Lead attribution · WordPress

WordPress form attribution: one plugin, five form builders, no code

WordPress form attribution in Skald is one small plugin: activate it, and each form sent becomes a lead, signed, sent in the background, and joined to the visit it came from.

WordPress form attribution is tying each form sent on a WordPress site to where the visitor came from. Skald's plugin listens to five form builders' own "form sent" hooks, the points where WordPress lets other code join in, sends each entry to Skald as a contact lead with the visitor ID, and never slows or breaks the form.

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Which WordPress form fields become…
Join a WordPress form lead to the…
Count a "Book a call" form as a demo,…
Set up WordPress form tracking in…
Where the WordPress plugin stops

skald-leads.php · five hooks, one sender · sample

Contact Form 7wpcf7_mail_sent
WPFormswpforms_process_complete
Gravity Formsgform_after_submission
Elementor Proelementor_pro/forms/new_record
Ninja Formsninja_forms_after_submission

one senderskald_leads_send()signed · in the background

POST …/lead · X-Skald-Signature · blocking: false · timeout 3 s

{"external_ref": "wpforms-412",
 "action": "contact",
 "email": "ada@example.com",
 "vid": "skv_Q2xh…"}

kept Contact forms · completed

Sample lead. Five form builders, each heard on its own "form sent" hook, all sent by one function. WPForms, Gravity and Ninja (when it saves submissions) give their own entry id; Contact Form 7 and Elementor get a random one.

[01] email and name

Which WordPress form fields become the lead's email and name? The plugin reads them by name.

No field mapping to set up. The plugin looks at each field's name, the way your form builder passes it, and picks the email and the name. The message someone typed is never sent. Pick your builder, then rename a field or change a value, and watch what it picks. Every lead lands in your lead attribution.

rename a field

your form · sample · edit the names and values

email field Field 1 name Field 1 value

text field Field 2 name Field 2 value

text field Field 3 name Field 3 value

paragraph Field 4 name Field 4 value

Try: rename Name to Username. In Contact Form 7, rename Work email to Contact. Or change the email to ada at example.

what the plugin sees, and picks

email Work email #0email: the name holds "mail" and the value is an email
text Name #1name: the name holds "name"
text Company name #2skipped: "name" with company, business or user
textarea Message #3never sent: the plugin sends only an email and a name

{"external_ref": "wpforms-412",
 "action": "contact",
 "email": "ada@example.com",
 "name": "Ada Lovelace"}

Sample form. The rules, in order: the first field whose name holds "mail" and whose value is an email; a first name (first, given, fname) and a last name (last, family, surname, lname); a name holding "name" but not company, business or user. No email by name? The first value that is an email. Skald keeps the name and email only when the site's Leads' names and emails setting is full.

lead hygiene

[02] the visit

Join a WordPress form lead to the pages read before it

At the moment the form is sent, the plugin adds one hidden field, skald_vid, filled from Skald's script tag on the page. Your server reads it and sends it with the lead. Pick a set-up and press Send.

Visitor IDs are off by default. The person who runs your Skald server turns them on per site.

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cross-domain tracking funnels and goals

the page's form, as the browser holds it · sample

<form class="wpforms-form">
  <input name="wpforms[fields][0]" value="ada@example.com">
  <input name="wpforms[fields][1]" value="Ada Lovelace">
  <textarea name="wpforms[fields][3]">…</textarea>
  <input type="hidden" name="skald_vid" value="skv_Q2xh…"></form>

skald('id')skv_Q2xh…
$_POST['skald_vid']skv_Q2xh…
$_COOKIE['skald_vid']not set
the leadjoined to its visit

The tag gives the ID, the hidden field carries it, and Skald joins the lead to the pages read before it.

[03] for developers

Count a "Book a call" form as a demo, and keep the newsletter box out

Every form is a contact by default. Two WordPress filters, small functions your theme can run on the plugin's data, change that without touching the plugin: one sets the action, one changes the whole lead or drops it. Pick a form that was just sent.

pick a form

functions.php · sample

add_filter('skald_leads_action', function ($action, $plugin, $fields) {
    return $plugin === 'gravity' ? 'demo' : $action;
}, 10, 3);

add_filter('skald_leads_lead', function ($lead, $plugin, $fields) {
    if ($plugin === 'cf7' && isset($fields['newsletter'])) {
        return false;
    }
    if ($plugin === 'wpforms' && !empty($fields['select Topic #2'])) {
        $lead['label'] = strtolower($fields['select Topic #2']);
    }
    return $lead;
}, 10, 3);

the body sent to Skald

{"external_ref": "wpforms-412",
 "action": "contact",
 "email": "ada@example.com",
 "label": "pricing"}

kept Contact forms · completed · label pricing

Sample forms and filters. A filter's $fields are the names the plugin sees in [01]. A label must be a short lowercase word (letters, digits, - or _); any other is kept without a label. An action that is not one short word is refused, and Last deliveries shows why.

Zapier, Make and n8n lead tracking

[04] set up and the secret

Set up WordPress form tracking in four steps, and keep the secret out of the plugin

Three steps in Skald and WordPress, then one form to test it. The secret is best kept in wp-config.php, WordPress's own settings file.

Make secret. Skald: Settings > Integrations > Your site's server (lead) > Make secret.
Download the zip. In the same box, download skald-leads.zip for WordPress. It holds your site's address.
Upload and activate. WordPress: Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin, choose the zip, then Activate.
Send a form. Send one of your own forms, then look at Last deliveries in Skald.

wp-config.php

define('SKALD_LEAD_SECRET', '<your-secret>');

WordPress analytics website analytics for small business

where the plugin reads the secret · first one set wins · switch them

used wp-config.php. Each form is signed with it.

Download the plugin without the secret when wp-config.php or the environment holds it, so the plugin file never does.

[05] limits

Where the WordPress plugin stops

It tells Skald that a form was sent, when, and from which visit. Nothing more.

A form builder it does not hear: Zapier, Make or n8n

What it does not do

It is tested against stand-in WordPress hooks in Skald's own tests. Each form builder's new releases are yours to check: send a test form after you install it or update a builder.
It sends once and moves on. A lead lost on the way stays lost: Last deliveries shows what arrived.
Contact Form 7 is heard only after its mail went out, so a form whose mail failed never becomes a lead.
Contact Form 7 and Elementor keep no entry id, so each form sent gets a random reference that matches nothing in WordPress. Ninja Forms too, when it does not save submissions.
Other form builders need Zapier, Make or n8n, or a lead file in your theme's code.
Journeys need Skald's script tag on the page and visitor IDs on for the site. The lead counts either way.
No secret, nothing sent: the plugin stays quiet rather than send an unsigned lead.

keep reading

More on WordPress form attribution

Your serverA lead file from your backendOne PHP, Node or Python file. One line after the form is saved.Send leads from your server AI visibilityCited, read, visited, leadOne page from an AI answer to a lead, each step proven by its own record.Trace the chain PricingSkald pricingPer site, a 30-day free trial with no card, or free to self-host.See the prices

questions

WordPress form attribution FAQ

Straight answers, including what Skald does not do.

Read the docs Ask us a question

Which WordPress form plugins does it work with?

Contact Form 7, WPForms, Gravity Forms, Elementor Pro forms and Ninja Forms. The plugin listens to each one's own hook for a form sent. A form built with something else can reach Skald through Zapier or Make, or through a lead file in your theme's code.

Will the plugin slow down my forms?

No. It sends the lead in the background and does not wait for Skald's answer. If anything goes wrong, it gives up quietly: a lead lost is better than a form broken.

How does a form get joined to the visit?

With Skald's script tag on the page and visitor IDs on, the plugin adds a hidden field named skald_vid to each form as it is sent. It also reads the skald_vid cookie, which exists when sharing across subdomains is on. Without either, the lead is counted with no journey.

Where should the secret go?

Best in wp-config.php, as define('SKALD_LEAD_SECRET', 'your-secret'), or in an environment variable of the same name. Then download the plugin without the secret. Never put the secret in a page, a theme file in a public repository, or a chat.

Can a form count as a demo or a sign-up instead of a contact?

Yes, with a few lines of PHP. The filter skald_leads_action changes the action, for example by form. The filter skald_leads_lead changes the whole lead, or drops it when it returns false, for a form you do not want counted.

Does it send the name and email?

It looks for fields whose names hold mail and name, and sends them. Skald keeps them only when the site's Leads' names and emails setting is full; otherwise they are dropped when they arrive.

$ tail -f access.log | skald

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