“Please correct the highlighted fields.”
One or more answers didn’t pass validation. Each failing field shows its own message. See Validation.
Nothing happens when I click Submit.
Check the browser console. A JavaScript error from another plugin or the theme can stop the form script. A minification or “combine JS” optimization is the usual culprit. Exclude Forming’s scripts from it and test again.
Building forms
The inserter inside the form won’t let me add a paragraph or an image.
A Form block accepts field blocks only. For instructions or notes inside the form, use Pro’s Content field, or put text above or below the form.
Can I put fields side by side?
Yes. Set each field’s Width, for example two fields at Half or three at One third. See Styling & Layout.
Can I fill a hidden field from the page URL?
Yes. Set a Hidden field’s Value to URL parameter and enter the parameter name, for example utm_source. To remember UTM parameters from the first page of a visit, use Pro’s Smart Hidden Field.
Can I make a field appear only when another is filled in?
Not yet. Conditional logic is planned.
Can I upload files with a form?
Not yet. A free File Upload field is planned.
Can I add my own field type?
Yes. Register it on the forming_register_field_types action. It joins both the editor allowlist and the server-side validation. See the Developer Reference.
Styling
The form doesn’t match my theme.
It should inherit automatically, since it uses core block supports. If inputs look unstyled, your theme may not style bare input and textarea elements. Set colors and borders on the Form block, or target .forming-field__input in your CSS.
My CSS isn’t being applied.
Check specificity. Block supports output their own classes. Target .forming-form .forming-field__input rather than input, and make sure you aren’t editing a cached stylesheet.
How do I change the gap between fields?
Use the Form block’s Block spacing control, under Dimensions.
Still stuck?
Ask on the WordPress.org support forum, or, with a Pro license, through BeautifulPlugins support. Paste the report from Forming → Tools → System status → Copy for support, and say whether the problem happens with other plugins deactivated and what exact message you see.