GriffinForms – Drag & Drop Form Builder for Multi-Page Forms and Conditional Logic
GriffinForms is a WordPress form builder built for people who want more than a basic contact form. You can create multi-step forms with a real layout system (pages, rows, and columns), reuse fields across forms, validate and conditionally show content, and manage submissions from a dedicated admin area.
If you are searching for a WordPress form builder that can handle everything from a simple contact form to multi-page onboarding and payment workflows, GriffinForms focuses on three things: a structured builder, clean data, and admin tools that help you run forms in production.
Quick Start (How to add a form to WordPress)
- Create a form in GriffinForms → Forms.
- Add pages/rows/columns, then insert fields from the field library.
- Publish the form using the shortcode:
[griffinforms_form id="123"].
Tip: start with a single-page contact form, then expand into multi-step forms as you add conditional logic, uploads, and integrations.
A Structured Drag-and-Drop Builder (Pages, Rows, Columns)
Many “form builder” plugins treat layout as an afterthought. GriffinForms starts with layout: – Pages for true multi-step (multi-page) forms with step navigation. – Rows and columns so you can build structured forms without custom CSS. – Reusable fields so you can maintain one field (like “Address” or “Company”) and insert it into multiple forms. – Folders and organization tools to keep larger form libraries tidy as you add more workflows over time.
This approach is useful when you need forms that behave like small workflows (onboarding, applications, requests) instead of a single “send us a message” page. You can create a short first step, progressively ask for details, and keep each page focused so users are more likely to complete the form.
Because GriffinForms uses a row/column grid, you can build clean layouts for common patterns like “first name + last name”, “city + state + ZIP”, and grouped options without custom HTML.
Key Features (Benefit-first)
- Multi-step forms: build multi-page flows for longer applications, onboarding, or checkout-style steps.
- Conditional logic: WordPress conditional logic for a WordPress form builder — show/hide fields or rows, change labels/values, swap success messages or redirects, toggle submit state, and display form notices.
- Validations: enforce required rules and common constraints so submissions stay clean.
- File uploads: accept files as part of a submission and manage uploads from the admin.
- Payments: collect payments through Stripe where configured (useful for donations, applications, and orders).
- Email notifications: send notifications and route delivery via Custom SMTP, SendGrid, or Mailgun.
- Spam protection: choose a CAPTCHA provider (reCAPTCHA, Cloudflare Turnstile, or hCaptcha) and enable additional anti-spam controls like honeypot and rate limiting.
- Logs and monitoring: troubleshoot integrations and submission workflows using a timeline-based log viewer.
- Theme Designer: style forms with ready-to-use presets and import/export theme configurations.
Who GriffinForms Is For
GriffinForms is built for a wide range of WordPress sites: – Site owners who need a dependable contact form plugin that scales into onboarding, applications, and payment workflows. – Agencies that manage multiple client sites and need reusable components, templates, and consistent admin tooling. – Developers who prefer structured form data, clear admin screens, and predictable behavior across forms, submissions, and integrations.
Typical Workflows (Examples you can copy)
Here are common workflows people build with a WordPress form builder like GriffinForms: – Multi-step onboarding: page 1 (contact info) → page 2 (additional details) → page 3 (confirm + submit). – Support intake with uploads: contact info → issue details → attach screenshots/logs → submit. – Donation/payment form: amount selection → donor details → pay via Stripe → confirmation.
These patterns work well because the form layout is structured and the submission data stays consistent.
Builder Workflow (From draft to published form)
GriffinForms is designed to keep complex forms maintainable: – Start with layout (pages, rows, columns), then drop fields into place. – Reorder content without breaking the structure of multi-step flows. – Reuse your common fields (name/address/company) across forms so changes stay consistent. – Keep large form libraries organized with folders, templates, and import/export.
If you are migrating from a basic contact form setup, GriffinForms helps you graduate to structured workflows without rebuilding everything from scratch. You can start small (a single-page contact form) and expand into multi-step forms as your site’s needs grow.
Conditional Logic and Validation (Cleaner submissions)
Conditional logic is one of GriffinForms’ strongest features for any WordPress contact form plugin. It goes beyond show/hide and lets you build adaptive form workflows in a drag-and-drop form builder: – Show/hide fields or rows, or display inline messages (error, warning, info, popup). – Change field values or labels, swap option groups, and adjust row headings. – Change success messages or redirects, and enable/disable submit or fields. – Target advanced conditions: value counts, address components, payment selections/totals, password strength, and browser time.
Validation keeps data reliable while conditional logic guides users through the right path. Together, they reduce back-and-forth because you collect the right data the first time, especially for onboarding, intake, and payment forms in a WordPress form builder.
File Upload Forms (Attachments without chaos)
File uploads are common in real workflows (applications, onboarding, support tickets). GriffinForms supports file upload fields and admin management so you can: – accept uploads as part of a submission, – review attachments alongside entry details, – and keep storage behavior manageable through upload controls and retention settings (where configured).
What You Can Build (Use Cases)
GriffinForms is a general-purpose WordPress forms plugin. Common use cases include: – Contact forms (simple contact pages, support requests) – Registration forms (courses, events, internal onboarding) – Survey and feedback forms (internal requests, complaint/feedback intake) – File upload forms (attachments, documents, media where appropriate) – Donation and payment forms (Stripe-enabled forms for payments)
Starter templates are included to help you begin quickly. Examples include appointment booking, course enrollment, donation forms, employee onboarding, equipment checkout requests, bug reports, and more.
Import/Export (Move forms between sites)
You can export forms as JSON and import them on another site. This is helpful when you maintain multiple WordPress sites, build reusable form systems for clients, or want a safe way to version form configurations outside the database.
Integrations and Settings (Where to configure everything)
GriffinForms provides dedicated settings pages and integration screens so you can configure behavior without editing code: – Choose and configure your anti-spam provider (reCAPTCHA, Turnstile, or hCaptcha) and enable other anti-abuse controls. – Configure email delivery options (Custom SMTP, SendGrid, Mailgun) so notifications are reliable. – Configure Stripe for payment forms where enabled. – Control logging behavior (enable/disable, message types, retention) so you capture what you need without storing unnecessary history.
If you prefer a “start with defaults” approach, you can install and build forms first, then enable only the integrations you need later.
Tips for Better Forms (Practical patterns)
If you are trying to improve form completion rates, these patterns are commonly effective: – Use multi-step forms for long workflows: collecting information across steps is easier than one long page. – Use conditional logic to reduce noise: show follow-up questions only when they apply. – Validate early to prevent low-quality submissions: required rules and sensible limits reduce cleanup work. – Use spam protection strategically: enable a CAPTCHA provider only where needed, and add honeypot/rate limiting for public-facing high-traffic forms. – Review logs when you change integrations: if you adjust mail delivery or payment settings, logs help confirm what happened during real submissions.
These practices are especially useful for lead-generation contact forms, application forms, and payment forms where incomplete submissions have real cost.
Submissions and Admin Workflow (Where your data lives)
By default, GriffinForms stores submissions in your WordPress database on your server. File uploads are stored in the WordPress uploads directory. You can view and manage entries inside WordPress: – Filter and browse submissions from the admin. – Open a single submission for full detail, including payment context where applicable. – Review log activity related to a form, submission, or integration when troubleshooting.
For busy sites, the submissions workflow matters as much as the builder. GriffinForms is built so admins can go from “a user reported an issue” to “I can see what happened” quickly by jumping from forms → submissions → logs.
Admin Screens You Will Use
GriffinForms provides dedicated admin screens designed around day-to-day operations: – Forms list: manage your form library and copy shortcodes quickly. – Submissions: review entries, drill into a single submission, and investigate user journeys. – Integrations: configure services like Stripe and mail delivery, and review integration logs. – Logs: open a dedicated logs list and a single log view for deeper troubleshooting.
Payments with Stripe (When you need checkout-style forms)
If you enable Stripe, you can create payment forms where users pay as part of a submission. This is useful for: – donations, – applications and paid signups, – product-like order forms with quantities and totals.
Payment configuration includes both global settings (such as currency) and per-form/per-field configuration where available. GriffinForms also supports a “resume” workflow for payments that are completed later, so you can reconnect users to unfinished payment sessions when needed.
For admins, this means you can review submission context and payment state in one place instead of jumping between multiple dashboards. For users, it means a smoother “review and pay” experience that still fits inside a normal form workflow.
Email Notifications and Delivery
GriffinForms can send form notifications and system emails. You can deliver mail through: – Custom SMTP (your mail server provider), – SendGrid, or – Mailgun.
Delivery and integration changes can also be recorded in logs to help admins diagnose configuration issues.
If you run a high-volume site, using a dedicated mail delivery provider can reduce “lost notification” issues caused by server mail configuration. GriffinForms keeps the configuration centralized so you can update delivery without editing every form.
Spam Protection (CAPTCHA + Anti-Abuse Controls)
Spam is a major reason people search for a better “contact form plugin”. GriffinForms supports multiple anti-spam layers: – CAPTCHA provider choice: Google reCAPTCHA (v2/v3), Cloudflare Turnstile, or hCaptcha. – Honeypot: a non-intrusive hidden field check. – Rate limiting: submission throttling to reduce automated abuse.
You can apply these controls to keep simple contact forms usable while still protecting high-value workflows like file upload forms and payment forms.
Logs and Monitoring (Understand what happened and why)
When logs are enabled, GriffinForms records important activity (submission workflows, integration events, and internal actions) so you can: – review a timeline of what occurred, – spot failures quickly, – understand which integration or subsystem produced an event, – and see upcoming scheduled actions (jobs) inline where available.
This is especially useful when debugging email delivery, payment events, or anti-spam issues in high-traffic forms.
If you manage multiple forms, logs help you answer questions like: – “Did the submission reach the server?” – “Which integration handled the request?” – “Was an action scheduled for later, and did it complete?”
Performance at Scale (Large submission and log histories)
On sites with large numbers of submissions, admin performance matters. GriffinForms includes tools designed to keep day-to-day work responsive: – Log views can be loaded in batches to avoid slow admin pages when histories get large. – Log retention settings let you control how much history is stored. – Upcoming scheduled actions (jobs) can be shown inline so you can understand what is queued next.
If you primarily build simple contact forms today, these features may not matter immediately. If you run multiple high-traffic forms or rely on integrations (mail delivery, CAPTCHA, payments), they help keep troubleshooting practical over time.
Design Choices (Why this WordPress form builder stays maintainable)
GriffinForms is designed around a few practical choices: – Layout-first builder: pages, rows, and columns help you build clean multi-step forms without fighting the editor. – Reusable building blocks: reusable fields and templates reduce duplication as your form library grows. – Admin-first operations: submissions, logs, and integrations are first-class screens, not hidden behind “debug mode”. – Optional external services: you choose when to enable payments or CAPTCHA providers, and you can keep data on your server by default.
These choices help GriffinForms work as both a straightforward contact form plugin and a flexible WordPress form builder for more complex workflows. They also reduce long-term maintenance, because forms stay organized and admin troubleshooting stays centralized. This is especially helpful for teams managing multiple sites and agencies handling client work.
Theme Designer (Make forms match your site)
Your forms should match your brand. The Theme Designer helps you style forms without rewriting templates: – Start with curated presets. – Customize typography, spacing, and states. – Import/export theme configurations so you can reuse designs across sites.
If you manage multiple forms on the same site, a consistent theme reduces “form sprawl” and keeps your contact form plugin looking like part of your website instead of a bolt-on widget.
Themes can be used to standardize how inputs, labels, buttons, and summaries look across different forms, which is especially helpful when you publish multiple multi-step forms across landing pages, documentation, or support flows.
Use GriffinForms Without External Services
GriffinForms stores submissions on your server by default and only uses third-party services when you enable them. For example, you can: – run forms without payments, – use WordPress’ default mail delivery or your own SMTP provider, – and choose whether to enable CAPTCHA.
If you do enable external providers, details are documented in the External Services section below.
Support and Troubleshooting (What to check first)
If something is not working as expected (missing email notifications, payment issues, CAPTCHA failures), these steps often help: 1. Confirm the integration is enabled and the required keys are saved (Stripe/CAPTCHA/mail provider). 2. Submit a quick test submission and then check the relevant logs (if logging is enabled). 3. Check that your server can make outbound HTTPS requests to enabled providers. 4. If you use caching or security plugins, temporarily exclude the form page from aggressive caching/minification and test again.
When sharing logs or screenshots for support, avoid posting secret keys or private customer information.
Roadmap (High-level)
Future updates may expand conditional logic workflows, add more starter templates, and improve admin tooling. Timelines may change.
External Services
GriffinForms optionally uses external services for enhanced functionality:
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Google reCAPTCHA If enabled, sends the reCAPTCHA token and user IP to Google to verify human input. Service provider: Google LLC
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Stripe If enabled, payment-related data is sent to Stripe to process transactions (for example, payment intent metadata and transaction context needed to complete payment). Service provider: Stripe, Inc.
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Cloudflare Turnstile If enabled, Turnstile tokens and visitor metadata are sent to Cloudflare for bot verification. Service provider: Cloudflare, Inc.
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hCaptcha If enabled, the hCaptcha token and user interaction data are sent to hCaptcha for verification. Service provider: Intuition Machines, Inc. (hCaptcha)
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SendGrid If configured, emails are …