Elzo Forms

Elzo Forms is a WordPress form builder for people who need more than a basic contact form without immediately running into paid-only essentials.

Multiple file uploads, stored submissions, conditional logic, multi-step forms, email notifications, spam protection, styling controls, and Gutenberg support are included for free.

Build contact forms, quote and request forms, lead forms, job applications, feedback forms, file upload forms, and other custom forms directly inside WordPress.

Submissions are processed and stored on your own site. No Elzo account, page builder, or external form service is required.

More than a basic free form builder

Many forms eventually need more than a few text fields. Elzo Forms includes the features needed to build more practical workflows without requiring an upgrade just to use them.

• Upload one or multiple files.
• Set file size, file count, and allowed file type limits.
• Upload large files using chunked uploads.
• Save submissions in the WordPress admin.
• Build multi-step forms.
• Show or hide fields with conditional logic.
• Send configurable email notifications.
• Redirect visitors or display a custom success message.
• Protect forms from spam without requiring CAPTCHA.
• Add forms with a native Gutenberg block or shortcode.

Building forms

• Visual form builder inside the WordPress admin.
• Searchable field picker for quickly finding and adding fields.
• Keyboard-friendly field selection with search, arrow navigation, and Enter to add.
• Field types: text, textarea, select, checkbox, radio, range, file upload, hidden, content, and button.
• Text fields also cover email, telephone, URL, number, date, time, and password input, with matching validation.
• Responsive field widths (full, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4) for multi-column layouts.
• Multi-step forms with configurable step navigation text.
• Conditional field visibility based on field values, visitor login state, or page context.
• Native Elzo Form block with an editor preview and width and alignment settings; the shortcode supports the same layout options.

Multiple file uploads — free

File uploads are included in Elzo Forms without requiring a paid upgrade.

• Single or multiple file uploads.
• Minimum and maximum file count controls.
• Maximum upload size.
• Allowed file type restrictions.
• Chunked uploads for large files.
• Executable file types such as .php and .phtml are rejected.

Use file fields for job applications, document requests, support forms, project briefs, image submissions, and other workflows where visitors need to send more than text.

Store submissions in WordPress — free

Every successful submission can be stored on your own WordPress site and reviewed from Forms > Submissions.

Stored submissions include:

• Submitted field values.
• Uploaded files.
• Submission time.
• Visitor information.
• The page the form was submitted from.

You do not need a separate dashboard or external account to access your form entries.

Conditional logic — free

Forms do not have to show every field to every visitor.

Elzo Forms can show or hide fields based on:

• Values entered in other fields.
• Whether the visitor is logged in or logged out.
• The page or post where the form appears.

This makes it possible to build quote forms, applications, qualification forms, request forms, and other adaptive flows without custom JavaScript.

Additional condition types are available in Elzo Forms PRO.

Multi-step forms — free

Split longer forms into multiple steps instead of presenting every field at once.

Configure step labels and navigation text directly in the form builder. Multi-step forms can be combined with file uploads and conditional logic.

Submissions and notifications

• Submissions are stored in the WordPress admin with submitted values, uploaded files, and visitor details.
• Email notifications with configurable recipients, subject, and message text.
• AJAX or standard form submissions.
• Custom success message or redirect after a successful submission.
• File uploads with size limits, file count limits, allowed file type checks, and chunked uploads for large files.

Gutenberg block

Add a form directly from the WordPress block editor using the native Elzo Form block.

Choose a form from the block settings and see a non-interactive preview inside the editor. Layout controls let you configure maximum width, form alignment, and text alignment.

Shortcodes remain available for classic editor content, widgets, templates, and other shortcode-enabled locations.

Spam protection

Elzo Forms includes built-in spam controls that work without requiring a third-party CAPTCHA service:

• Minimum time before a form can be submitted.
• Minimum interval between submissions.
• Blocked IP addresses.
• Blocked words.
• Blocked submissions can be discarded or kept and marked as spam for review.

Optional Google reCAPTCHA v3 and Akismet modules are also available. Both remain disabled until you enable them and provide your own credentials.

Styling and customization

• Global and per-form settings for form behavior, texts, and styling.
• Template overrides from an elzo-forms directory in your theme.
• Hooks and filters for custom field types, validation, and submission handling.
• Optional read-only JSON form sources, so developers can ship forms with a theme or plugin and keep them under version control.

Free and PRO

Elzo Forms free is designed to be useful on its own rather than functioning as a limited demo.

The free plugin includes the core form-building features described above, including multiple file uploads, stored submissions, multi-step forms, core conditional logic, email notifications, styling, spam protection, and Gutenberg integration.

Elzo Forms PRO adds workflow and automation features beyond the core form builder, including post-submission automations, webhooks, conditional automation actions, cookie actions, and additional conditional logic types.

Elzo Forms PRO is a separate commercial plugin available at https://elzoforms.com. It replaces the free runtime instead of extending it: while PRO is active, Elzo Forms free stops loading and can be deactivated.

Privacy

Elzo Forms stores form submissions on your own site, in your WordPress database.

For each submission the plugin stores the submitted field values, the time of submission, the visitor IP address and browser user agent, the WordPress user ID if the visitor is logged in, and the page the form was submitted from. Files uploaded through a file field are stored in your uploads directory under elzo-forms/user-uploads.

None of this data leaves your site by default. It is shared with a third party only if you enable one of the optional anti-spam modules described below, and only in the way those sections describe.

Elzo Forms does not add submission data to the WordPress personal data export and erasure tools. Submissions are managed from Forms > Submissions in the WordPress admin.

Third-party Services

Google reCAPTCHA v3

Elzo Forms includes an optional Google reCAPTCHA v3 module for spam protection. The module is disabled until a site administrator enables it and configures Google reCAPTCHA v3 site and secret keys.

Service provider: Google LLC.

When the module is enabled and a protected form with a configured site key is rendered, Elzo Forms loads the Google reCAPTCHA JavaScript API from:

https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api.js

Before a protected form is submitted, the browser asks Google reCAPTCHA to generate a token for the form action. During submission, Elzo Forms sends the token, the configured secret key, and the visitor IP address to Google’s verification endpoint:

https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api/siteverify

Google may receive information required for reCAPTCHA risk analysis and verification, such as the site key, reCAPTCHA token, action name, visitor IP address, browser/client information, and interaction signals. Elzo Forms uses the returned verification result, action, and score to decide whether the submission should be accepted or rejected as spam.

If reCAPTCHA logging is enabled in the module settings, Elzo Forms may store the returned reCAPTCHA score in submission metadata and write verification pass/fail messages to the site’s PHP error log for debugging.

Google reCAPTCHA is governed by Google’s terms and privacy policy:

• Terms: https://policies.google.com/terms
• Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
• reCAPTCHA documentation: https://developers.google.com/recaptcha/docs/v3

Akismet

Elzo Forms includes an optional Akismet module for spam protection. The module is disabled until a site administrator enables it and configures an Akismet API key.

Service provider: Automattic Inc.

Elzo Forms does not contact Akismet or send submission data to Automattic unless the Akismet module is enabled and configured with an API key. By enabling and configuring the Akismet module, the site administrator chooses to use Akismet as a third-party spam protection service.

During submission, Elzo Forms sends contact-form spam check data to Akismet’s comment-check endpoint:

https://rest.akismet.com/1.1/comment-check

Akismet may receive submitted text content, likely contact identity fields such as name, email address, or website URL when present, visitor IP address, browser user agent, referrer, form page URL, site URL, site language, and site character set. Elzo Forms uses the returned spam/ham result to decide whether the submission should be accepted or marked as spam.

If Akismet logging is enabled in the module settings, Elzo Forms may store the Akismet result and reason in submission metadata and write verification pass/fail messages to the site’s PHP error log for debugging.

Site administrators should review Automattic’s terms and privacy policy and update their own privacy policy or visitor notices as needed before enabling Akismet.

Akismet is governed by Automattic’s terms and privacy policy:

• Terms: https://automattic.com/terms/
• Privacy Policy: https://automattic.com/privacy/
• Akismet documentation: https://akismet.com/developers/detailed-docs/comment-check/

Support

For support, use the WordPress.org support forum for this plugin or visit https://elzoforms.com.