Why Use Contact Form 7 for Quizzes?
Although Contact Form 7 is typically used for contact forms, it can also be an excellent tool for creating quizzes for the following reasons:
- Ease of Use: Contact Form 7 is user-friendly and integrates seamlessly with WordPress.
- Customizability: You can tailor the design and functionality of your quiz according to your needs.
- Flexibility: Collect user responses and even send results via email or store them for future analysis.
- Free Plugin: Contact Form 7 is free, which is a great benefit for those on a budget.
Step 1: Install Contact Form 7
Before we start creating the quiz, make sure you have Contact Form 7 installed and activated on your WordPress site:
- From your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New.
- Search for Contact Form 7 and click Install Now.
- After installation, click Activate.
Once the plugin is activated, you’ll be able to create and customize your forms, including quizzes.
Step 2: Create the Quiz Form
Creating a quiz form in Contact Form 7 is similar to creating a regular form, but with a few modifications for quiz-style questions.
Step 2.1: Add Quiz Questions
- Go to Contact > Contact Forms and click Add New to create a new form.
- Enter a title for your quiz form, e.g., “General Knowledge Quiz”.
- Add the quiz questions as form fields. For example, you can use multiple-choice options or a simple text field for short-answer questions.
Here’s an example of a multiple-choice question:
<label for="q1">What is the capital of France?</label><br /> [radio* q1 use_label_element "Paris" "London" "Berlin" "Madrid"]
Explanation:
[radio* q1]
: This creates a required radio button field. The*
ensures that the user must select an answer.use_label_element
: Ensures that the options are displayed in a more user-friendly way.
Step 2.2: Add More Questions
Add more quiz questions, each with radio buttons, checkboxes, or text fields, depending on the type of questions you want to ask.
Here’s an example of a true/false question:
<label for="q2">The Earth is flat.</label><br /> [radio* q2 use_label_element "True" "False"]
For a short-answer question, use the following:
<label for="q3">What is 5 + 7?</label><br /> [text* q3 id:q3]
This will create a basic text input where users can type in their answer.
Step 2.3: Submit Button
Don’t forget to add a submit button at the end of the form:
[submit "Submit Quiz"]
Step 2.4: Save the Form
Once you’ve added all your questions, click Save to store your quiz form.
Step 3: Add Scoring and Results Calculation
To create a fully functional quiz, you need to score the answers and display the results. By default, Contact Form 7 doesn’t have built-in scoring functionality, but we can achieve this by using a combination of custom JavaScript and PHP.
Step 3.1: Use JavaScript for Scoring
To calculate the score, you can use JavaScript to compare the user’s responses with the correct answers. Here’s a simple example of how to do that:
- In the Additional Settings section of your Contact Form 7 form, add the following JavaScript code:
document.addEventListener('wpcf7submit', function(event) { var correctAnswers = { q1: 'Paris', q2: 'False', q3: '12' }; var score = 0; var formData = event.detail.inputs; formData.forEach(function(input) { if (input.name in correctAnswers && input.value === correctAnswers[input.name]) { score++; } }); alert('Your score is: ' + score + '/' + Object.keys(correctAnswers).length); }, false);
This script listens for the form submission event, checks the answers, and displays a score based on the user’s responses.
Step 3.2: Display the Results
The JavaScript above will show the results in an alert box after the user submits the quiz. If you want to display the results within the form itself, you can use AJAX to dynamically insert the score into the page after submission.
Step 4: Customize the Quiz Design
To make your quiz visually appealing, you can customize the appearance of the quiz using custom CSS. For example, you can style the radio buttons, text inputs, and submit button to match your website’s theme.
label { font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; } input[type="radio"], input[type="text"] { margin: 10px; } button[type="submit"] { background-color: #0073e6; color: white; padding: 10px 20px; border-radius: 5px; font-size: 16px; } button[type="submit"]:hover { background-color: #005bb5; }
Step 5: Embed the Quiz Form on Your Website
Once you’ve created your quiz form, it’s time to embed it on a page or post:
- Copy the shortcode of your quiz form from the Contact Form 7 page.
- Go to the page or post where you want to display the quiz.
- Paste the shortcode where you want the quiz to appear.
The shortcode will look something like this:
[contact-form-7 id="123" title="General Knowledge Quiz"]
FAQ: Common Questions About Creating Quizzes with Contact Form 7
1. Can I create a quiz with multiple types of questions?
Yes! Contact Form 7 allows you to use different types of questions such as multiple choice (radio buttons), checkboxes, dropdowns, and text input fields, giving you a lot of flexibility in how you design your quiz.
2. How can I show the quiz results without using JavaScript?
If you prefer not to use JavaScript, you can use a WordPress plugin like Formidable Forms or WPForms that provides built-in quiz and survey features, including automatic scoring and result displays.
3. Can I store quiz results in the WordPress database?
Yes, you can store quiz results in the database using custom PHP code. This can be done by hooking into the form submission process and saving the results in a custom table or a WordPress custom post type.
4. Can I send the quiz results to the user by email?
Yes, Contact Form 7 allows you to customize the email body, so you can send the quiz results to the user upon submission. You can include the score or individual answers in the email template.
5. How do I prevent users from cheating on the quiz?
While Contact Form 7 does not provide a built-in way to prevent cheating, you can implement features like time limits, IP tracking, or CAPTCHA to reduce the chances of users submitting multiple answers or trying to bypass the system.
Conclusion
Creating a quiz with Contact Form 7 is a simple and effective way to engage users and gather information on your website. By using a combination of radio buttons, checkboxes, and custom JavaScript, you can easily create an interactive quiz that scores answers and displays results to the user.
Whether you’re creating a fun quiz, a survey, or a lead generation tool, Contact Form 7 gives you the flexibility to tailor your quiz to meet your needs.
Need Expert Help with Contact Form 7 Quizzes?
Hire a certified WordPress expert from Codeable to help you customize your Contact Form 7 quizzes and improve your user engagement.