Forms, Memberships, Emails and Automation

This month’s WPToronto East meetup focused on WordPress forms, memberships, emails, and automation. Big thanks to members Don Tai and Dan Stramer for sharing their knowledge with us this weekend!

<strong>Presentations:</strong>

• Andy: Opening lightning talk
• Don: Presentations on Contact Form 7 and MailChimp
• Dan: Demos on Contact Form 7 + Asana and Flamingo

Takeaways

<strong>WordPress.com vs self-hosted WordPress</strong>

• If you’re on WordPress.com, you can’t use plugins. But you <em>can</em> use the Contact Form functionality built into WordPress.com.
• Some of the advanced functionality we describe — e.g. conditional logic or API integrations — won’t apply to WordPress.com users.
• WordPress.com users <em>can</em> use other services, like FormStack or Wufoo or Google Forms or Typeform,  and link to those from the WordPress.com website.

<strong>Forms</strong>

• Plugins mentioned in our discussions: Formidable Forms, Gravity Forms, Ninja Forms, Contact Form 7, Flamingo, Jetpack
• Not mentioned: Caldera Forms, WPForms

<strong>Memberships</strong>

• Not just for paid membership sites. Think differently: Customer portals? Company intranets? Local communities?
• Which plugin’s the best? Check out Chris Lema’s comprehensive review of the best WordPress membership plugins in 2015.

<strong>Emails</strong>

• Email service providers mentioned: MailChimp, GoDaddy Email Marketing, Aweber, Constant Contact
• Not mentioned (but worth sharing): Campaign Monitor, ConvertKit
• Duplicate subscribers across multiple lists will all count against your total subscriber limit. Use segmentation and targeted campaigns (depending on your service provider) rather than duplicating your lists.

<strong>Getting Email Signups</strong>

• Various methods: Simple embedded forms or widgets, or lead capture tools like those available from Hello Bar, AddThis, Sumo, or Opt-In Monster.
• The more intrusive/aggressive your opt-in forms are, the more valuable your content & offers need to be.

<strong>Automation</strong>

• Weave together forms, memberships, and emails to trigger actions based on website activity.
• You could craft your own with various plugins and tools like Zapier and IFTTT; or you could use an all-in-one service like GetResponse, ActiveCampaign, Infusionsoft, or Mautic.

What should our next meetup be about?

Vote on your favourite topic in the poll below!

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