‘Contact Form Lead Export’ Plugin – WordPress PHP Plugin Development

During the summer of 2021, I began work on a specialized project titled ‘Contact Form Lead Export‘, born out of a desire for a more efficient and streamlined process for managing and exporting sales and marketing leads. As a WordPress website owner myself, I was using the popular Contact Form 7 plugin but found the manual process of handling leads to be time-consuming and inefficient. The project began with a clear set of goals to solve this problem by developing a bespoke solution that would automate the data export process, thereby saving significant time and resources.

The project had several key objectives that guided the development process:

• Design & Develop a Custom WordPress Plugin – Create a lightweight, secure, widely compatible, FREE plugin for all WordPress-based websites using the MOST DOWNLOADED WordPress plugin, ‘Contact Form 7’, for their website forms and user submissions.
• Integrate the Plugin Seamlessly with ‘Contact Form 7’ – Capture all information from front-end website visitors submitted via lead form(s) created and managed using the uber-popular ‘Contact Form 7’ plugin.
• Build User-Friendly Export Functionality in WordPress Admin – Provide an intuitive interface within the WordPress admin dashboard that allows for the easy export of lead data to a structured file format like XML.
• Improve Owner’s Lead Management Processes – Enhance the overall efficiency of the client’s lead management workflow by automating a previously manual task, which is a prime example of effective custom WordPress solutions.
• Offer thorough Documentation for all Users – Ensure the final product is stable, well-documented, and easy for the average website administrator to use without any technical expertise.

The development of the custom plugin followed a pre-planned, logical timeline throughout the summer of 2021. However, since I was working full-time as a WordPress designer & developer for a small digital media/marketing company and part-time for an old friend of mine, the plugin’s final version wasn’t completed and available on the WordPress plugin repository until late September 2021. The first milestone, in June, involved the initial planning and architectural design of the plugin. This included defining the core functions, database interactions, and the user interface for the admin panel. I also began the foundational coding for the plugin’s structure, focusing on clean, well-commented PHP code that adhered to WordPress coding standards. In July, I shifted my focus to the core functionality, which involved hooking into Contact Form 7’s submission process to capture and store the lead data securely. This phase also included the development of the data export feature, which generated the XML file with all the necessary fields and information.

A crucial deliverable during this time was the testing environment, where I rigorously tested the plugin for bugs, security vulnerabilities, and compatibility issues with various versions of WordPress and PHP. The final month of the project, August, was dedicated to finalizing the user interface, writing comprehensive documentation for the various plugin repository websites where I planned to upload the new plugin. and conducting the final round of quality assurance. The completed plugin files and thorough documentation were zipped together into a single file, uploaded to WordPress plugin repositories, including WordPress.org, and several digital marketing & social media posts were uploaded and sent out to help build a user base for my new plugin. This ‘Contact Form Lead Export’ project is a perfect example of my ability to deliver targeted and impactful digital solutions for a large range of client industries, WordPress users, website owners, and niches. You can see more examples of my custom WordPress solutions by visiting my site at MatthewKlodt.com.

The deliverables for the project included the fully functional ‘Contact Form Lead Export’ plugin as a zip file, along with detailed documentation on how to install and use it. A rough timeline of the project began in June 2021 with the initial concept and design, progressed through July 2021 with the core coding and integration work, and concluded in August with the final testing, documentation, and delivery at the end of September 2021. The success of this project demonstrates proficiency in providing specialized digital solutions that enhance business operations. For more information on my other projects, including my work in e-commerce, explore my portfolio at MatthewKlodt.com/projects.

This custom plugin is a testament to the versatility of WordPress and the possibilities of targeted WordPress plugin development. I am passionate about building solutions that empower businesses, a philosophy you can read more about at MatthewKlodt.com/about. The project spanned the period from June to August 2021, and its successful completion provided WordPress users, including myself, with a powerful, automated tool for efficient lead management. You can learn more about general WordPress development on the official WordPress.org website and explore other form plugins on the WordPress Plugin Directory.