Do you need to make the switch from Pirate Forms to WPForms? Our form importer tool makes it easy to move your current forms into WPForms so there’s no need to rebuild them from scratch.
In this tutorial, we’ll discuss how to import forms from the Pirate Forms plugin to WPForms.
Here at WPForms, we’re excited to announce that we’ve acquired Pirate Forms. You can read all the details in our announcement post.
1. Importing Your Form from Pirate Forms
There are two slightly different ways to migrate from Pirate Forms to WPForms. We’ll walk through both of them below.
To use either of these methods, you must have Pirate Forms installed on your site.
Using the Pirate Forms Migration Tool
To make the transition to WPForms as smooth as possible, you can use our built-in migration tool. This option will appear at the top of your WordPress dashboard. First, click the Migrate to WPForms button.
This will open the migration tool. The first step is to install WPForms Lite, the free version of our plugin. You can do this easily by clicking the Install WPForms button.
Note: If you’d like to consider upgrading to the paid version of WPForms for even more features, you can find out more about our license options on our Pricing page.
Once WPForms Lite is installed and activated, you’ll see a success message.
Next, you can automatically import your contact form from Pirate Forms. To do so, click the Start Migration button.
On the next screen, select the Default Form from the Available Forms column. It will then display in the Forms to Import column. Click on the Import button to move your Pirate Forms contact form to WPForms.
When the import is complete, you’ll see a success message as well as quick links to edit or preview your imported form.
The migration tool will let you know if any fields weren’t imported due to compatibility issues. It will also give you an opportunity to upgrade to a paid version of WPForms, or to continue the import without the field(s) that requires a paid license.
If you proceed without upgrading, you’ll see a confirmation message with a summary of any fields that were not imported and links to edit or preview your form.
The migration tool will also import notification email and confirmation settings from Pirate Forms to WPForms.
Using the WPForms Import Tool
You can also import your Pirate Forms contact form using our WPForms Import tool. First, make sure you have the WPForms plugin installed and activated on your site. You’ll still need to have your Pirate Forms plugin installed, too.
Note: Want to learn more about importing and exporting forms in WPForms? Check out our complete guide to these tools for all the details.
Then go to WPForms » Tools and scroll down to the Import from Other Form Plugins section. From the dropdown, select Pirate Forms as the source plugin and click the Import button.
This will bring you to the form selection screen. Click the checkbox for your Pirate Forms Default Form in the Available Forms column, then click on Import again.
Once your form has been imported, you’ll see a success message with links to edit or preview your imported form.
The Import tool will also bring over your email notification and confirmation settings from Pirate Forms. To learn more about the options available for these settings in WPForms, be sure to check out our tutorials on setting up notification emails and configuring confirmation settings.
Note: Please always review and test your imported form to be sure everything works as expected before publishing it on a live page or post.
Once you’ve checked over your imported form, you can use it to replace your Pirate Forms contact form.
2. Adding Your Form to a Page or Post
Note: The instructions below are for WordPress version 5 and above. If you’re using an older version of WordPress, make sure to see our tutorial on creating forms using the Classic Editor.
To replace your old forms with WPForms, you’ll first need to open the page editor where your Pirate Forms contact form is embedded.
From the editor, delete the shortcode block that holds the [pirate_forms] shortcode by clicking on it and pressing the Delete key on your keyboard, or clicking on the three-dot icon and selecting Remove block.
Then click on the plus (+) button in the top left corner of the editor to add a new block to your page.
To find the WPForms block, you can search for it using the search bar at the top of the block library, or scroll to the Widgets section. Click on WPForms to add the block to your page.
Next, choose your imported form from the Select a Form dropdown.
Then save, publish, or update your page by clicking on the appropriate option in the top right corner of the editor. You can now delete the Pirate Forms plugin from your site.
That’s it! You’re now able to quickly move from Pirate Forms to WPForms.
Next, would you like to learn about the entry management options available with a paid license for WPForms? Our guide to form entries discusses the many features WPForms offers for handling entries submitted to your forms.