It’s quite sad to hear about the close-down of a plugin that has delivered so much for so many WordPress users.
Here below is what they have to say about the move over to Ninja Forms and how easy the new process will be, so if you do need assistance to make the switch over in the next couple of months or next year, give us a shout and we’ll be happy to help.
Caldera Forms & add-ons will be sunset/retired on 31 Dec 2021.
We’ve reached this decision after listening to the feedback provided, needs expressed, and use cases described by quite literally thousands of you, Caldera Forms customers and free users, through the course of our Customer Discovery process, Caldera Forming, and support conversations. We’ll dig into reasoning more at the end of this post, but first, here’s what to expect over the course of this year.
What does this mean for me and my forms right now?
Immediately, nothing. Your forms will continue working on your sites just as they are right now.
Support will continue, as will security and WordPress compatibility updates, through 2021.
We will be providing a phased transition from Caldera Forms to Ninja Forms over the course of this year for all those that want to make the transition. Our primary goals are to make converting as simple and painless as possible for you while making sure that everything you have working right now continues to work uninterrupted into the future to the greatest degree possible.
What will a transition to Ninja Forms look like for me?
In brief (with expanded detail below):
- Free Ninja Forms memberships and add-ons will be provided for all current Caldera Forms customers to make sure you can keep doing what you’re doing now at no additional cost for the first year post-transition. All free users will receive a 75% first-year membership discount.
- Recurring annual discounts are available to nonprofits. Apply here.
- We are currently building an auto-conversion plugin from Caldera Forms to Ninja Forms (projected completion end of June 2021)
- We will be offering dedicated transition support to all, and a one-on-one, white glove conversion service for customers with more complex installations that need/want a hand making sure the conversion goes smoothly.
If you are a current customer with an active license(s), the transition will not cost you anything.
All current Caldera Forms customers will be provided, at no cost now and free for one year, a Ninja Forms membership and/or add-on(s) that cover the features you currently enjoy to the greatest extent possible. Your new license period/free year will begin on the date of your transition. Just reach out to us when you’re ready and we’ll get you set up!
Some Caldera Forms add-on integrations are not currently available for Ninja Forms. We’ll be spending focused development time through the remainder of March and April to build these in Ninja Forms. More on this below.
I use free features of Caldera Forms that are paid features of Ninja Forms… what do?
File Uploads, Form Styles, Multi Step Forms, and Conditional Logic are the 4 free features of Caldera Forms that have paid-only equivalents in Ninja Forms. Everything else you’re currently doing in Caldera Forms core can be replicated in Ninja Forms core (free). Processors, settings, etc all have equivalent functionality. You’re more than welcome to ask us how!
We love free stuff as much as you, but giving away these very popular features for free has not been a sustainable business model historically for Caldera Forms. We will not be able to continue providing these features for free, but they are present in any Ninja Forms membership at a very affordable annual cost for all users of the free Caldera Forms plugin.
You’ll be able to convert Caldera Forms to Ninja Forms with the press of a button
Our Caldera Forms and Ninja Forms developers will be working together through the months of May and June to build an auto-conversion plugin. This goal of this plugin will be a one click converter that moves your forms, processors, submissions, and all other “stock” features of Caldera Forms into Ninja Forms.
While this sounds complex (and it is, under the hood), it’s nothing new to us. We’ve done this before in 2016 when we completely reengineered Ninja Forms and had to move 1,000,000+ users from our old codebase and UI into the completely new Ninja Forms 3.x codebase and UI.
You’ll be working in a new UI, and some things may function slightly differently for you on the backend, but you’ll still be able to do most all the things you’re doing now with some exceptions we’ll address below. Most importantly, your website’s end-users will either not be able to tell the difference, or better yet have an improved experience.