If you’re using Contact Form 7 to collect leads on your WordPress site and want to send those submissions directly into EspoCRM, this guide walks you through a secure and professional integration using a custom PHP handler.

✅ No third-party plugins required
✅ No exposure of your API keys
✅ Clean and secure setup
✅ Works even on shared hosting environments

What You’ll Need

A WordPress site with Contact Form 7 installed
Access to your WordPress file system (via FTP, File Manager, or SSH)
Admin access to EspoCRM
A bit of time and a working coffee ☕

Step 1: Create a Web-to-Lead Entry in EspoCRM

Log in to EspoCRM as an admin.
Go to Administration → Lead Capture
Click Create Web-to-Lead
Fill out the form:
- Name: Website Contact Form
- Payload Fields:
  - Name
  - Email
  - Phone
  - Account Name
  - Description
- Set Status to Active
- Assign a Team and (optionally) a Target List
Save and copy the generated URL (e.g. https://your-crm.com/api/v1/LeadCapture/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)

Step 2: Add a PHP Handler on Your Server

Navigate to your WordPress install root (usually /htdocs or /public_html)
Create a folder named:

Inside it, create a new file:

Paste this code inside (use your LeadCapture URL):

<?php

error_reporting(E_ALL);

ini_set('display_errors', 1);

if ($_SERVER[‘REQUEST_METHOD’] !== ‘POST’) {
http_response_code(405);
exit(‘Method Not Allowed’);
}

$leadData = [
‘name’ => htmlspecialchars($_POST[‘text-967’] ?? ‘Website Visitor’, ENT_QUOTES),
’email’ => filter_var($_POST[’email-191′] ?? ‘noemail@noreply.com’, FILTER_SANITIZE_EMAIL),
‘phone’ => htmlspecialchars($_POST[‘text-968’] ?? ‘N/A’, ENT_QUOTES),
‘accountName’ => htmlspecialchars($_POST[‘text-969’] ?? ‘Unspecified’, ENT_QUOTES),
‘description’ => htmlspecialchars($_POST[‘textarea-579’] ?? ‘No message provided.’, ENT_QUOTES),
‘source’ => ‘Web Site’
];

$crmUrl = ‘https://your-crm.com/api/v1/LeadCapture/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx’; // Replace with yours

$ch = curl_init($crmUrl);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, [“Content-Type: application/json”]);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, json_encode($leadData));

$response = curl_exec($ch);
$httpCode = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
curl_close($ch);

echo “Lead sent to EspoCRM. Status: $httpCode“;

⚠️ Make sure this script is accessible (e.g. https://yourdomain.com/api/espocrm-lead-handler.php)

Step 3: Create a Custom Plugin to Post Form Data

Instead of editing your theme, use a custom plugin for long-term stability.

Go to:

Create a file:

Paste this code:

<?php

/*

Plugin Name: CF7 to EspoCRM Integration

Description: Sends CF7 submissions to EspoCRM

Version: 1.0

*/

add_action(‘wpcf7_mail_sent’, function () {
$submission = WPCF7_Submission::get_instance();
if (!$submission) return;

$data = $submission->get_posted_data();

$postData = [
‘text-967’ => $data[‘text-967’] ?? ”,
’email-191′ => $data[’email-191′] ?? ”,
‘text-968’ => $data[‘text-968’] ?? ”,
‘text-969’ => $data[‘text-969’] ?? ”,
‘textarea-579’ => $data[‘textarea-579’] ?? ”
];

wp_remote_post(‘https://yourdomain.com/api/espocrm-lead-handler.php’, [
‘method’ => ‘POST’,
‘timeout’ => 15,
‘headers’ => [‘Content-Type’ => ‘application/x-www-form-urlencoded’],
‘body’ => $postData
]);
});

Log into WordPress → Plugins and activate CF7 to EspoCRM Integration

Step 4: Use Matching Fields in Your Contact Form 7 Form

Here’s a sample Contact Form 7 configuration:

Save and publish the form on your contact page.

Step 5: Test It!

Visit your contact page
Submit a test entry
You should:
- ✅ Receive the submission email (CF7 default)
- ✅ See a new lead created in EspoCRM
- ✅ Name, email, phone, and message included

Security & Cleanup Tips

✅Logs and debug code were removed from production
❌ Don’t expose your handler URL or EspoCRM API ID publicly
🔐 Want to add more protection? Use an authorization token or origin check
📦 Optional: Package the handler + plugin into a .zip for reuse

Final Thoughts

This simple, secure approach gives you full control of your lead capture process without relying on third-party integrations.

If you’d like help building this into a reusable plugin, adding fallback error handling, or syncing EspoCRM data back into WordPress, drop a message below.

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What You’ll Need

Step 1: Create a Web-to-Lead Entry in EspoCRM

Step 2: Add a PHP Handler on Your Server

Step 3: Create a Custom Plugin to Post Form Data

Step 4: Use Matching Fields in Your Contact Form 7 Form

Step 5: Test It!

Security & Cleanup Tips

Final Thoughts

Like this:

Related

Core IT Services

Email & Phones

Network & Internet

Reliable Business Communication Solutions Anytime, Anywhere

All-in-One Business Phone Solutions

Core IT Services

Email & Phones

Network & Internet

Reliable Business Communication Solutions Anytime, Anywhere

All-in-One Business Phone Solutions

How to Integrate Contact Form 7 with EspoCRM (Step-by-Step Tutorial)

What You’ll Need

Step 1: Create a Web-to-Lead Entry in EspoCRM

Step 2: Add a PHP Handler on Your Server

Step 3: Create a Custom Plugin to Post Form Data

Step 4: Use Matching Fields in Your Contact Form 7 Form

Step 5: Test It!

Security & Cleanup Tips

Final Thoughts

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