How to Use Form Desk in WordPress

What Is the Form Desk feature?

WordPress form plugins (Bricks Builder forms, Fluent Forms, Gravity Forms, Contact Form 7, etc.) each have their own admin page for viewing entries. For sites with multiple forms, managing entries means navigating between multiple admin pages.

The Form Desk feature centralizes all entries into a single admin page:

• All form entries are shown in one list
• Filterable by form source (Bricks, Fluent Forms, etc.)
• Searchable across all entries
• Quick reply from the admin

Why You Need It

For sites with multiple form types:

• Multiple plugins: Bricks forms for general contact, Fluent Forms for newsletter signup
• No central view: Each plugin has its own admin page
• Missed entries: Some forms may not be monitored regularly
• Response delays: Checking multiple admin pages is time-consuming

Form Desk solves this by providing a single, unified view of all form entries.

How to Use Form Desk in WordPress

Step 1: Navigate to Settings

Click into the Classic Monks plugin settings in your WordPress dashboard.

Step 2: Go to the Interface Tab

Click on the Interface menu, then click the Form Desk subtab.

Step 3: Enable Form Desk

Scroll to Enable Form Desk and toggle on. Nested options expand.

Step 4: Enable Form Sources

Toggle on the form sources you want to include:

• Bricks Builder: Include entries from Bricks Builder forms
• Fluent Forms: Include entries from Fluent Forms

Step 5: Save Changes

Click Save Changes.

Step 6: Test

Go to the Form Desk page in the WordPress admin. Submit a test form on the frontend. The entry should appear in the Form Desk list.

Configuration Options

Option	Description	Default
Enable Form Desk	Master toggle.	Off
Bricks Builder	Include Bricks Builder forms.	On (if Bricks active)
Fluent Forms	Include Fluent Forms.	On (if Fluent Forms active)

Note: The sub-options show “not active” warnings if the corresponding plugin is not installed.

What Gets Affected

• The WordPress admin: a new “Form Desk” menu item appears
• The form entries: all form submissions from enabled sources are collected
• The entry list: searchable and filterable
• The quick reply: reply to entries directly from the admin

What Does NOT Get Affected

• The original form plugins: their admin pages still work
• The form functionality: unchanged
• The entry data: Form Desk reads the entries, doesn’t modify them
• The entry notifications: unchanged (email notifications still work)

Developer integration

This feature registers 6 WordPress hooks in form-desk.php:

Actions:

• admin_menu calls CM_Form_Desk_Admin::register_submenu() (Registers Form Desk submenu page)
• admin_bar_menu calls CM_Form_Desk_Admin::add_toolbar_node() (Adds Form Desk link to admin bar (priority 100))
• wp_ajax_cm_form_desk_get_forms calls CM_Form_Desk_Ajax::handle_get_forms() (AJAX handler for fetching forms)
• wp_ajax_cm_form_desk_get_submissions calls CM_Form_Desk_Ajax::handle_get_submissions() (AJAX handler for fetching submissions)
• wp_ajax_cm_form_desk_send_reply calls CM_Form_Desk_Ajax::handle_send_reply() (AJAX handler for sending replies)

Filters:

• cm_form_desk_register_providers calls apply_filters() (Customizable filter)

// Hooked in form-desk.php
add_action( 'admin_menu', 'CM_Form_Desk_Admin::register_submenu' );

The feature modifies WordPress behavior by registering or removing hooks. Disabling it reverses those changes.

Troubleshooting

The Form Desk page is not showing

Cause: The toggle is off, or the Form Desk admin page is not being registered.
Fix: Verify the toggle is on. Check the WordPress admin menu for “Form Desk”. If the menu item is not there, disable and re-enable the feature.

Entries are not appearing

Cause: The form source is not enabled, or the form plugin is not installed.
Fix: Verify the form source toggle is on. Verify the form plugin (Bricks Builder, Fluent Forms) is installed and active.

The quick reply is not working

Cause: SMTP is not configured, or the reply email is failing.
Fix: Configure SMTP settings. Check the email logs for errors.

The entry list is empty

Cause: No forms have been submitted yet, or the form entries are not being captured.
Fix: Submit a test form on the frontend. Check that the form plugin is saving entries (some plugins require this to be enabled in their settings).

I want to add Gravity Forms support

Cause: The current implementation only supports Bricks Builder and Fluent Forms.
Fix: Custom form sources require development work. Check the Form Desk documentation for integration guides. You’ll need to write the callback function that retrieves entries from Gravity Forms.