The resource desk
Good forms begin with clear decisions.
Use these reference notes to define your form's purpose, document what its fields mean, and prepare a useful handover. Keep the project checklist nearby as you plan your next form.
Practical reference notes
A few written decisions help everyone working on a form understand why it exists and how its answers will be used. Start with these three planning notes.
01 / Form brief
Write down who will complete the form and what your team should be able to do with the response. Use that purpose to decide which questions belong.
For each proposed field, ask: will this answer change our next action? If it will only be useful later, consider collecting it at that later stage.
Help a prospective client explain the project well enough for our team to arrange a relevant first call.
02 / Field dictionary
Record the visitor-facing label, the field name, and a short explanation of the answer you expect. Add an example when a value could be interpreted in different ways.
Keep this note with your project documentation so a colleague can understand a field without guessing from its name.
project-reference03 / Handover note
Name the person or team responsible for the form. Note where its working documents belong and what should trigger a review.
When a question changes, record the date and reason. This gives future editors context for the wording and helps colleagues interpret older responses.
Review the inquiry questions when the services offered change, and record which wording was updated.
Your project checklist
Use these six prompts before building a form or handing it to another team. Tick each item when the decision is documented.
This is a planning checklist. Keep the actual brief with your website's project files.
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Core plugin references
These resources are maintained by the Contact Form 7 project. Use them for the core plugin's tags, mail templates and visitor messages.
External documentation on contactform7.com.
Find the product, example or support route for your task.
Missing a topic? Suggest a resource and tell us which decision or task you want help understanding.
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