Every marketer acknowledges the importance of using great forms on a website. In fact, many organizations aim to capture user data through the funnel of forms that easily indicates the user’s interest in the company. With the launch of Sitecore Forms, things have changed for the better. This blog aims to trigger awareness on why marketers should care about ‘Sitecore Forms’ module when they already have Web Forms For Marketers (WFFM)? Let’s find out why.
WFFM and Sitecore Forms serve the same purpose
WFFM and Sitecore Forms are two separate modules – however, they fulfill the same requirement of allowing content managers to quickly design, deploy and optimize the forms on a website. You may have invested a huge amount of time and money to get a hang of WFFM. You may have even asked your trusted partners to build customized form fields and actions that best meets your campaign requirements. However, now after all these ups and downs, if you have to upgrade from Sitecore 9.1 version and repeat the entire exercise, then it would really be a huge disadvantage. Therefore, it is best advised to migrate WFFM to Sitecore Forms anytime soon as it is the new prerequisite from Sitecore 9.1 version onwards.
WFFM will soon disappear
Since version 6, Sitecore Web Forms For Marketers has evolved to become a helping tool for marketers. It has been an add-on module that can be installed and used by marketers quickly. Also, over the years, WFFM has undergone several rounds of modifications. But regardless of these updates, WFFM is still outdated in some areas, especially its user interface (UI), which has remained unchanged for a long time and lastly the transformation happened in UI was between Sitecore version 7 and 8.
Another hurdle that failed to keep pace with the changing needs of sites is building a multi-step implementation. After a lot of usability research, it is recommended to split long forms into multiple stages. This will provide clear indications of progress through the stages. However, this is not easy to achieve in WFFM. Now all such functionalities are easily achievable with Sitecore Forms.
Sitecore Forms is the future
Many marketers are already using Sitecore Forms, as it evolves its functionality for the best-being of the Sitecore 9 version. Moreover, creating Sitecore web forms is also quite advanced compared to WFFM as it provides the ability to define and build complex forms in a simplified manner using the handy drag and drop format interface.
Whether it is to reorder fields, set validation, create sections, apply to style or others using the intuitive UI, marketers can now effortlessly do it.
Not just that, Sitecore Forms analytics also provides improved visibility of the performance of forms and form level reporting. Now at a glance, marketers will be able to identify any fields that are causing drop-off, or taking users longer to fill in. Previously, you would need a third-party tool to get such insights.
Sitecore Forms – To upgrade or not
By now you would have understood that WFFM has a limited shelf-life. If you are new to Sitecore or are adding forms to your build for the first time, then Sitecore Forms will be the best product for you. There is no benefit of installing WFFM for Sitecore 9 anymore. Even if your WFFM may support Sitecore for a few versions, it is likely that you will eventually require replacing.
Also, if you are upgrading Sitecore, especially when you hold an extensive library of forms, with custom fields, save actions or integrations, then you may find your efforts overhauling. Therefore, WFFM may not be right for you now. The reason being at some point you will think about migrating. Here’s what is recommended by our experts: try drawing a line and only maintain your existing forms in WFFM, but for the new forms use Sitecore Forms.
Insight
Marketers will soon require putting an end to WFFM and move on with Sitecore Forms to leverage its amazing advancements. It is time for marketers to use Sitecore Forms as the new standard is extensible and modifiable. If you need more information about Sitecore Forms or are planning to migrate, then get in touch with us.
