Creating Dynamic Select Lists in Contact Form 7 Using Select2 jQuery Library

Contact Form 7 (CF7) is a popular WordPress plugin used to create forms on websites. By default, it allows for basic select lists, but sometimes you might need dynamic select lists with enhanced functionality.

Sometimes, you might want to dynamically populate a select field in a CF7 form with your WordPress posts. This can be useful for various applications, such as allowing users to select a specific post to reference in their form submission.

In this guide, we’ll walk through the steps to integrate WordPress posts into a CF7 select field.

The Select2 jQuery library can help achieve this by providing better styling and additional features for select lists. Here’s how to integrate dynamic select lists using Contact Form 7 and Select2.

Install Contact Form 7 Plugin

First, make sure you have the Contact Form 7 plugin installed and activated on your WordPress site.

Step-by-Step Explanation

// Custom contact form 7 retreat select
add_action( 'wpcf7_init', 'custom_name' );

add_action('wpcf7_init', 'custom_name'): This line hooks the custom_name function to the wpcf7_init action. This action is triggered when Contact Form 7 is initialized, allowing us to add custom form tags.

Define the Custom Function

function custom_name() {
    wpcf7_add_form_tag( 'tag_name', 'custom_tag_handler', array( 'name-attr' => true ) );
}

wpcf7_add_form_tag('tag_name', 'custom_tag_handler', array('name-attr' => true)): This function registers a custom form tag named tag_name. When Contact Form 7 encounters this tag in a form, it will use the custom_tag_handler function to render the form field. The array('name-attr' => true) part ensures that the custom tag supports the name attribute.

Define the Custom Tag Handler

function custom_tag_handler( $tag ) {
    $atts = array();
    $atts['name'] = $tag->name;
    $atts['class'] = $tag->get_class_option();
    $atts['id'] = $tag->get_id_option();
    $atts = wpcf7_format_atts( $atts );
    $html = '<select ' . $atts . '>';
  • $tag: This parameter contains information about the form tag, such as its attributes.
  • $atts: This array holds the attributes for the select element, such as name, class, and id.
  • wpcf7_format_atts($atts): This function converts the attributes array into a string suitable for HTML.

Query and Populate Posts

    $args = array(
        'post_type' => 'postname',
        'posts_per_page' => -1,
        'post_status' => 'publish',
    );
    $postarg = get_posts( $args );
  • $args: This array defines the query parameters to fetch posts. In this case, it fetches all published posts of type postname.
  • get_posts($args): This function retrieves the posts based on the specified query parameters.

Iterates through each post and adds the post title to the select field options.

    foreach ( $postarg as $posts ):
        $post_id = $posts->ID;
        $slug = $posts->post_name;
        $title = get_the_title($post_id);
        $html .= '<option value="' . $slug . '">' . $title . '</option>';
    endforeach;
    $html .= '</select>';
    return $html;
}
  • foreach ($postarg as $posts): This loop iterates over each post retrieved by the query.
  • $post_id = $posts->ID: Gets the ID of the current post.
  • $slug = $posts->post_name: Gets the slug of the current post.
  • $title = get_the_title($post_id): Gets the title of the current post.
  • $html .= '<option value="' . $slug . '">' . $title . '</option>': Appends an option element to the select element for each post, setting the value to the post slug and the display text to the post title.

Putting It All Together

// Custom contact form 7 retreat select
add_action( 'wpcf7_init', 'custom_name' );

function custom_name() {
    wpcf7_add_form_tag( 'tag_name', 'custom_tag_handler', array( 'name-attr' => true ) );
}

function custom_tag_handler( $tag ) {
    $atts = array();
    $atts['name'] = $tag->name;
    $atts['class'] = $tag->get_class_option();
    $atts['id'] = $tag->get_id_option();
    $atts = wpcf7_format_atts( $atts );
    $html = '<select ' . $atts . '>';
    $args = array(
      'post_type' => 'postname',
      'posts_per_page' => -1,
      'post_status' => 'publish',
    );
    $postarg= get_posts( $args );
    foreach ( $postarg as $posts ):
        $post_id = $posts->ID;
        $slug = $posts->post_name;
        $title = get_the_title($post_id);
        $html .= '<option value="' . $slug . '">' . $title . '</option>';
    endforeach;
    $html .= '</select>';
    return $html;
}

When Contact Form 7 encounters the custom tag [tag_name] in a form, it triggers the custom_tag_handler function. This function creates a select element populated with options derived from the specified post type.

Usage in Contact Form 7

To use this custom select field in a Contact Form 7 , add the following tag to your form:

[tag_name fieldname class:form-control id:id_select]

This will generate a select field filled with the titles of all posts of type postname.

Usage in Contact Form 7 mail-tag

To use this custom select field in a Contact Form 7 mail-tag, add the following tag to your mail tag Message body area:

Then for the mail-tag used the name [fieldname].

Display the Form

Finally, display the form on your page or post using the CF7 shortcode:

[contact-form-7 id="1234" title="Contact form 1"]

Install and Enqueue Select2 Library

Next, you need to install and enqueue the Select2 library. You can include it in your theme’s functions.php file or a custom plugin. Here’s how to do it:

function enqueue_select2() {
    // Enqueue Select2 CSS
    wp_enqueue_style('select2-css', 'https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/select2@4.1.0-beta.1/dist/css/select2.min.css');

    // Enqueue Select2 JS
    wp_enqueue_script('select2-js', 'https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/select2@4.1.0-beta.1/dist/js/select2.min.js', array('jquery'), null, true);

    // Enqueue custom script to initialize Select2
    wp_enqueue_script('custom-select2-init', get_template_directory_uri() . '/js/select2-init.js', array('select2-js'), null, true);
}
add_action('wp_enqueue_scripts', 'enqueue_select2');

Create a Custom Script to Initialize Select2

Create a new JavaScript file (e.g., select2-init.js) in your theme’s js directory and add the following code to initialize Select2 on your select elements:

jQuery(document).ready(function($) {
    $('.wpcf7 select').select2();
});

This script applies Select2 to all select elements generated by Contact Form 7.
output for this Code

Conclusion

By following these steps, you can dynamically populate a Contact Form 7 select field with WordPress posts. This method provides a flexible way to enhance your forms by integrating dynamic content. Feel free to customize the query parameters to suit your specific needs, such as filtering posts by category, tag, or custom post type.
Feel free to modify the code to suit your specific needs, such as filtering posts by category, tag, or custom post type. Happy coding!