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Contact Form 7

Contact Form 7 is one of the two plugins the setup wizard manages. The demo Contact page uses it — and that page needs fixing before you launch. Screenshot: the Contact page showing a rendered Contact Form 7 form

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The known issue

The demo Contact page ships with a broken form. The layout contains a Contact Form 7 shortcode with a hardcoded form ID — b73d75a — which was valid only on the original author’s site. On your install no such form exists, so the widget renders empty or shows an error.This is the single most important fix in this entire documentation, because a broken contact form on a live business site is a lost lead.

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Fixing it

1

Install Contact Form 7

Plugins → Add New → search “Contact Form 7” → Install Now → Activate.
2

Create a form

Contact → Contact Forms → Add New, or use the default template and edit it.
3

Set your receiving email

Under the Mail tab. Confirm delivery works — check spam, and see the email troubleshooting section below if it does not arrive.
4

Save the form

Note the form ID shown in the form’s title bar.
5

Open the Contact page in Elementor

Pages → Contact → Edit with Elementor.
6

Replace the broken widget

Delete the existing Contact Form 7 widget and drag in a new one, then select your form in its dropdown.
7

Update

Screenshot: the Contact Form 7 widget settings showing the form selection dropdown
The broken widget is an Elementor Contact Form 7 widget. It is easier to replace with a new one from the Elementor panel than to repair in place.

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Verifying the form works

Do not skip this. Submit the form from the live site — not the Elementor preview — and confirm the email arrives.

Check spam

WordPress mail frequently lands in spam on new hosts.

Check the address

Some hosts silently refuse mail from addresses not on the domain.

Check the host log

Ask your host whether the mail was rejected and why.
If mail does not arrive, use an SMTP plugin. Install WP Mail SMTP (or similar) and configure it with a proper sending service. Default WordPress mail uses your host’s PHP mail() function, which is frequently misconfigured or rate-limited. This is a host problem, not a theme problem — but it is the most common cause of silently broken contact forms.

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The theme’s form styling

The theme styles form fields consistently — inputs, textareas, selects, submit buttons, focus states, and error messages — regardless of which plugin generates them. Screenshot: theme-styled form fields showing focus states and the submit button

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Form accessibility

The theme provides accessible markup where it controls the output.

Password-protected posts

The theme renders its own password form with a proper label for password-protected content.

Third-party forms

Contact Form 7 generates its own markup, including field labels and validation messages. Check them yourself if accessibility is a priority for you.

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Recommended form fields for a SaaS contact page

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Spam prevention

Contact Form 7 has no built-in spam protection beyond a CAPTCHA add-on.
The ReCAPTCHA integration add-on is the standard solution.
Most spam bots fill every field. A hidden field humans leave blank is remarkably effective.
A rate-limiting plugin such as WP Mail SMTP or a firewall rule will cut volume at the server level.

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Keeping forms reachable

If you use the theme’s default footer CTA section, it links to your contact page. If you delete or rename that page without updating the Secondary CTA URL setting, the button on every page leads nowhere. Check it as part of your launch pass.

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Troubleshooting

The referenced form ID does not exist. This is the expected state of the imported demo page before you fix it — select a real form in the widget’s dropdown.
Usually a plugin conflict, or a page-builder override. Check Plugin conflicts.
An SMTP problem, not a Contact Form 7 problem. Install WP Mail SMTP and configure a real sending service.
On an Elementor page, widget layout is controlled by the builder’s container structure, not by the theme. Adjust the column and section settings in Elementor.

Demo pages

The four imported pages, including Contact.

Launch checklist

Forms are item 2 — the most likely thing to be broken at launch.