How to Create a Free Contact Form in WordPress Using Kadence Blocks

Byadmin

A beginner-friendly tutorial based on the form we successfully built and tested on BrandWebLab.

Does your small-business website need a contact form, but you don’t want to pay for an expensive WordPress form plugin?

You can create a professional contact form using Kadence Blocks, without writing code or purchasing a premium plugin.

In this beginner-friendly tutorial, we’ll build a contact form with three essential fields—Name, Email, and Message—then configure its email notifications and test whether messages arrive successfully.

We used this same approach while building BrandWebLab’s Contact page. We’ll also explain an important lesson we learned: a form can display a success message even when its notification email never reaches your inbox.

What You’ll Build

By the end of this guide, your WordPress website will have a contact form that allows visitors to:

  • Enter their name.
  • Provide their email address.
  • Write a message or business inquiry.
  • Submit the form from your website.
  • See a confirmation message after submission.

You’ll also learn how to configure notifications so that you can receive those inquiries.

Estimated setup time: Approximately 20–40 minutes for a beginner, depending on your existing website and email setup.

What You Need Before Starting

Make sure you have:

  1. A working WordPress website.
  2. Administrator access to its dashboard.
  3. The free Kadence Blocks plugin.
  4. An email inbox where you’d like to receive contact requests.

You do not need to use the Kadence theme. Kadence Blocks works with compatible WordPress block themes and many other WordPress themes.

For this guide, we’re using WordPress’s block editor and the Form (Adv) block from Kadence Blocks.

Step 1: Install the Free Kadence Blocks Plugin

If Kadence Blocks is already installed, skip this step.

Otherwise:

  1. Sign in to your WordPress Dashboard.
  2. Navigate to Plugins → Add New Plugin.
  3. Search for Kadence Blocks.
  4. Locate the plugin and click Install Now.
  5. After installation, click Activate.

Once activated, Kadence Blocks adds extra editing blocks to WordPress, including its Advanced Form block.

You can create contact forms using this block directly inside the WordPress editor.

Step 2: Create Your Contact Page

Now let’s prepare the page visitors will use to contact you.

  1. From your WordPress Dashboard, go to Pages → Add New Page.
  2. Enter Contact as the page title.
  3. Add a short welcoming introduction.

For example:

Have a question about our services or need help with a project? Send us a message using the contact form below. We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

If your website already has a Contact page, open that existing page instead of creating another.

Tip: Keep your Contact page simple. Visitors should understand immediately how to reach your business.

Step 3: Add the Kadence Form (Adv) Block

Inside the WordPress page editor:

  1. Click the + icon to add a block.
  2. Search for Form (Adv).
  3. Select the block from Kadence Blocks.
  4. Choose Create New when prompted.

The Advanced Form setup will guide you through several options.

You’ll first choose a layout, followed by a visual style.

Select a simple Contact Form layout if one is offered.

Then choose a clean style that matches your website’s branding.

At BrandWebLab, we selected a minimal style that works with our blue-accent website design.

The goal is readability: visitors should clearly see every field and the submission button.

Step 4: Enter the Form Title and Description

After choosing the layout and style, Kadence lets you name the form.

You could use:

Form Title: Business Contact Form

Form Description: A simple contact form for website inquiries and customer questions.

This name helps you identify the form later, especially if your website eventually uses multiple forms.

Finish the setup to insert the form into your page.

You should now see the contact form in the editor.

Step 5: Customize Your Contact Form Fields

For a basic small-business contact form, we recommend starting with only three fields.

Name Field

Use a text field labeled Name.

Make it required so visitors cannot submit the form without identifying themselves.

Email Field

Use an email field labeled Email Address.

Make this field required as well.

Using the proper email field helps WordPress validate the format of the address entered.

Message Field

Use a text-area field labeled Message.

A text area gives visitors enough space to describe their question or request.

Make it required.

Your form should now contain:

  • Name — Required
  • Email Address — Required
  • Message — Required
  • Submit button

You can also change the button text from Submit to Send Message for a friendlier experience.

To edit a field, select that field inside the form and review its settings in the right-hand block sidebar.

Beginner tip: Avoid adding unnecessary fields such as phone number, company size, or address unless your business genuinely needs them. Shorter forms are generally easier for visitors to complete.

Step 6: Enable Email Notifications

This is one of the most important steps.

Creating the form itself is only part of the job. You also need to tell WordPress what should happen after somebody submits it.

  1. Select the main Form (Adv) block, not an individual field.
  2. Open the block settings in the right sidebar.
  3. Find Submit Actions.
  4. Enable Email.

The Email submission action is available in Kadence Blocks Free.

Once enabled, you’ll find additional email configuration settings.

Configure the Recipient Email

Find Email To Address.

Enter the email inbox where you want to receive messages.

For example:

you@yourbusiness.com

Replace this example with your actual working email address.

Set the Email Subject

Use a clear subject line such as:

New Website Contact Form Submission

This makes incoming form messages easier to recognize.

Set the From Name

For example:

Your Business Website

This identifies the website sending the notification.

Review the From Email

Ideally, use an email address associated with your own website domain and properly authenticated for sending.

For example, a business with the domain yourbusiness.com might use an address at that domain.

Avoid putting a visitor’s unverified email address into the From Email setting. That can interfere with email authentication and delivery.

If your form supports mapping the visitor’s email into the Reply-To field, you can configure that separately and test it.

Important: Save your changes once the email settings are complete.

Step 7: Customize the Success Message

A good contact form tells visitors whether their submission was received by the website.

With the main Form (Adv) block selected:

  1. Find the form’s Message Settings.
  2. Locate the Success Message option.
  3. Enter a friendly confirmation.

For example:

Thank you for contacting us! Your message has been submitted. We’ll respond as soon as possible.

You can also review the validation and error messages shown when a visitor forgets a required field or a submission fails.

Remember that a success message confirms the form’s submission process—not necessarily that the notification email arrived.

That’s why the next step matters.

Step 8: Set Up Reliable Email Delivery

WordPress websites may encounter problems delivering notification emails.

For example, a form might submit successfully, but the message never reaches the website owner’s inbox.

This happened while we were setting up BrandWebLab.

Our Kadence contact form showed a successful submission, but no notification email arrived.

We investigated the delivery issue and configured FluentSMTP with our Hostinger email account.

Afterward, both the SMTP test email and an actual Kadence contact form submission reached our inbox.

If your notifications don’t arrive, read our detailed troubleshooting tutorial:

Kadence Contact Form Not Sending Emails? Fix It with FluentSMTP and Hostinger

That article explains how to check notification settings, configure SMTP, and test delivery.

You do not necessarily need to use Hostinger or FluentSMTP. The essential requirement is a properly configured mail-sending method for your own hosting and email provider.

Never publish SMTP passwords, mailbox passwords, or application passwords in screenshots or tutorials.

Step 9: Test the Complete Contact Form

Before publishing your Contact page, test the form as a visitor would.

Open the page preview or published page and:

  1. Enter a test name.
  2. Enter an email address you control.
  3. Write a short test message.
  4. Click Send Message.
  5. Check the confirmation message.
  6. Open the recipient email inbox.
  7. Check whether the notification arrived.

If you receive the notification, your form’s basic submission and email-delivery workflow is working.

If no message arrives:

  • Check your spam or junk folder.
  • Verify the Email submission action is enabled.
  • Confirm the recipient email address.
  • Test your site’s SMTP connection.
  • Review email plugin logs, if available.
  • Repeat the form submission test after making changes.

An SMTP connection test by itself is not enough. Always send a message through the actual form, too.

Step 10: Publish Your Contact Page

Once your form works correctly:

  1. Click Publish in the WordPress editor.
  2. Confirm the publication.
  3. Open the page in a new browser tab.
  4. Check the form on desktop and mobile.
  5. Submit one more test message from the public page.

If your page uses a simple slug, its address might look like:

https://yourbusiness.com/contact

Consider adding a Contact link to your website’s main navigation or footer so visitors can find it easily.

You can see an example of the finished result on BrandWebLab’s Contact page.

How to Make Your Contact Form Better

Once the basic form works, consider these improvements.

1. Use Clear Field Labels

Labels such as Name, Email Address, and Message are easy to understand.

Avoid vague labels that leave visitors guessing about what information to provide.

2. Make the Form Mobile-Friendly

Many visitors will contact businesses using smartphones.

Preview your page at a mobile width and confirm that fields, labels, and buttons are readable and easy to use.

3. Add Spam Protection

Public contact forms can attract automated spam submissions.

Kadence supports CAPTCHA integrations, including options such as Cloudflare Turnstile, although these require additional configuration.

Consider enabling suitable spam protection once your basic form is functioning.

4. Be Clear About Privacy

If your form collects names, email addresses, and messages, explain how that information is used.

Link to a privacy policy that accurately describes your actual data practices.

Avoid collecting personal information that you don’t need.

5. Test Again After Major Changes

If you change your mail provider, email configuration, form settings, or important plugins, submit another test message.

This helps you detect problems before potential customers encounter them.

Common Kadence Contact Form Problems

The Form Does Not Appear in WordPress

Check whether Kadence Blocks is installed and activated.

In the block editor, search for Form (Adv).

Make sure you’re using a compatible WordPress editor.

The Form Displays a Success Message but No Email Arrives

Check the Email submission action, recipient address, and SMTP configuration.

This is a delivery problem rather than necessarily a problem with the form’s visual design.

Follow our Kadence email troubleshooting guide for a more detailed explanation.

Visitors Cannot Submit the Form

Check required fields, field validation, and any spam-protection configuration.

Test with valid information and look for error messages on the page.

The Form Looks Bad on Mobile

Use the editor’s mobile preview, then adjust form widths, spacing, field sizes, and button styling.

Finally, check the published form on a real phone when possible.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Kadence Blocks Free Enough for a Basic Contact Form?

Yes. The free version includes the Advanced Form block and an Email submission action, making it suitable for a basic contact form.

Some advanced integrations and features may require a paid version.

Do I Need the Kadence WordPress Theme?

No. Kadence Blocks is a plugin that can be used with compatible WordPress themes.

Do I Need to Know Coding?

No. You can create and customize the form using the WordPress block editor.

Can I Receive Form Messages in Gmail?

You can set your Gmail address as the notification recipient. However, your website still needs a reliable, properly configured email-sending method.

The recipient inbox and the service sending the email are two different things.

Why Do Contact Form Emails Go to Spam?

Spam filtering can be influenced by sender authentication, message content, sending reputation, and email-provider policies.

Check your domain’s mail authentication and SMTP settings, and use an appropriate sender address.

Can I Add More Fields Later?

Yes. The Advanced Form block supports additional field types.

For most basic inquiries, start with Name, Email, and Message, and add more fields only when necessary.

Final Thoughts

A working contact form is a small but important part of a professional business website.

With Kadence Blocks, you can build a clean WordPress form using free tools and the built-in block editor.

But don’t stop when the form looks good.

Always test whether the submitted message reaches your inbox.

That final check is especially important for businesses relying on their websites for customer inquiries, service requests, and potential leads.

At BrandWebLab, we learned this through our own setup process, and we hope these steps help you get your contact form working smoothly.

For more beginner-friendly WordPress tutorials, website-building guides, and practical technology advice, explore BrandWebLab.

Additional reference: Kadence Advanced Form documentation.

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