NOWSOURCING

Welcome to our first installment of WordPress Wednesdays! Every Wednesday, we’ll be bringing you fresh insight into the fabulous blogging worlds for WordPress, be it WordPress version updates, hacks, tips and tricks, themes, e-commerce, or plugins.

This week we’re focusing on something that at its core is a very basic plugin: the WordPress contact form plugin.  Most WordPress sites that we come across have a contact form installed.  So, why focus on contact form plugins? Because there are many versions out there.  Let’s demystify the process and focus on 3 key WordPress contact form plugins:

1 – Contact Form ][ -  If you want the absolute basic contact form, use Contact Form ][.
Pros: it’s simple to configure and lightweight
Cons: no spam prevention, restricted to a simple form, no flexibility

2 – Enhanced WordPress Contact Form Plugin - This form has more meat on its bones.
Pros: simple to use/configure, spam prevention, refer path
Cons: not fully configurable, still stuck with a simple form

3 – cformsII – If you’re in the mood for some serious formage (is that a word? moving on…), this be the form for ye, matey
Pros: ultimate flexibility, multiple forms on one page, css layouts, complex forms, ability to backup forms
Cons: no refer path, complex, can conflict with other plugins

What’s this site running?
If you’re interested in in knowing which one this site is running, we’ve gone with Joost’s enhanced wp contact form.  Why? We don’t need all the features and styles of Cforms and are mainly interested in a simple form with spam prevention and knowing the refer path commenters came by.

Which contact form plugin are you running? Like another that isn’t listed? Let us know.