Title: smartEngin Forms
Author: businesskiai
Published: July 13, 2026
Last modified: July 13, 2026
---
Search plugins
# smartEngin Forms
By [businesskiai](https://profiles.wordpress.org/businesskiai/)
[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/smartengin-forms.0.20.2.zip)
* [Details](https://wordpress.org/plugins/smartengin-forms/#description)
* [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/plugins/smartengin-forms/#reviews)
* [Installation](https://wordpress.org/plugins/smartengin-forms/#installation)
* [Development](https://wordpress.org/plugins/smartengin-forms/#developers)
[Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/smartengin-forms/)
## Description
**smartEngin Forms** is a lightweight contact form plugin. Build as many forms as
you like by clicking them together, style them without code and embed them with
a shortcode. The interface follows your WordPress language; English and German are
bundled, and more languages can be added through translation packs.
#### Features
* **Drag-and-drop form builder**: text, email, phone, number, date/time, choice
fields (dropdown/multi-select/radio/checkbox), file upload, first & last name,
GDPR consent and more.
* **Preconfigured quick fields** (salutation, subject, budget, message and more).
* **Design without code**: colours, spacing, radius and shadows via sliders and
colour pickers, plus an optional two-part “hero card” with content widgets.
* **Delivery** to multiple recipients, reply-to and subject placeholders.
* **Confirmation email** to the sender with its own block editor and field placeholders.
* **Automatic spam protection**: nonce (CSRF), honeypot, timestamp check, per-IP
rate limit and block lists (emails/words/IPs).
* **Optional captcha**: Cloudflare Turnstile (recommended), hCaptcha or Google
reCAPTCHA v2 – enabled per form, invisible mode supported.
* **Newsletter opt-in**: forward a subscription to an external service (Brevo,
Mailchimp or MailerLite) – only when the visitor ticks the newsletter consent
box.
* **File uploads** with type, size and count limits and a protected storage location.
* **Submissions** are stored, viewable in the admin area and removed automatically
after a configurable retention period (including their upload files).
* **GDPR**: configurable retention periods, separate consents, no external scripts
unless explicitly enabled.
* Deliverability: emails are sent as multipart (HTML + plain text), based on `wp_mail()`(
compatible with SMTP plugins).
#### External services
This plugin loads **no** external scripts on its own. Only when you enable a **captcha**
in a form does it load the script of the provider you selected and transmit the
visitor’s IP address to that service for verification:
* **Cloudflare Turnstile** – script `challenges.cloudflare.com`, verification via`
challenges.cloudflare.com/turnstile/v0/siteverify`. Privacy policy: https://www.
cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/
* **hCaptcha** – script `js.hcaptcha.com`, verification via `hcaptcha.com/siteverify`.
Privacy policy: https://www.hcaptcha.com/privacy
* **Google reCAPTCHA v2** – script `google.com/recaptcha`, verification via `google.
com/recaptcha/api/siteverify`. Privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
Add the provider you enable to your site’s privacy policy.
If you connect a **newsletter service** under “Newsletter” and enable it for a form,
the submitted email address (and, if present, the name) is sent to that service
to create/update a contact – but only when the visitor ticks the newsletter consent
box:
* **Brevo** – contact sent to `api.brevo.com/v3/contacts`; lists loaded from `api.
brevo.com/v3/contacts/lists`. Privacy policy: https://www.brevo.com/legal/privacypolicy/
* **Mailchimp** – contact sent to `.api.mailchimp.com/3.0/lists/…/members`;
audiences loaded from `.api.mailchimp.com/3.0/lists`. Privacy policy: https://
www.intuit.com/privacy/statement/
* **MailerLite** – subscriber sent to `connect.mailerlite.com/api/subscribers`;
groups loaded from `connect.mailerlite.com/api/groups`. Privacy policy: https://
www.mailerlite.com/legal/privacy-policy
No newsletter data is sent unless you configure a provider, enable it for a form
and the visitor consents. Add the provider you use to your privacy policy and data-
processing records.
## Screenshots
[⌊Finished smartEngin Forms contact form on the front end (desktop).⌉⌊Finished smartEngin
Forms contact form on the front end (desktop).⌉[
Finished smartEngin Forms contact form on the front end (desktop).
[⌊Stored form submissions in the WordPress admin.⌉⌊Stored form submissions in the
WordPress admin.⌉[
Stored form submissions in the WordPress admin.
[⌊Contact-form overview with shortcode, preview and submission actions.⌉⌊Contact-
form overview with shortcode, preview and submission actions.⌉[
Contact-form overview with shortcode, preview and submission actions.
[⌊Newsletter integration with external providers such as Brevo.⌉⌊Newsletter integration
with external providers such as Brevo.⌉[
Newsletter integration with external providers such as Brevo.
[⌊Design controls with live preview.⌉⌊Design controls with live preview.⌉[
Design controls with live preview.
[⌊Security controls and CAPTCHA provider settings.⌉⌊Security controls and CAPTCHA
provider settings.⌉[
Security controls and CAPTCHA provider settings.
[⌊Responsive contact form on a mobile device.⌉⌊Responsive contact form on a mobile
device.⌉[
Responsive contact form on a mobile device.
[⌊Drag-and-drop form builder with available field types.⌉⌊Drag-and-drop form builder
with available field types.⌉[
Drag-and-drop form builder with available field types.
## Installation
1. Upload the plugin via **Plugins Add New** (or install it from the directory) and
activate it.
2. Under **smartEngin Forms Kontaktformulare** create a form and assemble the fields
in the builder.
3. In the **Einstellungen** tab enter the recipient email address.
4. Insert the shortcode shown (for example `[smartengin_form id=1]`) into a page.
5. Optionally set up a captcha under **Sicherheit** and enable it per form.
## FAQ
### My form does not submit.
Check whether a captcha is active and configured correctly (site/secret key correct,
domain allowed at the provider). Reload the page and submit again.
### The notification email does not arrive.
Check the recipient address in the settings. For reliable delivery we recommend
an SMTP plugin and a sender address on your own domain.
### Is data transmitted to third parties?
Only when you explicitly enable one of the integrations: a captcha service or a
newsletter provider. Captcha services receive data necessary to verify the challenge,
including the visitor’s IP address. A newsletter provider only receives the email
address and, when available, the name after the visitor actively checks the newsletter
consent box.
If no integration is enabled, smartEngin Forms does not load external scripts or
send form data to third parties.
### How are uploaded files protected?
Uploaded files are stored in a protected folder with random file names and are never
linked by a public URL. In the admin area they are delivered only through a secure
download link that requires an administrator capability and a nonce. The folder
is protected against direct access with index.php, an .htaccess rule (Apache) and
a web.config rule (IIS). Nginx ignores .htaccess, so on Nginx we additionally recommend
a server-side rule that blocks direct access to the folder /wp-content/uploads/sef-
uploads/.
### Which languages does the admin interface support?
The interface language follows your WordPress site or user language – no extra option
is required. English is the source language and German is bundled as well, so both
work out of the box. For any other language, WordPress automatically loads a matching
translation pack when one is available; you can also translate the plugin with tools
like Loco Translate or make it multilingual with WPML, Polylang or TranslatePress.
Set the language under Settings General, or your personal language under Users
Profile.
### Can I connect the form to my newsletter tool?
Yes. Under “Newsletter” choose a provider (Brevo, Mailchimp or MailerLite), enter
your API key and use “Test connection” to load your lists. Then enable it per form
under Settings Newsletter and set the list ID. Sign-ups are only forwarded when
the visitor ticks the newsletter consent box.
### Can I remove the plugin cleanly?
Yes. By default your forms and submissions are kept when you uninstall. Under **
Sicherheit Deinstallation** you can choose to remove all data when the plugin is
deleted.
## Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
## Contributors & Developers
“smartEngin Forms” is open source software. The following people have contributed
to this plugin.
Contributors
* [ businesskiai ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/businesskiai/)
[Translate “smartEngin Forms” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/smartengin-forms)
### Interested in development?
[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/smartengin-forms/),
check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/smartengin-forms/),
or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/smartengin-forms/)
by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/smartengin-forms/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).
## Changelog
#### 0.20.2
* Documented the intentional load_plugin_textdomain() call (required to load the
bundled German translation) so automated plugin checks no longer flag it. No
functional or data changes.
#### 0.20.1
* Added an example placeholder to the recipient email field showing that several
recipients can be entered, one address per line. The default value (your site’s
administration email) is unchanged.
* Removed a personal email address from the bundled German translation file header(
privacy); no effect on functionality or translations.
#### 0.20.0
* Switched the source language to English (WordPress standard). The interface now
follows your WordPress site/user language automatically; no code forces a language
anymore.
* German is bundled as a de_DE translation, so German sites keep the full German
interface out of the box; additional languages can come from translation packs(
translate.wordpress.org) or tools like Loco Translate, WPML, Polylang and TranslatePress.
* Removed the previous “force English for non-German locales” mechanism and simplified
translation loading to the standard load_plugin_textdomain() on init.
* Regenerated the translation template (.pot) with English source strings and removed
the obsolete bundled en_US translation.
* No functional or data changes; all fixes from 0.19.6 are included.
#### 0.19.6
* Removed an accidental test recipient address from the default form settings;
new forms now use the site’s administration email address by default.
* Added a safe, one-time migration that replaces that exact test recipient in existing
forms with the administration email address, leaving individually configured
recipients untouched.
* Fixed form duplication so it now copies the complete form settings (recipients,
email/confirmation settings, redirect, captcha, newsletter, uploads and retention)
to the new form.
* Added a safe fallback to the administration email address when a form has no
valid recipient configured.
* Replaced real company and person names in the optional demo content with neutral
placeholders.
* Minor stability and review fixes.
#### 0.19.5
* Removed the free-form custom CSS input and all remaining references to it; the
form design is fully configurable through the dedicated, validated controls (
colors, spacing, borders, radius, font sizes, width, shadows, buttons).
* All dynamic form styles are now delivered exclusively through the WordPress style
API (wp_add_inline_style); the plugin no longer prints inline tags.
* Removed the manual load_plugin_textdomain() call; WordPress loads translations
automatically, and the bundled English translation is loaded only for non-German
locales.
* Updated the bundled SortableJS library to 1.15.7 and refreshed the third-party
notices.
* Reviewed nonces, capability checks, input sanitization and output escaping across
all admin and public requests.
* Corrected plugin metadata (Plugin URI and contributor).
#### 0.19.3
* Improved script and style handle names to reduce the risk of conflicts with other
plugins.
* The admin interface now falls back to English for every non-German site language(
previously non-German languages could show untranslated source text).
* Design and form-builder live preview now scales to match the real front-end layout
instead of squeezing horizontally.
* Updated translation metadata and release documentation.
* Performed final WordPress.org release preparation.
#### 0.19.2
* Improved internal naming to reduce the risk of conflicts with other plugins.
* Added a safe migration path for existing settings and stored form data.
* Updated privacy-related wording in the plugin interface and documentation.
* Updated translations and plugin documentation.
#### 0.19.1
* Improved privacy tools for exporting and erasing stored form submissions.
* Improved protection and secure delivery of uploaded files.
* Clarified third-party data transfer information and privacy documentation.
* Added compatibility fallback for hosts without mbstring.
* Improved cleanup of scheduled tasks on plugin deactivation.
* Updated plugin documentation and third-party notices.
#### 0.19.0
* Menu streamlined for the free version; added a “smartEngin Pro” info page. Design
tab: note that the Container settings only apply to single-part forms (without
the hero card).
#### 0.18.0
* New: full English translation of the admin interface. The backend follows the
WordPress user/site language (German or English) – no extra setting needed.
#### 0.17.0
* New: connect the newsletter consent checkbox to an external service (Brevo, Mailchimp
or MailerLite). Opt-in only – data is sent solely when the visitor consents.
Includes a “Test connection” button that loads the available lists.
## Meta
* Version **0.20.2**
* Last updated **7 hours ago**
* Active installations **Fewer than 10**
* WordPress version ** 6.0 or higher **
* Tested up to **7.0.1**
* PHP version ** 7.4 or higher **
* Tags
* [captcha](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/captcha/)[contact form](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/contact-form/)
[form builder](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/form-builder/)[GDPR](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/gdpr/)
[spam protection](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/spam-protection/)
* [Advanced View](https://wordpress.org/plugins/smartengin-forms/advanced/)
## Ratings
No reviews have been submitted yet.
[Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/smartengin-forms/reviews/#new-post)
[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/smartengin-forms/reviews/)
## Contributors
* [ businesskiai ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/businesskiai/)
## Support
Got something to say? Need help?
[View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/smartengin-forms/)