Flexa FormFlow

Description

Flexa FormFlow joins two tools that usually live in separate plugins: a form builder and a visual email builder. A field you add to a form becomes a token you can drop into the notification email, so the message people receive matches the data they sent.

Form builder

Drag fields from the palette onto the canvas, reorder them, and edit each one in the inspector. Field types: text, email, paragraph, dropdown, radio, checkbox, number, date, and hidden. Every field carries a per-breakpoint width, so you can lay fields out in columns on desktop and let them stack on mobile without touching CSS.

Place a form with the [flexa_formflow id="123"] shortcode or the Flexa FormFlow block.

Spam protection

Every form is protected automatically by invisible built-in checks (a honeypot, timing checks and a per-visitor rate limit), with no setting to forget. For an extra layer, pick Cloudflare Turnstile or Google reCAPTCHA v2 on any form. Keys are entered once in Settings, secret keys are stored encrypted, and every CAPTCHA answer is verified on your server before an entry is saved or an email is sent.

Entries

Every submission is stored. Browse them in a list with a quick peek panel, open the full detail view, and mark entries read or unread. Nothing is locked behind an external service.

Visual email builder

Design the notification email with a block editor: headings, text, buttons, images, dividers, spacers, columns, and a fields table that renders the whole submission. Start faster from the pattern library: ready-made headers, intros, banners, calls to action, galleries, offers and footers (plus order and shipping sections on WooCommerce stores) that you preview, insert, and then edit like any other block. A global header and footer keeps branding in one place, and each email can use it, keep its own copy, or turn it off. Insert form data visually with {field:ID} tokens and headers like {form_title}, no shortcode syntax to memorize. Save designs to a template library, set global styles once, preview in desktop and mobile widths, and send yourself a test before going live.

Each form can send an admin notification and an optional confirmation to the person who filled it in. When no custom design is chosen, a clean default layout is used.

Delivery

FormFlow does not send mail in any special way; it hands the finished message to WordPress with wp_mail(). Pair it with a delivery plugin such as Flexa MailBridge (or any SMTP plugin) for routing, logs, and tracking.

Does not require WooCommerce. FormFlow runs on any WordPress site.

Source code and build tools

The admin screens are a React app compiled with Vite. The compiled, minified files in assets/dist/ are built from the human-readable source that ships in this plugin:

  • apps/admin/src/: the React and TypeScript source (entry point apps/admin/src/main.tsx).
  • apps/admin/vite.config.ts and apps/admin/tsconfig.json: the build and TypeScript config.
  • package.json and pnpm-lock.yaml in the plugin root: the dependency list and exact versions.

The same source is also public on GitHub: https://github.com/flexatech/flexa-formflow

To rebuild the bundle you need Node.js 20+ and pnpm 9+. From the plugin folder (or a clone of the repository):

  1. Run pnpm install.
  2. Run pnpm build. The output goes to assets/dist/.

The frontend form script (assets/frontend/form.js) and the block editor script (assets/blocks/form/editor.js) are plain, unminified JavaScript with no build step. Third-party libraries bundled into assets/dist/ (React, TanStack Query, dnd-kit, Radix UI, Zustand, Lucide icons, Tailwind CSS) are listed in the repository’s package.json and their source is available from npm.

External services

FormFlow stores your forms, entries, and templates in your own database and does not send them anywhere. Three optional features can send data off your site, described below. None is on by default.

AI assistant (optional). This only works after you add an AI provider API key in Settings, and a request is sent only when an admin clicks one of the AI tools in the builder. Nothing is sent automatically or on the front end. What each tool sends to the provider you selected:

  • Generate a form: the form description you typed.
  • Writing assistant (rewrite, shorten, change tone, subject ideas): the text you asked it to work on, the chosen tone, and your site name (so the copy can mention it).

Each request also carries your API key and the model name, which the provider needs to authenticate and answer. No visitor data, entries, or submitted field values are sent. You choose the provider:

Your API key is stored encrypted and is never shown in the browser after you save it.

FormFlow calls these providers directly with wp_remote_post() instead of the WordPress AI Client (wp_ai_client_prompt()). The AI Client only exists in WordPress 7.0 and later, and FormFlow supports WordPress 6.5 and later, so a direct request is the only way to offer the same AI tools on every supported version. The request goes from your server straight to the provider you picked, using your own API key; there is no FormFlow server or proxy in between.

CAPTCHA (optional). Only a form you set to use a CAPTCHA, after you add that provider’s keys in Settings, uses one. On pages showing such a form, the visitor’s browser loads the provider’s script and talks to the provider to show the challenge. When the form is sent, your server sends the provider your secret key, the visitor’s answer token and the visitor’s IP address to check the answer. No form field values are sent. Pages without a CAPTCHA form load nothing from either provider.

The “Test keys” button in Settings sends your secret key and a dummy token to the selected provider to confirm the key works; no visitor data is involved.

Workflow webhooks (optional). A workflow can include a “Send webhook” action. It only runs if you add it to a workflow yourself and enter a URL. Each time that workflow runs (for example, when a form is submitted), FormFlow sends a POST request to the URL you entered with the form ID, form title, entry ID, submission time, and the submitted field values as JSON. There is no fixed third-party service: the data goes only to the address you choose, and the terms and privacy policy of that endpoint apply. Local and private-network addresses are refused.

Blocks

This plugin provides 1 block.

  • FormFlow Form Embed a Flexa FormFlow form.

Installation

  1. Upload the flexa-formflow folder to /wp-content/plugins/, or install the zip from Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin.
  2. Activate the plugin through the Plugins screen.
  3. Open Flexa FormFlow in the admin menu, create a form, and copy its shortcode.
  4. Paste the shortcode into any post or page, or add the Flexa FormFlow block.

FAQ

Does it require WooCommerce?

No. FormFlow works on any WordPress site.

How do I add a form to a page?

Create a form, then use its [flexa_formflow id="123"] shortcode, or add the Flexa FormFlow block in the editor.

Does FormFlow send email through its own server?

No. It builds the message and passes it to WordPress wp_mail(). Delivery follows whatever your site already uses. For SMTP, logs, and open tracking, add a delivery plugin such as Flexa MailBridge.

Where are submissions stored?

In your own database, in the plugin’s tables. You can view, read, and delete entries from the Entries screen. Nothing is sent to a third party.

What happens to my data when I uninstall?

Nothing is removed unless you turn on “Delete data on uninstall” in Settings first. With it off, your forms, entries, and templates survive a reinstall.

How is the admin interface built, and where is the source?

assets/dist/ holds the only compiled files in the plugin: the admin app, written in React and TypeScript and bundled by Vite. Its unminified source ships with the plugin in apps/admin/src/, alongside the build config (package.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, apps/admin/vite.config.ts, apps/admin/tsconfig.json), and is also public at https://github.com/flexatech/flexa-formflow. To build it yourself: install Node 20+ and pnpm 9+, run pnpm install, then pnpm build. The README.md in the repository has the full developer setup.

Third-party code in that bundle comes from npm, pinned in package.json and pnpm-lock.yaml: React, TanStack Query, dnd-kit, Radix UI, Zustand, Lucide icons and Tailwind CSS.

Every other script and stylesheet is hand-written and ships exactly as it was authored, with no build step: assets/frontend/form.js and assets/frontend/form.css for the public form, and assets/blocks/form/editor.js for the block editor panel.

Reviews

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Contributors & Developers

“Flexa FormFlow” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

Contributors

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Interested in development?

Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.

Changelog

1.2.0

  • Email pattern library: 44 ready-made sections for any site (header, intro, banner, call to action, gallery, offer, footer), plus 12 order and shipping sections on WooCommerce stores, with search, categories, thumbnails and a large preview. Inserted blocks stay fully editable, and undo works.
  • Global header and footer: pick a ready-made template, and choose per email to use the global one, keep its own copy, or turn it off.
  • Logos follow your site logo, or your site name when there is none.
  • Section backgrounds on every block, so neighboring blocks can form one dark or tinted band with no seam.
  • New merge tags for the site tagline and logo, and for order subtotal, discount, shipping, tax and addresses. A tag with no value is left empty in sent emails instead of showing raw.
  • Addresses block on WooCommerce stores: billing, shipping or both, side by side or stacked.
  • Media Library picker for the Image and Logo blocks, with alt text filled in for you. The URL box stays for images hosted elsewhere.
  • Pick a real order to preview an email against, searching by number, name, email or address.
  • Switch between emails from the editor header, and customize any WooCommerce email design from its card.
  • Reset to default from the editor’s More actions menu, which offers the WooCommerce email, pack or form design the template came from.
  • Import and export email templates as a JSON file: one template, or all of them. Import warns about missing block types and images hosted elsewhere before anything is added.
  • Spam protection: always-on built-in checks with rate limiting, plus optional Cloudflare Turnstile or Google reCAPTCHA v2 per form, verified on your server. Secret keys are stored encrypted, and a form cannot go live with a CAPTCHA that has no keys.
  • Workflows gained Then and Otherwise branches: steps that run when the condition is met, and steps that run when it is not. Before, a failed condition just stopped the run.
  • Visual view for the workflow builder, alongside the list: steps as nodes on a canvas with pan, zoom and fit view, settings in a side panel, and test results shown on each node. Both views edit the same draft.
  • Run test for forms and workflows. A test panel docks beside the flow and reports every step, using the latest entry, a recent entry you pick, or values you type. Form tests save nothing and send no email.
  • Dashboard warning for published forms whose CAPTCHA has no keys.
  • Fixed: a pattern used a merge tag that does not exist, so sent emails showed it raw.
  • Fixed: leaving the email editor within a moment of an edit could drop that edit.
  • Fixed: WooCommerce blocks were offered on sites without WooCommerce, where they rendered blank.
  • Fixed: on plain permalinks, some admin screens (including the forms list) failed to load.
  • Security: submitted values are escaped before they reach a notification email, so an answer cannot inject a link or tag into the message.

1.1.0

  • Pack restore: a pack’s detail page now reports any of its installed items that were deleted and lets you put back only those, without losing the rest of the pack.
  • The builder’s form preview now loads the live form’s stylesheet directly, so the preview and the published form stay in step.
  • Fixed: a pack could get stuck reporting “already installed” after any of its content was deleted, with no way to reinstall it.
  • Fixed: resetting site data, or removing the plugin with “Delete data on uninstall” turned on, could leave packs marked as installed on an otherwise empty site.

1.0.0

  • Form builder: drag-and-drop canvas, nine field types, per-field responsive column widths, required and placeholder options.
  • Frontend rendering via shortcode and block, with honeypot and submit-time spam traps.
  • Entries: storage, list with peek panel, detail view, read/unread status.
  • Visual email builder: block-based editor, field tokens, a fields table, template library, global styles, desktop and mobile preview, and test send.
  • Notification email to the admin and optional confirmation to the submitter, sent through wp_mail().
  • Settings and onboarding; optional delete-data-on-uninstall.