Core Forms 4.11

Core Forms 4.11 adds reusable field groups, team assignments and a way to rehearse a saved form before sending anything. Released on October 3, 2026, this update helps when you maintain several forms or share the submissions inbox with someone else.

The current version is 4.11.1. I recommend installing this patch even if you’ve already updated to 4.11.0: it fixes an inbox crash that could leave All Submissions showing only the team tools, keeps Spam inside the submissions screen and makes delivery recovery easier to understand.

Core Forms is the WordPress forms plugin I build for creating forms and handling what happens after a submission. You can install this update through Dashboard > Updates with an active license. The full changelog includes the individual fixes.

Before You Update

Most changes are available through the existing editor and settings screens. These details matter if you use custom integrations or have already styled your forms:

• Form API clients: Changes to an existing form now require its current fingerprint, returned by the form API. A stale save is rejected so it can’t overwrite someone else’s changes. Public and headless submission requests keep their existing contract.
• Form spacing: The default Core Forms theme now has 10px of wrapper padding. If your layout already provides that spacing, set Wrapper padding to 0 in the Form Theme Customizer. The setting applies to forms using the default theme.
• Retention: Automatic submission and attachment cleanup remains opt-in. Updating the plugin doesn’t turn on a deletion schedule.

What’s New in Core Forms 4.11

The editor changes reduce repeated setup, while the inbox and recovery controls help you see what still needs attention after someone submits a form.

Reusable Field Groups

The Field groups button in the visual builder opens a popup with separate Insert group and Save group tabs. You can keep a set of fields ready for another form without leaving the editor or scrolling through an expanded library beside it.

• Save the selected field and its children, or the complete form, under a recognizable name.
• Keep a group private or share it with every Core Forms editor on the site.
• Search saved groups before inserting them. The popup supports keyboard navigation and asks for confirmation before removing a group.
• Insert a copy with repaired field names and internal references, so repeated groups don’t reuse conflicting names.

An inserted group is a copy. Editing it in 1 form doesn’t update other forms that used the same group, which lets you adapt an address or contact section to each form’s needs.

Team Inbox

A shared inbox needs a way to show who is handling an entry. You can now assign submissions, add private notes and set due dates, then return to that work through saved views or the Assigned to me and Overdue links.

The team controls sit inside a collapsed section, leaving the submissions list available first. Administrators can also scope a user’s access to particular forms, including the related logs, exports and replies.

In 4.11.0, a user without saved views could hit an error before the table rendered. 4.11.1 restores that table and ignores malformed saved-view records. Spam is now a tab within Submissions; an old Spam bookmark redirects there too.

Drafts and Rehearsal

Draft publishing lets you prepare a change separately from the live form. Revisions retain the complete form definition, with comparison and preview tools to help you decide what to restore.

The saved-form preview also supports rehearsal. You can try answers and inspect:

• Validation and calculated values.
• Which action conditions match and where those actions would send data.
• Planned payment amounts.

A rehearsal doesn’t send notifications, create a submission or charge a customer. It also doesn’t prove that a payment provider, spam service or file upload will work in production. Those connections still need their own test; the preview is useful for checking the form’s saved logic first.

Delivery Recovery

Core Forms > Delivery recovery now gives you a clear result when there’s nothing to do: No recovery tasks. When something does need attention, task cards show the form and entry, the kind of work involved and the next available action.

An uncertain delivery means Core Forms couldn’t confirm the result. The destination may already have received the request. Before retrying, you should check its record and confirm the outcome in Core Forms; the recovery screen blocks follow-up while that outcome is unresolved.

Failed background actions can be scheduled again, and payment or refund follow-up can continue from recorded progress. A follow-up retry doesn’t charge the customer again or initiate another refund. The payment and the work performed after it have separate recovery states.

Form Theme Customizer

Core Forms > Form Theme Customizer > Spacing and type now includes Wrapper padding. This controls the space inside the form’s outer boundary, separately from the padding inside each input.

• The default is 10px on all sides.
• 0 removes the padding.
• 10px 20px sets vertical and horizontal spacing separately. The control accepts up to 4 nonnegative CSS lengths using px, rem, em or %.
• Saved values apply to the customizer preview, builder preview and frontend forms using the default theme.

You can adjust the value in the preview, then choose Save theme when the spacing fits your page. A disabled default theme stays disabled until you enable it.

Smaller Changes and Fixes

Core Forms 4.11 also includes changes around stored data, calculations and payment follow-up:

• New uploads use protected storage. Retention controls include previews and holds; existing public uploads aren’t automatically moved into protected storage.
• Outgoing webhooks support HMAC signatures, timestamps, rotation key IDs and stable event IDs. Receivers need to verify the body and timestamp and deduplicate event IDs.
• Calculations recompute values on the server and exclude inactive or disabled answers. Invalid and circular formulas are rejected.
• Partial-form autosaves preserve answers and progress when someone leaves. Completed drafts retire their resume tokens.
• Payment fulfillment keeps the terms recorded at purchase and resumes unfinished work without repeating completed entitlements.
• CSV exports neutralize spreadsheet formulas, and complete revisions and CLI transfers preserve literal backslashes and the form schema.

If a delivery still needs investigation after the update, open its entry from the recovery screen and compare it with the destination’s record before retrying. For help with that specific case, contact Core Forms support with the form and action involved.