Many WordPress websites serve users from multiple countries. When that happens, email communication often needs to change depending on where the user is located.
A very common requirement looks like this:
- If a user selects China in a Contact Form 7 form, the site should send one email template.
- If the user selects any other country, the site should send a different template.
This sounds simple, but Contact Form 7 does not support country-based email templates by default. There is no built-in setting for conditional email content, and there is no visual toggle to switch templates based on user input.
Still, this problem can be solved cleanly, safely, and in a way that is easy to maintain long-term.
Why you should use Country Based Email Templates
On international websites, email content is rarely one-size-fits-all. Country-based email templates are often required for legal, operational, or communication reasons.
In practice, this requirement appears on many types of websites.
Some businesses need different wording for certain regions. Others must include extra notices or disclaimers depending on country. In some cases, emails need to be routed to different internal teams based on geography.
Below are the most common real-world reasons developers implement country-based email templates.
Before listing them, it’s important to understand that these needs usually appear after a site starts growing internationally. That’s why this problem shows up frequently in mature projects.
Common reasons include:
- Different legal or compliance text by country
- Local sales or support teams handling different regions
- Language or cultural tone differences
- Special handling for specific markets (for example, China)
- Internal workflows that depend on user location
After implementing country-based logic once, it often becomes reusable across many forms and projects.
Why Contact Form 7 Cannot Do This by Default
Contact Form 7 is designed to be minimal. It focuses on form submission, validation, and email delivery, but avoids complex conditional logic in the interface.
Out of the box, Contact Form 7 allows:
- One main email template
- One optional secondary email (Mail 2)
- Static subject and body fields
- No conditions inside email content
Even though there is a “Mail (2)” option, Contact Form 7 does not let you decide dynamically which email template should be used based on a submitted value like country.
This is why developers rely on WordPress hooks.
Hooks allow you to modify data while it is being processed. In this case, we modify the email content right before it is sent.
The Best Hook for Country Based Email Logic
Contact Form 7 provides several hooks, but only one is ideal for this task.
The correct hook is:
wpcf7_mail_components
This hook runs after the form is submitted and validated, but before the email is sent. At that moment, all submitted data is available, and the email content is already prepared.
This allows us to:
- Read the selected country
- Decide which template should be used
- Replace the subject and body dynamically
This approach does not interfere with form validation, spam protection, or submission tracking.
How the Country-Based Email Logic Works
Before going into code, it helps to understand the logic in plain language.
When a user submits a form:
- The form sends all field values to WordPress.
- Contact Form 7 prepares the email using the template from the Mail tab.
- Before sending the email, WordPress runs the
wpcf7_mail_componentsfilter. - Our code checks the selected country.
- If the country matches a specific value (for example, China), the email content is replaced.
- If not, the default email remains unchanged.
This means:
You still have one form.
You still edit templates in one place.
The logic is invisible to the user.
Step 1: Make Sure Your Form Has a Country Field
The first requirement is simple. Your Contact Form 7 form must include a country field.
The field can be a dropdown, a text input, or any other supported type. What matters most is the field name.
Here is a common example using a dropdown:
[select* country "China" "United States" "Canada" "Germany" "France" "Other"]
In this example, the field name is country.
That name will be used later in the code. If your field uses a different name, such as your-country, the code must be adjusted accordingly.
After adding or confirming the country field, you should test the form normally to make sure submissions work as expected.
Step 2: Decide Where Email Templates Should Live
Before writing any code, you need to decide where your email templates will be stored.
This decision affects maintainability and client usability.
There are multiple technical options, but not all are equally practical.
Below is an overview of common approaches, followed by an explanation of which one is recommended.
Possible storage options include:
- Hardcoding templates directly in PHP
- Storing templates inside Contact Form 7 Mail settings
- Loading templates from theme files
- Saving templates in WordPress options or custom fields
While all of these work technically, only one is truly client-friendly.
The recommended approach is to store the default email template inside Contact Form 7, and let the code override it only when a specific country is selected.
This allows non-developers to edit email content without touching PHP.
Step 3: Set Up the Default Email Template (All Countries)
Start by configuring the standard email template in the Contact Form 7 Mail tab.
This template will be used for all countries except China.
Use clear, neutral wording that works globally.
Example subject:
Thank you for contacting us
Example body:
Hello,
Thank you for reaching out.
Our team has received your message and will respond shortly.
Best regards,
Company Name
This email becomes the fallback template. If no country-specific condition is matched, this is the email that will be sent.
Step 4: Add Country-Based Logic with wpcf7_mail_components
Now comes the technical part. This code only needs to be written once.
It should be added to:
- a custom plugin, or
- the theme’s
functions.phpfile
Using a custom plugin is recommended for long-term projects.
Here is a clean, production-safe example:
add_filter( 'wpcf7_mail_components', 'cf7_country_based_email_template', 10, 3 );
function cf7_country_based_email_template( $components, $contact_form, $instance ) {
$submission = WPCF7_Submission::get_instance();
if ( ! $submission ) {
return $components;
}
$posted_data = $submission->get_posted_data();
if ( empty( $posted_data['country'] ) ) {
return $components;
}
$country = strtolower( trim( $posted_data['country'] ) );
if ( $country === 'china' ) {
$components['subject'] = 'Thank you for contacting our China team';
$components['body'] =
"Hello,\n\n" .
"Thank you for contacting us from China.\n" .
"Your message has been forwarded to our regional team.\n\n" .
"Best regards,\n" .
"Company Name";
}
return $components;
}
What This Code Actually Does
Even if you are not a developer, it helps to understand what is happening.
- First, the code waits until Contact Form 7 prepares the email.
- Then it reads the submitted form data.
- Next, it looks specifically for the
countryfield. - If the value equals “China”, the subject and body are replaced.
- If not, the email stays exactly as defined in the Mail tab.
Nothing else is changed.
Attachments, headers, sender address, and recipients remain untouched.
Expanding the Logic for More Countries
Once this logic exists, expanding it is easy.
You can support multiple countries with one condition.
You can also group countries by region.
For example, China-related regions:
$china_group = array( 'china', 'hong kong', 'macau' );
if ( in_array( $country, $china_group, true ) ) {
// China template
}
This approach keeps the logic readable and easy to maintain.
Why This Approach Is Better Than Multiple Forms
Many site owners try to solve this problem by duplicating forms.
That usually creates more problems than it solves.
Before listing the issues, it’s important to note that form duplication also hurts SEO and maintainability.
Problems caused by multiple forms include:
- Harder updates when content changes
- Inconsistent email formatting
- Higher chance of configuration errors
- More testing required
- Worse editorial control
Using one form with country-based logic avoids all of these issues.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
This solution is reliable, but there are common mistakes that can cause issues if not avoided.
First, email logic must always run on the server. Client-side JavaScript cannot control email delivery.
Second, country values must be normalized. Differences in capitalization or spacing can break comparisons.
Third, logic should be kept simple. Over-engineering email templates leads to fragile systems.
Keeping the code short and clear improves long-term stability.
Contact Form 7 does not support country-based email templates by default, but WordPress hooks make it possible.
But with a small amount of code, you can:
- Send different emails based on country
- Keep one clean form
- Let clients edit templates safely
- Avoid unnecessary plugins
- Build a scalable solution
Once implemented, this logic rarely needs changes.
Need Help Implementing This Safely?
If you want this set up correctly on a live site, or if you need:
- more complex country rules
- multilingual email content
- CRM or automation integration
- a future-proof implementation
You can post your request on Codeable and receive a free estimate with no obligation to proceed with project
Need Help Setting Up Country-Based Email Templates in Contact Form 7?
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