Reception Control (Open Period, Limit, Logged-in Users)
Decide per form when and by whom it may be submitted. While the conditions are not met, visitors see a message instead of the form, and submissions are rejected.
- Open period — set an opening and a closing date and time
- Submission limit — close automatically once the limit is reached
- Logged-in users only — only logged-in users can see and submit the form
The three can be combined. If none of them is set, reception control does nothing.
Where to set it
Use the Reception Control section in the Form Settings → Settings tab.
The top of the section shows the current status (Open / Not open yet / Closed / Open to logged-in users only), as of the moment the screen was loaded.
Open period
Set Opens at and Closes at. You can set just one of them; leaving a field empty means no limit in that direction.
- Times are interpreted in the site timezone. The site timezone and the current time are shown below the fields
- The form closes exactly at the closing time (that moment is already closed)
- Saving fails if the closing time is not later than the opening time
Submission limit
Enter a number under Maximum number of submissions and the form closes automatically once that many submissions have been received. Empty or 0 means no limit.
When a limit is set, Submissions counted so far appears below it (for example "12 (18 remaining)"). Use the Change button to correct the number.
The count is kept in a dedicated counter. Deleting submissions does not lower it.
After a cancellation, or after deleting test submissions, correct the number with Change. Set it to 0 to start a new round.
The counter exists so that limits also work on forms configured not to store submissions.
If several people submit at the same moment near the limit, only up to the limit are accepted. Submissions beyond it are rejected with the closed message.
Logged-in users only
Check Logged-in users only and the form can only be seen and submitted by logged-in users. Everyone else sees a message and a login link.
If the form allows use on other sites (iframe / JavaScript embedding), visitors there are always treated as logged out and only ever see the login message. Do not use this setting on forms you embed externally.
Closed messages
Under Messages you can set the text shown in each of the four states. Leave one empty to use the default message for that state.
| State | Default message |
|---|---|
| Before the form opens | This form is not open yet. |
| After the form closes | This form is closed. |
| When the limit is reached | This form has reached its submission limit. |
| When login is required | Please log in to use this form. |
- HTML can be used. Line breaks are kept and URLs become links
- The following merge tags are available
| Tag | Value |
|---|---|
{open_at} | The opening date and time |
{close_at} | The closing date and time |
{limit} | The submission limit |
{remaining} | How many submissions remain |
Example:
<p>Applications closed on {close_at}.</p>
<p>See <a href="/news/">News</a> for the next round.</p>
Which state wins
When more than one condition applies, the states are checked in this order and the first matching one is shown.
- Before the form opens
- After the form closes
- When the limit is reached
- When login is required
Login comes last so that a visitor is not asked to log in only to be told, right after logging in, that reception has already closed.
Editors and the preview
Reception control applies to everyone, including editors. Even when logged in as an administrator, you see the same message as visitors on the site itself.
The Preview from the form editor is the one exception: it ignores reception control and shows the form. A notice at the top of the preview explains that the site currently shows the message instead, and displays that message. This lets you check the form even after it has closed.
Submissions made from the preview are treated as tests: nothing is stored, no email is sent, and the submission count is not increased.
Page caching
Pages containing a form with reception control are automatically excluded from page caching (the DONOTCACHEPAGE constant is defined), so that a stale copy of the open form is not served after closing.
Even if a cache layer outside WordPress (a CDN, for example) does serve a stale page, submissions are still stopped on the server. The visitor then sees the closed message when submitting.
License and deactivation
Removing the license or deactivating the Pro plugin turns reception control off, and a closed form starts accepting submissions again.
An expired license does not do this. Pro features keep working after expiry, so reception control stays in effect.
Also note that saving a form while the Pro plugin is deactivated strips the HTML tags from your closed messages. Keep Pro active while editing those messages.
Limitations
- Automatically switching an already-open page to the closed message at the closing time, and countdown displays, are not supported
- Waiting lists and lotteries are not supported
- Logged-in users cannot be detected in forms embedded on external sites
- There are no admin emails announcing that reception has opened or closed
- Limits counted per person (one submission consuming several places) are not supported
- Duplicating a form does not carry the submission count over (the copy starts at 0)