Looking to integrate a safe contact form into your WordPress website? Ensuring the protection of user information from hackers and data theft is paramount. In this article, we’ll walk you through the process of creating a secure contact form in WordPress, guaranteeing the safety of your website and user data.
Choosing a Reliable Contact Form Plugin
To secure your WordPress contact forms, it’s crucial to opt for a reputable form plugin. We highly recommend WPForms, the leading contact form plugin trusted by over 5 million websites. With WPForms, you gain access to powerful features that safeguard your forms from spam, hacking, and data theft. There’s even a free version called WPForms Lite, which offers basic security features.
Selecting a Secure Hosting Platform
In addition to a secure form plugin, it’s essential to choose a secure hosting platform for your WordPress website. Our suggestion is Bluehost, one of the largest hosting companies globally and an officially recommended WordPress hosting provider. Bluehost offers a significant discount to WPBeginner users and provides free domain and SSL certificates, which are crucial for enhanced WordPress form security. Other reliable hosting companies like SiteGround, WP Engine, and HostGator also offer free SSL certificates.
Enhancing Security with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) plays a vital role in securing your WordPress forms. It encrypts the data transfer between a user’s browser and your website, making it difficult for hackers to intercept and steal data. Enabling SSL changes your website’s URL from HTTP to HTTPS, and you’ll notice a padlock icon next to the URL. To obtain a free SSL certificate for your website, follow our detailed instructions in our SSL certificate guide.
Creating a Secure WordPress Contact Form
Once you have chosen a secure form plugin and enabled SSL on your website, you can commence creating a secure contact form in WordPress. If you haven’t done so already, take a look at our tutorial on how to quickly add a contact form to your WordPress site. Then, follow these steps to enhance the security of your WordPress contact form:
1. Secure Email Notifications
Sending form data via email securely requires proper protection. Instead of including form data in email notifications, use WPForm’s built-in entry management system to securely store form submissions in your WordPress database. Upgrading to the paid version of WPForms grants you access to advanced entry management features.
If you need to send form notification emails to users, set up a secure mail transfer protocol (SMTP) service. We recommend G Suite, which allows you to create a professional business email address and securely send emails through the familiar Gmail interface. Alternatively, you can use services like Brevo, Amazon SES, or other reputable SMTP providers. Configure your WordPress email settings using the WP Mail SMTP plugin for seamless integration.
2. Preventing Spam and Abuse
WPForms offers several built-in spam prevention features to safeguard your WordPress forms from spam and abuse. It incorporates the honeypot anti-spam technique, which conceals form fields from automated spambots. However, for even stronger protection against spam, activate Google reCAPTCHA.
To enable Google reCAPTCHA, go to the WPForms settings, navigate to the CAPTCHA tab, and select the reCAPTCHA option. Choose the reCAPTCHA v2 option for a user-friendly experience. Obtain the site key and secret key from the reCAPTCHA website and enter them in the WPForms settings to enable reCAPTCHA on your site.
If you prefer not to use Google reCAPTCHA, WPForms also provides a Custom Captcha addon that enables you to create custom math quizzes or questions to prevent spam. Keep in mind that the pro version of WPForms is required for this addon.
3. Restricting Form Access
To further enhance security, you can limit access to your WordPress forms by allowing only logged-in members or setting a unique form password. WPForms offers a Form Locker addon that allows various form permissions and access control rules. You can find the Form Locker settings in the Form Builder Settings panel. Consult our guide on how to password-protect WordPress forms for step-by-step instructions.
Strengthening Overall WordPress Security
While securing your WordPress forms is essential, it’s equally important to enhance the security of your entire WordPress website. We highly recommend using Sucuri, the leading WordPress security plugin that provides a website firewall to block suspicious activities. For a comprehensive range of security measures, refer to our beginner’s guide to WordPress security.
By following these steps, you can create a secure contact form in WordPress that protects your website against data theft, spam, and hacking attempts. For more WordPress tips, check out our guide on creating an email newsletter and our expert picks for essential WordPress plugins. Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube Channel for helpful WordPress video tutorials, and connect with us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates.
