simpleContact blog

Upon release, I invited blogger Steven York to review simpleContact Pro.

I would prefer you to read all his remarks in context so I will refrain from reproducing his review in full, except to note his conclusions and feedback.

For $25 you can’t go far wrong with simpleContact Pro. Alex also has a Lite version which is free but that’s obviously less advanced. Fortunately you can try the Lite version and upgrade to Pro at a later date – which seems to be a fairly painless process. I’m pretty impressed with the level of customisation available with the form builder; I’ve used some horrendous CMS plugins that aspired to similar things and all of them fell short. If you need a more comprehensive contact form manager/builder for your website, I thoroughly recommend giving simpleContact a try (in either Lite or Pro flavour).

A good review is a two-way street that not only recognises the positive aspects of a product, but which notes its present shortcomings. If I wanted unmitigated praise I’d ask my mother to write one! Steven raised the following points:

Documentation

He observed that the documentation was insufficient on the subject of integrating the forms with a website. I took steps to expand and clarify the instructions in response.

Name fields separation

This is a matter of personal taste. I have always preferred separate first and last name fields on forms. This is mainly because it makes the collected data easier to use without looking either broken or comically formal (”Hi Alex Hardy”). As always, if I see significant demand for a combined name field I will give it due consideration.

Security

Two points were raised here: That he was unsure what level of validation was present on the forms, and that a CAPTCHA might be reassuring for users from a security point of view.

There are actually two layers of validation on the forms. The first is client-side JavaScript, which helps to prevent human error. This is backed up by server-side checks in PHP to help keep the spammers out. I always consider ways to improve that protection and I have several ideas for future releases. As a user of my own product, I can vouch that I currently receive practically no spam through my forms.

I’m not a fan of CAPTCHAs. I’ve been vocal about my objections to them in the past (and no doubt in future). I’m not too inflexible to yield to popular request though, so I wrote a hack for reCAPTCHA support on the forums. In future I intend to add a “spam challenge” field option of the type Steven describes, as can be seen on Building Findable Websites.

Disclosure

The advertising the Steven dutifully mentions was an experimental placement to promote simpleContact Lite prior to the release of Pro. When its term was concluded I decided to postpone further blog adverts. Although he undertakes paid reviews this one was not – my original invitation was to a private beta that I held. Although he was unable to participate due to work commitments he was kind enough to write this review. Steven’s reviews are always conducted with total objectivity and I gratefully accept his criticism.