Conditional Logic: Making WordPress Forms More Effective
Conditional logic is a powerful feature that allows your WordPress forms to change in real-time based on the user’s answers. This makes forms more dynamic and engaging, potentially leading to more form completions and conversions.
The Importance of Conditional Logic
Conditional logic allows you to show or hide form fields based on specific conditions. This makes forms cleaner and easier to navigate for users by ensuring they only see relevant fields. For example, in a customer satisfaction survey, additional fields asking for details about the user’s experience could appear if they rate their satisfaction as ‘Low’. However, if they rate their satisfaction as ‘High’, a field asking about what they liked most could appear.
By adapting based on responses, forms can keep users interested and encourage them to complete their answers, resulting in higher submission rates. Conditional logic also ensures higher-quality data collection since users are more likely to provide accurate information when the questions are relevant to their previous answers. This precision can lead to more targeted follow-up actions, such as emails or recommendations, which can improve conversion rates.
Adding Conditional Logic to WordPress Forms
There are several plugins that allow you to implement conditional logic in your WordPress forms. This article will use WPForms and Formidable Forms to demonstrate how conditional logic can be used in different scenarios.
To use conditional logic in WPForms and Formidable Forms, you’ll need the premium versions of the plugins. However, you can start with WPForms Lite and upgrade as needed.
Use Case 1: Ask for Additional Information in Survey Forms
Conditional logic can be used to create more insightful survey forms. For example, if a user provides negative feedback about your website’s user experience, you might want to gather more details to improve it. You can use WPForms’ ‘Surveys and Polls Addon’ to implement this. This addon requires the WPForms Pro plan.
When creating a survey form, you can use the ‘Survey Form’ template provided by WPForms. This template includes a pre-configured conditional logic setting that shows the ‘How can we improve?’ field only if the user rates their experience as 1 or 2 stars. You can also customize these settings as needed.
Use Case 2: Show or Hide Options in Event RSVP Forms
In an RSVP form, you can use conditional logic to guide users through different paths based on their answers. For instance, if a user confirms their attendance at an event, you could ask them whether they’ll bring extra people. If they decline the invitation, they can skip these questions and move on to the next relevant section.
WPForms offers the ‘Party Invitation RSVP Form’ template, which can be used to set up an RSVP form quickly. You can customize the form using the drag-and-drop interface. The template includes a field asking ‘Will you be attending?’. To set up conditional logic, you’ll want to show the ‘How many additional guests are you bringing?’ field only if the user selects ‘Yes’ for the ‘Will you be attending?’ question.
Use Case 3: Display Different Fields in Job Application Forms
Conditional logic can be used to show different fields based on the position an applicant is applying for. For example, if an applicant selects ‘Software Developer’, you could display a field asking about their ‘Programming Languages Knowledge’. Conversely, if they choose ‘Graphic Designer’, the ‘Design Software Skills’ field could appear instead.
WPForms offers several job application form templates, such as the ‘Job Application Upload Form’ template. You can add a dropdown field for available positions and checkbox fields for required skills. Then, you can set up conditional logic based on the applicant’s selection in the position dropdown.
For the ‘Programming Languages Knowledge’ field, you can set up conditional logic to show it only if the applicant selects ‘Software Developer’ in the position dropdown. Similarly, the ‘Design Software Skills’ field can be set up to show only if the applicant selects ‘Graphic Designer’.
Use Case 4: Personalized Thank-You Messages
Conditional logic can be used to send different thank-you messages based on the user’s selection within a WordPress form. Personalized messages can provide valuable and specific information to the user, which can improve engagement. For example, if a user selects ‘Technical Support Inquiry’ within a support form, the thank-you message could include information on the next steps and a link to support resources.
In WPForms, you can set up different thank-you messages from the notifications settings area. When creating a confirmation message, you can use the ‘Enable Conditional Logic’ option to show the confirmation message only if the user selects ‘Technical Support Inquiry’ from the ‘What can we help you with today?’ field. You can repeat these steps to create confirmation messages for other inquiries.
Use Case 5: Set Up Multiple Notification Recipients
Conditional logic can be used to direct leads to the right team right away, improving customer service and lead capture efficiency. This is particularly useful for forms on landing pages or popups designed to capture leads.
In WPForms, you can set up multiple notification recipients for your forms. When creating a notification, you can use the ‘Enable Conditional Logic’ option to send the notification only if the user selects ‘Technical Support Inquiry’ in the ‘What can we help you with today?’ field. You can repeat these steps to create notifications for other inquiries.
Use Case 6: Create a Chained Quiz
Formidable Forms is a powerful tool for creating quizzes in WordPress. It allows you to create chained quizzes, where each question presented to the user depends on their previous answers. This creates a more personalized and interactive experience for users.
For example, a health and wellness website could use a chained quiz to recommend personalized fitness plans. The first question could ask about the user’s primary fitness goal, such as weight loss, muscle gain, or general health. Depending on their answer, the next question could ask about their exercise habits or dietary preferences, leading to more specific recommendations. To create this kind of quiz, you’ll need to install and activate the free Formidable Forms plugin and upgrade to the pro version.
When creating a quiz using Formidable Forms, you can use the ‘Quiz’ template. This template includes several pre-set questions that you can customize. You can then use conditional logic to show or hide questions based on the user’s answers to previous questions.
For example, you can set up conditional logic to show the ‘How many days a week will you exercise?’ question only if the user selects ‘Weight loss’ as their fitness goal. You can also use conditional logic to redirect users to different pages based on their quiz responses. For example, after a user completes the quiz, you can redirect them to a personalized fitness plan page based on their choices.
Conclusion
This article explored various ways to use conditional logic in WordPress forms, demonstrating how it can make your forms more engaging, efficient, and effective. By understanding the different use cases and how to implement conditional logic, you can create more dynamic and interactive forms that provide a better experience for your users. Remember to work with AltShift WP for any assistance you may need with conditional logic or other WordPress solutions.
This is a summary of the original article found at: [https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/ways-to-use-conditional-logic-in-wordpress-forms/](https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/ways-to-use-conditional-logic-in-wordpress-forms/)