This seems to be a straight forward question and it should have a straight forward answer, but I have seen some blogs not having a way to contact the webmaster/owner.
Some themes already come with a contact form which makes it easier for all. Some say it’s better to use a WordPress plugin for this, but there are so many that it becomes a bit confusing now and then. I’m currently using Enhanced WP-ContactForm and am happy with the results. You can see it in action via my contact page.
Although it is plain and simple, it provides some additional information that tells me where they came from or what they looked at before contacting me.
Information about the contact form are:
- Your name
- Your email address
- Your website
- Your message
- A quick sum is asked (adding numbers together)
- You can CC yourself so that you have a copy of the message sent
- Adds your IP address in the email it sends out
- Adds your last few pages you visited
Admin settings for the contact form:
- Email address where the message must be sent
- Subject of the email
- Success message
- Error message
- You can edit the text wording
- Allow message to be CC
Other WordPress plugins for contact forms:
- WP Contact Form – WP Contact Form is a drop in form for users to contact you. It can be implemented on a page or a post.
- Contact Form 7 – Contact Form 7 can manage multiple contact forms, plus you can customize the form and the mail contents flexibly with simple markup. The form supports Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, Akismet spam filtering and so on.
- WP Contact Form III – WP Contact Form III is a simple contactform based on Ryan Duff’s WP Contact Form and Doug Karr’s challenge (antispam) mod for Ryan’s original form. What I’ve added (here’s where the “III” comes in..) is giving your visitors the option to specify the subject of their email, and proper, valid xhtml.
- SimpleModal Contact Form (SMCF) – SimpleModal Contact Form (SMCF) is an Ajax powered modal contact form. It utilizes the jQuery JavaScript library and the SimpleModal jQuery plugin. SMCF has options to include certain contact form elements, like a Subject field and “Send me a copy” option for the sender.
- Cool Contact Form – Easy to use contact form. Displays nice looking validation errors and success messages on respective failure and success while sending the mail.
- Contact Form Captcha – Easy to use contact form with captcha enabled. Displays nice looking validation errors and success messages on respective failure and success while sending the mail. The contact form can also have content of your own. The content which will be displayed at the begining of the form and then the form itself.
- SF Contact Form – SF Contact Form is a contact form that integrates with the SalesForce Web-2-Lead function. It can be implemented on a page or a post. This plugin is based heavily on the original WP Contact Form.
- Fast and Secure Contact Form – Fast and Secure Contact Form for WordPress. This contact form lets your visitors send you a quick E-mail message. Blocks all common spammer tactics. Spam is no longer a problem. Includes a CAPTCHA and Akismet support. Does not require JavaScript. Easy and Quick 3 step install.
- Spam-Free Contact Form – Spam Free Contact Form. On errors, displays elegant error messages and confirmation messages on successful mail delivery.
If I have forgotten some plugin, then please let me know and I will add it to the list.
Final Thought
I would love to know what you are using on your blog/site. Let me know and we can see what is being used by others and which ones are easier than others.
I am the proud owner of Serradinho Blog and have made this my second home. I'm into blogging, downloads, WordPress, meeting and helping others, etc. Basically the internet in general :) Serradinho Web Services is my own company whereby I offer my services to clients. This ranges from web design, website upgrades, theme customizations, support, premium WordPress plugins and many more .....
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Yeah, I already had it but only use default setting. I may need to optimize it for better use experience.
.-= Dana@Online Knowledge´s last blog ..Use Google Analytics =-.
@Dana – try and make it as simple as possible, but still have all the bells and whistles
More people should add a contact form to their site, and most important, at least a mail. I truly hate it when you want to contact a site owner, but since there’s no contact information you have no idea on how to do it.
.-= Stefan´s last blog ..Get Free Content From Geocities =-.
@Stefan – I agree with you. If there is no contact form, then I look for any reference for an email address. If nothing then I resort to leaving a comment on a post and hope it is read. You never really know if they will read it and come back to you.
I’m using the same process. Worst thing is when the author doesn’t seem to read your comments, resulting in you never coming in contact with him. Thanks to Twitter there are usually other ways to go nowadays, but I highly unlike it when the author never seems to answer his comments.
.-= Stefan´s last blog ..Is This Where You Waste Your Time? =-.
I definitely agree with you. But sad to know that there are some people who just spam the contact forms that’s why many site owners/blog owners doesn’t have a contact form. For all my sites as well as my personal blogs I see to it that I have a contact form for my readers even if there are many spammers.
.-= Turning Winds´s last blog ..Troubled Teen Boot Camps, Best Programs for Your Teen =-.
@Turning Winds – yes, some people abuse it while others don’t. I doubt we will ever get rid of spammers.
I’ve been playing around with soem fo the plug ins you mention there. I finally decided to change my contact form to “Fast and Secure…” but after 24hs I found out it was running some processes in the background that made my blog sluggish. I don’t know why or what is it in particular, but I had to roll back and return to the old contact form… Whichs is not bad but lacks some features.
I’ll try later with some fo the ones you mention.
Thanks
PS: Ready for the World Cup? Or you are a rugby man?
.-= Guillermo´s last blog ..Una historia de Halloween: Jack O’Lantern =-.
@Guillermo – thanks for your feedback, sounds funny that you had to roll back.
I am a soccer fan and can’t wait for the Soccer World Cup next year. Already have some tickets
So far, I don’t have a contact form. I think it’s time that I include one in my blog
.-= John Samuel´s last blog ..How to search Tagged Messages in Thunderbird? =-.
@John Samuel – you have to have one, it’s a must for any site.
Thanks for the comprehensive list, George! Adding a robust contact form has been on my to-do list and this is going to make it easier to find one that works for me and my site.
.-= Plus Size Shopping Online´s last blog ..New Markdowns At Saks Salon Z =-.
So far I’m satisfied with Contact Form 7 plugin
.-= steppinout´s last blog ..Webmaster Tools – Google + Bing + Yahoo =-.
I seem to always have issues with the contact forms on my blogs for some odd reason, or I need the form do be more powerful.
.-= Extreme John´s last blog ..Best Tanning Salon in Florida =-.
@Extreme John – I understand what you are saying, that is why I went for a more simple yet functional plugin. It does it’s job and am happy with the results.
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