FormLedger – Entries for Contact Form 7

Description

FormLedger saves every successful Contact Form 7 submission to your site’s own database, so a submission is never lost when an email fails to arrive. Entries are managed from a native WordPress admin screen under Contact CF7 Entries.

The plugin works entirely inside your WordPress site. It does not send submission data to any external service, it contains no tracking or telemetry, and there are no limits on the number of forms or entries.

Requires Contact Form 7. FormLedger is an add-on for Contact Form 7, which must be installed and active. WordPress will ask you to install Contact Form 7 first if it is missing.

This is an independent plugin. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Contact Form 7 project.

Features

  • Automatic storage of successful Contact Form 7 submissions, including when mail sending fails
  • Unlimited forms and unlimited entries
  • Supports text, email, tel, textarea, number, URL, date, select, checkbox, radio, acceptance, hidden, quiz and file fields
  • Clean entries list (entry, form, submitted date, view and delete buttons) with pagination, sorting and screen options
  • Search across entry ID, form title, field names and field values
  • Filter by form (including deleted forms) and by date: today, yesterday, last 7 days, last 30 days, this month, last month or a custom range
  • Read/unread status with bulk mark as read or unread
  • Detailed entry screen showing every submitted field
  • Individual and bulk delete
  • CSV export of all, filtered or selected entries (with Form ID, Form Name, page URL and full file download links), UTF-8 encoded, with protection against spreadsheet formula injection
  • Uploaded files are copied to a protected folder and can be downloaded securely by authorized users
  • Privacy-friendly by default: IP addresses are never collected, and user agent storage is optional
  • Integrates with the WordPress personal data exporter and eraser
  • Multisite compatible: each site keeps its own entries
  • Translation ready

FormLedger Pro

Need IP address logging or automatic deletion of old entries? These features are planned for FormLedger Pro, a separate add-on. The free plugin is complete on its own and does not require it.

Privacy

FormLedger stores form submissions in your own WordPress database. Nothing is sent to external services, and there is no tracking.

  • Stores what visitors enter in your forms, any uploaded files, and the page the form was submitted from.
  • IP addresses are not collected. Browser user agent storage is optional and off by default.
  • Delete entries one at a time or in bulk whenever you like.
  • Works with the WordPress personal data export and erase tools (Tools Export Personal Data / Erase Personal Data).
  • Adds suggested text to your privacy policy guide (Settings Privacy).

This plugin does not by itself make your site compliant with GDPR or any other law. You remain responsible for your own privacy policy and how long you keep data.

Screenshots

Installation

  1. Install and activate Contact Form 7 (required).
  2. Upload the formledger folder to /wp-content/plugins/, or install the plugin from Plugins Add New.
  3. Activate FormLedger.
  4. Submit any Contact Form 7 form. The entry appears under Contact CF7 Entries.
  5. Review the privacy options under Contact Entry Settings.

FAQ

Does it work without Contact Form 7?

No. Contact Form 7 is required. On WordPress 6.5 and later, FormLedger cannot be activated until Contact Form 7 is installed and active, and Contact Form 7 cannot be deactivated while FormLedger is active.

If Contact Form 7 goes missing anyway, FormLedger shows a notice with a one-click Install or Activate button. Your existing entries stay safe and viewable.

Are spam submissions stored?

No. Entries are captured after Contact Form 7 has completed validation and its spam checks.

Is anything stored if the email fails to send?

Yes. Entries are saved just before Contact Form 7 sends mail, so a failed email does not mean a lost submission.

What happens when I delete or rename a form?

Entries are never deleted with their form. For deleted forms, the original title is shown with a “(deleted form)” label. For renamed forms, the entry screen also shows the title it was submitted under.

Who can see entries and uploaded files?

Only administrators, by default. To give access to another role (for example, Editors), grant it the manage_cf7_entries capability using a role editor plugin. Only administrators can change the plugin settings.

Uploaded files are stored privately and can only be downloaded by logged-in users who can see entries.

Can I back up entries before removing the plugin?

Yes. When “Delete all data when the plugin is deleted” is on, clicking Deactivate opens a dialog that offers to download all entries as a CSV file (opens in Excel) before you continue. WordPress only allows deleting a plugin after it is deactivated, so this is the last point where the plugin can offer a backup.

What happens when I deactivate or delete the plugin?

Deactivating keeps all data. Deleting the plugin also keeps all data, unless you enable Delete all data when the plugin is deleted under Contact Entry Settings.

Does it support multisite?

Yes. Each site has its own entries, files and settings. Network activation sets up every site, and new sites are set up automatically.

Reviews

There are no reviews for this plugin.

Contributors & Developers

“FormLedger – Entries for Contact Form 7” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

Contributors

Changelog

1.0.2

  • Fixed: On MySQL 8 servers the entries list stayed empty and CSV export failed, even though submissions were saved. All entries now show.

1.0.1

  • Changed: IP address storage and automatic retention (scheduled deletion of old entries) have been removed from the free plugin. They are planned for the separate FormLedger Pro add-on.
  • Changed: Settings page now shows Privacy, Uploaded files and Uninstall sections, and the overview shows total entries and stored files.
  • Changed: Contact Form 7 is now a declared required plugin. WordPress asks you to install it before FormLedger can be activated.
  • Changed: Minimum WordPress version is now 6.5.
  • Improved: Clear notice with an Install or Activate Contact Form 7 button whenever Contact Form 7 is missing.
  • Changed: Readme reorganised and FAQ simplified.
  • Note: no entries are deleted by this update. The old daily cleanup task is removed automatically.

1.0.0

  • Initial release.