Movable Type Gets Web Forms Designer

By Eric Brown Feb 10, 2009

Movable Type users have had access to plug-ins for building contact forms for some time now. Until recently however, MT users had to create hacks in an entry/comment based system for the handling of requests and inquiries. There was nothing addressing a workflow for easy contact management. Until now.

Once considered part of the DNA of Six Apart, Byrne Reese has moved on to bigger and better things. But he hasn't left Movable Type behind. Quite the contrary. Instead, he has spent his time working on something he never had time to do while working on the popular blogging software - develop a contact forms plug-in.

In partnership with iThemes, Byrne Reese has released a contact form plug-in for Movable Type called, simply enough — Contact Forms Plugin for Movable Type. In its initial free and public beta release, Reese’s plug-in offers a list of features that do more than just facilitate the building of contact forms easily.

Features of Contact Forms Plugin for Movable Type

Even if you have a developer who can quickly build forms for a site and deploy them easily, many form solutions lack certain control and management capabilities that can be essential in the web world we live in today.

Contact Forms Designer for Moveable Type

Contact Forms Plugin for Movable Type

The Contact Forms Plugin for Movable Type includes the following features:

Multiple Forms - Deploy multiple contact forms to a web site.
Easy Custom Fields - Add custom fields to your contact forms.
Manage from within MT - View and respond to inquiries directly from within Movable Type.
Easily Embed Forms - Add contact forms in posts, pages or templates.
Custom HTML Options - Designers can specify their own form HTML along with their themes. By specifying in their themes the hooks and information necessary they can create forms to fit their design and layouts.
Custom Fields - Developers can define their own custom fields via YAML. They will have the ability to extend the standard set of form fields to fit their needs.
MT Pro Users – Users of MT Pro will be able to denote “Contact Form” custom fields on pages and in posts.

Additionally, storage and tracking of forms and data can be a headache. The Contact Forms Plugin for Movable Type stores all forms in a database and tracks them for you so that you can ensure every contact is responded to accordingly and that all stored information is searchable.

Here's a quick four minute demonstration of the plugin: