Update Question

RE: Do I have to worry about any major changes that would affect the current forms if I update?

Definately – CF7 3.5.4 is a ??seriously old version. You will need to do sensible backup and offline testing for this update.

??I expect you will have to do some adjusting on the fields and options.

You might also consider at the same time redesigning the form to reduce the number of fields. I can’t believe that most users would be willing to fill in a form with that many fields & options.

Thank you for the reply buzztone,

??I expect you will have to do some adjusting on the fields and options.

Can you give me any suggestions on what I might need to adjust in the fields and options?

Here is one of the current text field’s short-code [text* PetName id:PetName class:oddrow], what would need changed in this example?

I downloaded the latest release of CF7 the oldest version listed in the Changelog is 3.8, so not much help there.

As for the size of the form, it’s an application for boarding your dog, my client (site owner) has many required fields, vet info, dog’s health, dog’s personality… it now has a second dog set of fields that is shown/hidden with a java script.

RE: Can you give me any suggestions on what I might need to adjust in the fields and options?

No – you would just need to fix any fields that show problems.
?

???RE: my client (site owner) has many required fields, vet info, dog’s health, dog’s personality

IMHO that is way too much info for a web form – especially if the form is the first point of contact with a potential customer.

If you do some A/B testing you?? will typically find a significant drop off rate in people completing forms with more than 10 questions. Above 20 questions the drop off rate could easily be 80% plus.

In this case I would use a much shorter web form which establishes the initial contact?? with the key info necessary for follow up of further questions via email.

??But the client probably won’t listen to that – they rarely do.

In this case I would use a much shorter web form which establishes the initial contact?? with the key info necessary for follow up of further questions via email.

That is almost exactly what I told my client during our first meeting, suggesting a more simple initial contact form, then use email to gather the remaining information.

??But the client probably won’t listen to that – they rarely do.

You’ve got that right, they insisted on keeping the huge application form.

I installed the latest version of CF7 on my sandbox site, copied over the huge form content and it’s message body. Everything displays the same and the received email was also good.

I then upgraded to live site to the latest CF7 and all is well, no changes needed for fields and options.