For WordPress sites using CiviCRM, the Caldera Forms plugin provides an excellent form builder which has been extensively integrated with CiviCRM functionality. Enabling you to build sites that go far beyond the "out of the box" form features of CiviCRM like: Make a Donation, Register for an Event, Sign-up to Mailing List.
Using the CiviCRM, Caldera Forms and the CiviCRM Caldera Forms plugin you can implement complex multi-step forms with logic gated processing of the forms data, resulting in the creation of Contacts, Activities, populating of Groups, creating Relationships, creating Cases, processing payment and much more! All wrapped up in a nicely design on-line form builder with a fantastic UI.
In 2019, Caldera Forms announced a merger with another company and since then there has been a perception of slower development and a bit of FUD about the future of Caldera Forms . This has been exasperated by COVID and WordPress 5.6 which introduced JQuery update that broke some of the Caldera Forms functionality.
Good news is that compatibility issues are mostly resolved and now the Caldera Forms team wants to hear from their community of users.
How can you help?
If you are currently using Caldera Forms integrated with your CiviCRM site, then please take a few minutes to complete the Caldera Forms Discovery Survey.
On the survey, there is this question: "Other than typical use cases like contact forms, what kinds of unique problems or needs do you use Caldera Forms to meet?"
It is very important that you tell the Caldera Team that you use Caldera Forms for integrating with CiviCRM. We need to send them a clear message that there is an active and growing community here, in CiviCRM that rely on this plugin and want to see it continue to be developed and supported in future.
Photo by Anthony DELANOIX
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Comments
Caldera forms integrations is fantastic, and critical for us. We use it to push and pull data with CiviCRM. We use:
*) recording an activity for most of our forms, for collecting notes and comments.
*) recording data to custom fields
*) conditions on custom fields
*) prefilling
*) email templates from civicrm
*) Donations and event registrations
We also use Elementor to do futher styling so that the forms really feel like they belong.
Just want to echo the importance of reaching out to them. They are scheduling interviews with people who have submitted the survey. I just had mine this morning (I was apparently the first of their interviews -- so was able to get CiviCRM front and center early on!). They are trying to determine how Caldera is differentiated from Ninja Forms. So communicating the importance of the CiviCRM integration is critical!