Have you recently checked your old WordPress form submissions? Forms serve as vital communication tools for your visitors, whether for inquiries, orders, or surveys. However, what happens to these entries after they’ve served their purpose?
If left unmanaged, personal data from submissions can accumulate in your database, resulting in potential issues. Firstly, privacy regulations like GDPR stipulate that personal information should only be retained for as long as necessary, putting your site at risk if you keep it indefinitely. Secondly, a bloated database can slow down your website’s performance.
Thankfully, WPForms provides a functionality to automatically delete older entries, which I’ve used on my sites, saving me hours of maintenance while ensuring compliance with privacy laws.
Why Auto Delete Form Entries?
Automatically removing old form entries enhances your website’s performance and security and helps manage personal data in accordance with legal requirements. Privacy laws like GDPR and CCPA dictate that personal data must be minimized and removed when no longer needed.
Benefits of auto-deleting entries include:
- Reduced Security Risks: Limiting personal data availability reduces exposure if a data breach occurs.
- Improved Performance: A leaner database leads to faster website operation.
- Faster Backups: Less data means quicker backup processes.
- More Accurate Reporting: Prevent outdated entries from impacting your analytics.
Freelancers and business professionals who interact through contact forms often find that entries add unnecessary bulk to their databases.
In summary, auto-deleting old form submissions not only protects user privacy but also streamlines your site and keeps focus on relevant entries. The following guide will walk you through setting it up.
How to Auto Delete Form Entries in WordPress
The simplest method for automatic deletion of form entries is by utilizing WPForms, recognized as a leading drag-and-drop form builder.
WPForms includes an Entry Automation addon, allowing you to establish automated tasks for deleting or exporting entries. You can choose to run these tasks daily, weekly, or monthly, and set filters to delete specific entries based on criteria.
Step 1: Install and Activate WPForms
Start by installing and activating the WPForms plugin on your WordPress site. If you’re new to this, there are step-by-step guides available to help you through the installation process.
Important: While WPForms has a free version, the Entry Automation addon is exclusive to the Elite plan, which also includes vital features such as advanced payment options and premium support.
Once installed, navigate to WPForms » Settings in your dashboard to add your license key, found in your WPForms account profile under the Downloads tab.
Step 2: Choose or Create the Form You Want to Auto Delete Entries From
Next, select or create a form for which you want to set up automatic deletion. For existing forms, go to WPForms » All Forms, find the desired form, and click ‘Edit’. If you need to create a new form, go to WPForms » Add New to start.
You can use templates offered by WPForms to create your form easily, or utilize the AI feature to generate a layout based on your description.
Step 3: Back Up Your Data by Exporting Entries First (Optional but Recommended)
Before configuring the automatic deletion, consider backing up your form data. This step is crucial, especially if you rely heavily on data for analytics or business decisions. You can export data using the Entry Automation addon before deletion.
Step 4: Create a Deletion Task for the Form
In the WPForms builder, navigate to Settings » Entry Automation and click ‘Add New Task’. Name your task for easy reference and select ‘Delete Entries’ as the task type.
Step 5: Set Up Filters to Control What Gets Deleted
Next, you can specify which entries to delete based on user input or status, helping to keep only valuable submissions in your database. You can filter entries based on the inquiries they contain or by their submission status (e.g., published, spam, partial).
Step 6: Schedule Automatic Deletion of WordPress Form Entries
Lastly, scroll to the ‘Schedule’ section to decide how frequently you want the deletion task to run—daily, weekly, or monthly. You can also set specific days for the task to execute, ensuring a consistent cleanup.
Remember, this process will permanently erase entries, so exporting important data beforehand is essential to avoid loss.
Conclusion
By automating the deletion of old form entries, you enhance your site’s performance and mitigate privacy risks. Together with additional privacy features offered by WPForms, like GDPR consent fields and disabling data collection, you can enforce secure practices around personal data collection.
For any further assistance regarding this process or to delve deeper into making your forms GDPR compliant, various resources and tutorials are available to enhance your skills.
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