Ninja Forms

A Comprehensive Guide to Ninja Forms WordPress Plugin in 2023

A contact form is no less than an integral part of a modern website. It acts as an interface for the targeted audience to connect with your business – be it for sales or support. A well-design contact form can have a greater impact on your visitor’s minds. Also, you need such a form on the website to reduce spam emails, keep track of sales inquiries, offer support services, or build a subscriber list for email marketing.

Designing a contact form for your website may sound like a complicated task. But it becomes easier when you select the right form builder plugin. In this blog post, we will cover Ninja forms – a highly popular contact form plugin for WordPress websites. 

What is Ninja Forms?

Ninja Forms is basically a free WordPress form builder plugin available with WordPress CMS to enable you to create different types of contact forms. Whether you want forms for event registration, payments, or file uploads, this plugin has your needs covered. This plugin has been designed with several impressive features that have led to more than 1 million active installations in 25 languages. These include:

  • User-friendly interface to create contact forms
  • No coding skills required to create forms using this plugin
  • Drag and drop elements – rows, columns, and fields to create visually-attractive contact forms
  • Ease of accepting payments via the form
  • Easy to use and customizable pre-built templates 
  • Seamless integration with email marketing tools and CRMs like MailChimp, Constant Contact, Salesforce CRM, Zoho, and many others
  • WordPress GDPR compliant
  • 27+ field types for your contact forms
  • Unlimited form creation 
  • Unlimited form submissions supported
  • Customizable email notifications for different forms you create
  • Easy to import and export forms
  • Spam protection supported with Google reCaptcha or Akismet
  • Easy to use calculation settings to be included in the form fields

Also see: Best WordPress Contact Form Plugins Comparison.

Complete List of Ninja Forms Add-ons and Extensions 

For complex business needs, the basic features of the Ninja Forms plugin might not be enough. In such situations, you can benefit from including premium add-ons for individual features you need. Given below is a brief table that enlists some of the most common Ninja Forms add-ons and extensions (Worry not as we will cover them in detail in the following sections):

Ninja Form Add-ons/ExtensionsCorresponding Feature
Layout and StylesTo tweak the default look and feel of a form and change its layout and styling
Multi Step FormsTo break long forms into multiple easy-to-complete steps to increase the conversion rate
Conditional LogicTo create forms with dynamic fields that change as the user fills them out 
PDF Form SubmissionsTo generate shareable PDF copies of each form submission or export any form submission
File UploadsTo allow users to submit files in different formats and sizes with a single form field
Excel ExportTo get every submission within a date range in the forms of Microsoft Excel sheet
Save ProgressTo allow users to save different sections of longer forms in between and reload the saved information as per their convenience
Front End PostingTo let the users publish publicly-viewable content in different post types and categories 
User ManagementTo allow different users to create and manage their individual profiles on your website
User AnalyticsTo get detailed insights about the source of traffic and much else with 12+ analytics fields
WebhooksTo allow integration with your preferred third-party service without maintaining code for a custom solution

Ninja Forms Integrations

To further enhance the utility of contact forms created on your website, you can integrate Ninja Forms with third-party extensions. The following table includes several popular Ninja forms integrations in brief (will be covered in detail further in the following sections):

IntegrationsFeature
PayPal, StripeTo accept payments online
RecurlyTo offer WordPress subscriptions plans with an agile subscription management extension
MailChimp, Constant ContactFor seamless integration between these email marketing tools and WordPress forms
ConvertKitTo sync your ConvertKit account to WordPress forms with a customizable opt-in form
SalesforceTo map your contact form fields with Salesforce Object or Field
InsightlyTo send Contacts and Leads from WordPress to Insightly and manage customer relationships
CapsuleTo link contact form fields to Capsule fields and use this CRM to focus on sales
SlackTo sync notifications from sales team with each form submission
TrelloTo create Trello cards with data received through form submissions
ZapierTo connect your WordPress website with third-party services you need

Ninja Forms Pricing

The premium version of Ninja Forms is available with four different pricing plans, each with different features and benefits:

  1. Personal – priced at $49.50 (renewable annually) and includes all the essential features to be used for a single site
  2. Professional – priced at $99.50 (renewable annually) and includes business class solution to empower 20 sites 
  3. Agency – priced at $249.50 and is meant for an agency to support unlimited sites with Ninja Forms’ features (to be renewed annually)
  4. A La Carte – priced between $29 – $129 to empower one to 20 sites with this powerful form builder (you can include only the features you need and pay for them accordingly)

Ninja Forms Addons – Detailed Analysis

 

Ninja Forms – Conditional Logic

Although having a contact form on your website is a necessity, you need not show the same form to every visitor or respond to their submissions in the same manner. Using the Conditional Logic add-on with Ninja Forms plugin, you can create dynamic contact forms for your WordPress website. Based on the pre-selected logic, the form will change for users as they enter the required information.

With the Conditional Logic add-on, you can:

  • Show or hide fields to different users
  • Change the value in fields as per the information entered
  • Add or remove items from a list
  • Send or not send different notifications to people based on how they have interacted with the form

For more details, click here.

Ninja Forms – Multi Step Forms

Irrespective of the intent behind getting a contact form filled, no one likes to interact with long forms that include several fields. If your website’s form gets less traction than expected, you can benefit from the Multi Step Forms add-on for Ninja Forms plugin. Using this add-on, you can create multi-step forms through its drag and drop interface to break a long form into multiple short pages. 

This add-on can help you:

  • A title to each individual form section
  • Add a progress bar to the form
  • Sort and order fields 
  • Add customizable previous/next buttons

For more details about the Multi Step Forms add-on, click here

Ninja Forms – Layout and Styles

The default look and feel of a contact form does not work everywhere. If you want to make it better and tweak its appearance, you need the Layout and Styles add-on for Ninja Forms. It will help you create rows and columns in your form and resize fields as per your liking. Given below are other benefits of using this intuitive add-on:

  • Easy layout change without editing CSS code
  • Drag and drop feature to edit fields
  • Global form styling options to style each field individually
  • Easy to change styles of labels, elements, and wrappers
  • Easy to change the style by form, form field, or element type

Get more details about this add-on here.

 

Ninja Forms – File Uploads

Another way to use forms for your benefit is to allow users to submit applications with different types of files. Whether it is a resume in PDF, picture, music file, or video, you can accept such submissions with your form when you have the File Uploads add-on included with it. It has been designed to make it easier for you to accept file uploads irrespective of the file type via a single form field.

With this add-on, you can also:

  • See a progress bar to show the upload progressing with time
  • Set restrictions of the supported file types
  • Store uploaded files on your media library, Dropbox, Google Drive, or your server

To know more about this add-on, click here.

Ninja Forms User Management 

With the rise in hacking attempts using automated bots, it has become important to secure the contact form. The User Management add-on has been designed to prevent brute-force attacks and keep the site protected. You can use this add-on to allow different users to register/login on your website. You can set up reCaptcha with your Ninja Forms settings and then create the login form.

Some other benefits of using the User Management Add-on are:

  • Easy to allow users to register, create user profiles, and log in to their account
  • Pre-built template forms
  • Easy to define user roles
  • Easy to place the login form anywhere on your website using the shortcode

For more details, click here.

Ninja Forms Extensions

Ninja Forms MailChimp

The MailChimp integration add-on can help you connect your MailChimp account with your WordPress website via forms. Using this add-on, you get the flexibility to place unlimited signup forms at any place on your site. You can also collect the exact information you need from Lists and Interest groups. Other benefits of using this add-on:

  • Easy to customize signup form
  • Easy to enable double opt-in for each form
  • Easy to display or send submission confirmation notification
  • Conditional adding of users to certain Lists and Interest Groups
  • Triggering of several distinct actions for new signups 

For more details about the benefits or integration of this add-on, click here.

Ninja Forms Stripe

If you want to set up WordPress forms on your site to accept credit card payments via Stripe, this is the add-on you need. Using this hi-tech Stripe extension, you can utilise the secure Stripe checkout process to accept payments online through your forms. You can also base totals on the amount entered by the users, a fixed amount, or the calculated total. 

Here are a few other advantages of using this Stripe add-on:

  • Bank level security protocols for payment processing
  • Easy to create signup or registration forms to accept payments quickly
  • Easy setup of dynamic totals or a static payment amount
  • Easy to include transaction ID receipts to user notification/emails
  • Easy to sign up customers for recurring plans

Read more here.

Ninja Forms Zapier

You might not find an add-on for diverse third-party services you want to benefit from. For many of them, there is a Zapier add-on. Using this powerful extension, you can connect WordPress with more than 1,500 services via your WordPress forms. The best part – it does not require coding knowledge. In simple words, Zapier acts as a middleman to connect your WordPress website to a service that does not have an official integration available.

Some of its primary benefits are:

  • Easy to use services like Google Calendar, Hubspot, Zendesk, Freshbooks, etc.
  • Direct integration with Ninja Forms
  • Easy to set up new Zaps

For more details, click here.

Ninja Forms Insightly Integration

Insightly CRM is known to help businesses/individuals build deeper customer relationships. If you are looking for a full-featured integration between Insightly and WordPress, this extension can be of great use to you. It helps connect the WordPress website to Insightly CRM directly via your WordPress forms. This extension for Ninja Forms enables you to send customer information from your forms to the CRM account.

Other features of this extension include:

  • Easy to set up integration using Insightly API keys 
  • Easy to add Insightly CRM actions
  • Support Optional modules, like Opportunities, Tasks, and Projects
  • Easy to map WordPress form fields to Insightly CRM fields

Get more details here.

Ninja Forms Salesforce

If Salesforce is your preferred CRM and you want to map WordPress form fields to Objects/Fields in this CRM, this extension is meant for you. Similar to the Salesforce CRM that is easy to set up and manage, Ninja Forms’ Salesforce CRM extension is also effortless and convenient. Using this integration, you can pull in specific Objects and Fields you need on your website.

Other benefits of using this extension include:

  • Easy to establish a connection with your account using Salesforce API
  • Easy to map one or more WordPress forms to Salesforce account directly

(Note: To use this extension, you must be using either the Enterprise, Developer, Unlimited, or Performance edition of Salesforce)

For more details, click here.

Ninja Forms Capsule CRM Integration

Syncing your CRM with WordPress forms can be a big tussle if you do not have the right integration solution with you. If maintaining the custom integration with Capsule CRM has taken a lot of your time and efforts, now is the time to switch to this extension. 

Using this Capsule CRM extension for Ninja Forms, you can keep that extra workload away and focus on building customer relationships like never before. Using this extension, you can:

  • Link your Ninja Forms to Capsule CRM account directly
  • Map form fields to Capsule to send data across the systems
  • Create custom Capsule fields

Get more information about this extension here.

Ninja Forms Constant Contact

Constant Contact is a powerful email marketing tool to grow a subscriber base and engage them with regular newsletters. If you want to use it with WordPress forms, use the Constant Contact extension for Ninja Forms and make the most out of it. This extension can be used to:

  • Convert WordPress forms into Constant Contact signup forms
  • Map the form fields to the Constant Contact’s List fields to grow your email list
  • Customize signup form in terms of email notifications

For more details, click here

Ninja Forms Comparison

 

WPForms Vs Ninja Forms

ParameterNinja FormsWPForms
Availability of free versionYesYes (WPForms- Lite)
Live form previousYesYes
Templates included 17100+
Form Import ToolsNinja Forms onlyNinja Forms, WPForms, Pirate Forms
PricingStarts at $49.50Starts at $39.50

Ninja Forms Vs Gravity Forms

ParameterNinja FormsGravity Forms
Availability of free versionYesNo
Live form previousYesNo
Templates included 17No
Form Import ToolsNinja Forms onlyGravity Forms Only
PricingStarts at $49.50 per yearStarts at $59 per year

Common Issues: What to Do When Ninja Forms Email is Not Working?

Hearing out the frustration of your support team saying that Ninja Forms email is not working can be difficult to handle sometimes. However, if you have the right solution by your side, you can get things resolved in the blink of an eye. But before you do anything else, it is important to understand the cause behind such problems.

Firstly, you must know that Ninja Forms does not send emails by itself nor does WordPress. It’s your web host that actually sends the related emails. Ninja Forms’ email triggers when a form is submitted, after which the email data is passed to WordPress. The CMS then relays this data to the web host, who then sends it in the form of an email.

In majority of the cases, it is the web host failing to meet your needs in this regard. The solution here is to use a WP Mail Logging that can help you know where the process is broken in the usual chain of events. If you can’t benefit this way, use Ninja Mail Service from the Ninja Forms dashboard or begin troubleshooting. 

Last but not the least, you can also use SendWP service to ensure that the emails are getting delivered on time.

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