This Is How You Can Modify Contact Form 7 Submission Data
As a WordPress developer, you may often find yourself in a situation where you need to modify the data submitted through a Contact Form 7 (CF7) form before it's processed. This could be for a variety of reasons, such as:
- Standardizing the format of the data
- Performing additional validation or processing
- Dynamically updating the form values based on user inputs
Fortunately, the Contact Form 7 plugin provides a powerful hook called wpcf7_posted_data
that allows you to intercept and manipulate the form submission data before it's saved or processed.
In this article, we'll explore how you can use the wpcf7_posted_data
hook to modify the submitted data from a Contact Form 7 form.
Understanding the wpcf7_posted_data Hook
The wpcf7_posted_data
hook is a WordPress action that is triggered immediately after the form data is submitted, but before it's processed by the plugin. This hook passes the submitted form data as an associative array, where the keys represent the field names and the values represent the submitted values.
By hooking into this action and modifying the $array
parameter, you can change the values of the form fields before they're saved or processed.
Here's an example of how you can use the wpcf7_posted_data
hook:
// Define the wpcf7_posted_data callback
function action_wpcf7_posted_data($array) {
// 'checkbox-name' is the name that you gave the field in the CF7 admin
$value = $array['checkbox-name'];
if (!empty($value)) {
$array['checkbox-name'] = "New Value";
}
return $array;
}
add_filter('wpcf7_posted_data', 'action_wpcf7_posted_data', 10, 1);
In this example, we define a function called action_wpcf7_posted_data
that takes the $array
parameter, which represents the submitted form data. We then check if the 'checkbox-name'
field has a value, and if so, we update the value to "New Value" before returning the modified $array
.
Finally, we hook the action_wpcf7_posted_data
function into the wpcf7_posted_data
filter using the add_filter
function. The 10
in the third argument represents the priority of the hook, and the 1
represents the number of arguments the function expects.
Real-World Examples of Modifying Contact Form 7 Submission Data
Now, let's explore some real-world examples of how you can use the wpcf7_posted_data
hook to modify the submitted data from a Contact Form 7 form.
1. Standardizing the Format of the Data
Imagine you have a form field that collects a phone number, and you want to ensure that the phone number is always stored in a consistent format (e.g., "+1 (123) 456-7890"). You can use the wpcf7_posted_data
hook to achieve this:
function action_wpcf7_posted_data($array) {
// 'phone' is the name of the phone number field
if (isset($array['phone'])) {
$phone = preg_replace('/\D/', '', $array['phone']);
$array['phone'] = '+1 (' . substr($phone, 0, 3) . ') ' . substr($phone, 3, 3) . '-' . substr($phone, 6);
}
return $array;
}
add_filter('wpcf7_posted_data', 'action_wpcf7_posted_data', 10, 1);
In this example, we first check if the 'phone'
field exists in the $array
. If it does, we use a regular expression to remove all non-digit characters from the phone number, and then format the number in the desired format.
2. Performing Additional Validation or Processing
Suppose you have a form field that collects a date, and you want to ensure that the date is in a valid format (e.g., "YYYY-MM-DD") before processing the form submission. You can use the wpcf7_posted_data
hook to perform this validation:
function action_wpcf7_posted_data($array) {
// 'date' is the name of the date field
if (isset($array['date'])) {
$date = $array['date'];
if (!preg_match('/^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}$/', $date)) {
// If the date is not in the correct format, set an error message
$array['wpcf7_errors']['date'] = 'Please enter a valid date in the format YYYY-MM-DD.';
} else {
// Format the date in the desired way
$array['date'] = date('Y-m-d', strtotime($date));
}
}
return $array;
}
add_filter('wpcf7_posted_data', 'action_wpcf7_posted_data', 10, 1);
In this example, we first check if the 'date'
field exists in the $array
. If it does, we use a regular expression to validate the date format. If the date is not in the correct format, we set an error message in the $array['wpcf7_errors']
array. If the date is in the correct format, we format it to the desired output format using the date
function.
3. Dynamically Updating the Form Values Based on User Inputs
Imagine you have a form field that collects a user's age, and you want to automatically calculate and display the user's birth year based on the age provided. You can use the wpcf7_posted_data
hook to achieve this:
function action_wpcf7_posted_data($array) {
// 'age' is the name of the age field
// 'birth_year' is the name of the calculated birth year field
if (isset($array['age'])) {
$age = intval($array['age']);
$current_year = date('Y');
$birth_year = $current_year - $age;
$array['birth_year'] = $birth_year;
}
return $array;
}
add_filter('wpcf7_posted_data', 'action_wpcf7_posted_data', 10, 1);
In this example, we first check if the 'age'
field exists in the $array
. If it does, we calculate the user's birth year based on the provided age and the current year, and then update the $array
with the calculated birth year.
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Conclusion
The wpcf7_posted_data
hook in the Contact Form 7 plugin is a powerful tool that allows you to modify the submitted form data before it's processed. By using this hook, you can standardize the format of the data, perform additional validation or processing, and even dynamically update the form values based on user inputs.
Remember, when working with the wpcf7_posted_data
hook, it's important to ensure that your modifications don't introduce any security vulnerabilities, such as allowing users to bypass form validation or submit malicious data. Always sanitize and validate the input data before using it.
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