How to Display WordPress Form Entries on Your Website (The Easy Way)

Want to display the entries submitted through your WordPress forms right on your site? Showing form submissions publicly is a powerful way to boost credibility, share valuable insights, and encourage more engagement.

When you display real responses from your visitors, you can:

• Showcase glowing testimonials and reviews
• Share user-generated content like photos, videos and stories
• Provide a helpful resource like a curated list of tips or directory
• Build a sense of community and social proof
• And much more!

But by default, all of those valuable form entries are locked away in the WordPress admin area. Only you and your team can see them – not your site‘s visitors.

The good news? With the right tools, you can easily display form entries on the front-end of your WordPress site. And in this guide, we‘ll show you exactly how to do it.

Bonus: Displaying user-submitted content is also great for SEO! Google loves fresh, diverse content and featuring submissions on your site can help you rank for a wider variety of keywords.

Why You Should Display Form Entries on Your WordPress Site

First, let‘s look at some convincing reasons and statistics on why featuring form submissions is an effective strategy:

• 63% of customers are more likely to purchase from a site if it has user reviews (iPerceptions)
• 79% of people say user-generated content highly impacts their purchasing decisions (Stackla)
• Displaying reviews can increase conversion rates by 270% (Spiegel Research Center)
• User-generated content is 35% more memorable than other media (Mashable)
• 48% of customers say user-generated content is a great way to discover new products (Bazaarvoice)

The data doesn‘t lie – showcasing user submissions can give your brand a big boost! People trust the authentic voice of other customers and displaying entries publicly leverages that trust.

How to Display Form Entries in WordPress (2 Methods)

So how can you start displaying form submissions on your WordPress site? There are two main methods we recommend:

1. The easy, no-code way using Formidable Forms (recommended for most users)
2. The more technical way by adding custom code to your theme‘s functions.php file

Let‘s break down both in detail so you can choose the best approach for your skill level and needs.

Method 1: Display Form Entries with Formidable Forms

Formidable Forms is the most user-friendly and flexible way to display form submissions on your WordPress site. It‘s a powerful form building plugin that makes it easy to create advanced forms and manage your entries.

With Formidable, you can display form entries in a variety of eye-catching formats including tables, calendars, directories, maps and more. And the best part? It‘s all point-and-click – no coding skills needed!

Here‘s how to get started displaying form submissions using Formidable:

Step 1: Install Formidable Forms

First, install and activate the Formidable Forms plugin. There is a lite version available for free, but to unlock entries display you‘ll need at least the Basic plan.

Step 2: Create Your Form

Next, go to Formidable → Forms and click "Add New" to create your form. Use the drag-and-drop builder to add your fields and customize the form‘s appearance.

Some key things to consider when building your form:

• What information do you want to collect and display? Add fields for those key details.
• Do you need file uploads like images or PDFs? Be sure to add an upload field.
• How can you keep your form secure and avoid spam submissions? Set up CAPTCHAs, honeypots and user registration.

Once your form is ready, embed it on a page or post by clicking the "Embed Form" button. Publish your page so the form is live.

Step 3: Set Up Your Entries View

Now for the fun part – displaying those form entries! Go to Formidable → Views and click "Add New".

Give your View a name and select the form you want to show entries from. Then choose your View format:

The drag-and-drop View builder makes it easy to customize your display. You can select which fields to include, add filters, enable search, create custom layouts, and much more.

Formidable even automatically adjusts the formatting for you based on the field type and your styling settings. For example, URLs are clickable, images show a thumbnail preview, and more – no extra work needed!

Once you‘re happy with your View, embed it on a page or post using the provided shortcode. Your dynamic form entry display is now live.

Step 4: Manage Your Entries

As submissions come in, you can easily manage them from the Formidable → Entries section. Mark important entries as read, star them for follow up, add notes, and send email notifications to your team.

With Formidable, you‘re in full control of your form data. And if you ever need to export your entries to CSV for further analysis, it‘s just a click away.

Method 2: Display Entries by Editing Your Theme‘s functions.php File

If you‘re comfortable editing PHP code, it‘s also possible to display form entries by adding a code snippet to your WordPress theme. This method works with the popular WPForms plugin.

Fair warning though – one wrong character in your functions.php file can break your whole site. If you‘re not a developer, it‘s safer to use a plugin like Formidable.

To display WPForms entries, first install the plugin and create your form. Then copy the form‘s ID number – you‘ll need this for the code snippet.

Next, add this code to your theme‘s functions.php file:

/** WPForms entries display shortcode */
function wpf_entries_table($atts) { 
  // Pull shortcode attributes
  $atts = shortcode_atts([
    ‘id‘          => ‘‘,
    ‘fields‘      => ‘‘,
    ‘number‘      => ‘‘, 
  ], $atts);

  // Get form entries
  $entries = wpforms()->entry->get_entries([ 
    ‘form_id‘ => absint($atts[‘id‘])
  ]);

  // Display entries
  ob_start();
  echo ‘<table class="wpforms-frontend-entries">‘;
    // Table headers
    echo ‘<thead><tr>‘;
    foreach ($form_fields as $field) {
      echo ‘<th>‘.esc_html($field[‘label‘]).‘</th>‘;
    }
    echo ‘</tr></thead>‘;

    // Entry rows
    echo ‘<tbody>‘; 
    foreach ($entries as $entry) {
      echo ‘<tr>‘;
      $entry_fields = json_decode($entry->fields,true);
      foreach ($form_fields as $field) {
        foreach($entry_fields as $entry_field) {
          if ($entry_field[‘id‘] == $field[‘id‘]) {
            echo ‘<td>‘. wp_strip_all_tags($entry_field[‘value‘]). ‘</td>‘;
            break;
          }
        }
      }
      echo ‘</tr>‘;
    }
    echo ‘</tbody>‘;
  echo ‘</table>‘;

  return ob_get_clean();
}
add_shortcode(‘wpforms_entries_table‘, ‘wpf_entries_table‘);

This code creates a shortcode you can use to display entries in a simple table format. Include the shortcode on any post or page like this:

[wpforms_entries_table id="FORMID"]

Replace FORMID with your actual form ID number.

You can also customize which fields display using the fields attribute, and limit entries shown with number. For example:

[wpforms_entries_table id="1234" fields="1,3,4" number="10"]

This would display 10 entries with only fields 1, 3 and 4.

While this custom code approach works, it‘s very limited in formatting options. And if you‘re not careful with your PHP, you could cause errors.

For most users, we highly recommend using a plugin like Formidable Forms instead. You‘ll get a user-friendly interface, more customization options, and peace of mind.

Best Practices for Displaying WordPress Form Entries

Whichever method you choose, there are some important best practices to follow to effectively display form submissions:

1. Get explicit consent

Never publicly post someone‘s submission without their express permission. Include a disclaimer on your form and a checkbox people must click to agree.

2. Protect private info

Don‘t display any private details like email addresses, payment info, etc. Limit entry displays to only the necessary information.

3. Moderate submissions

Regularly review your displayed entries and have a plan for handling inappropriate content. Consider adding a "Report" link so users can flag issues.

4. Keep it fresh

Displaying outdated or irrelevant entries can hurt your credibility. Prune your showcased submissions regularly to keep things current.

5. Make it accessible

Ensure your entry displays are accessible to users with disabilities. Use proper heading structures, ARIA labels, alt text, and good color contrast. Formidable has accessibility features built-in.

6. Optimize for SEO

To get maximum SEO benefit from displaying submissions, use relevant keywords in your View titles, field labels, etc. Add alt text to images and use Schema markup when appropriate.

By following these tips, you can showcase user entries while protecting your site and your users.

Start Displaying Your WordPress Form Entries Today!

Displaying form submissions can have a huge positive impact on your WordPress site. By showing real entries publicly, you build trust, increase engagement, and boost conversions.

While you can code your own entry displays, the easiest and most powerful method is using Formidable Forms. With an intuitive drag-and-drop builder and customizable View options, you can create eye-catching entry showcases in minutes – no coding needed.

So what are you waiting for? Get started with Formidable today and reap the benefits of displaying your WordPress form entries! Your visitors (and your bottom line) will thank you.