Most Joomla sites only need a simple contact form, until the day they don’t. A quote request needs a running total. An application needs a few pages. A booking form needs to ask different questions depending on the answers.
PostBox Pro handles all of that without a heavyweight form framework. Watch the quick tour to see seven of its features in action, then read on for what each one does.
What’s in the tour
1. Multi-page forms (0:04)
Split a long form into steps by adding a Page Break field wherever you want the page to change. Visitors move through it with Previous and Next buttons, and a progress bar shows how far they have to go. Each page is validated before they can move on, so a missing email address is caught on page one, not after they’ve filled in everything else.
2. Conditional logic (0:16)
Show or hide any field based on another answer. Choose “A new website” and the form asks how many pages you need; choose “Logo & branding” and it asks about brand colours instead. Rules are built visually in the field editor: pick the field to watch, choose equals, does not equal, is empty or is not empty, and decide whether all rules or any rule must match. Fields appear and disappear instantly, with no page reload and no code.
3. Side-by-side layouts (0:29)
Give any field a width of Full, Half, One third or Two thirds. First and last name sit side by side, and street address pairs with postcode. Rows wrap automatically, fields close the gap when conditional logic hides one, and everything stacks to full width on phones or in narrow columns.
4. Calculated results (0:40)
Add a Calculated result field to show a live total, quote, estimate, measurement or percentage as visitors fill in the form. The guided builder lets you start with a field or fixed amount, then choose Add, Subtract, Multiply by, Divide by or Take percentage for each value, with no formula to write. The preview adds brackets so you can see the order of operations, for example (Guests × Catering) + 450 + Extras.
Dropdown, radio and checkbox options can carry amounts without changing the labels visitors see. Results can be shown as plain numbers or in NZD, AUD, USD, GBP, EUR or CAD, with 0–6 decimal places. Every result is recalculated on the server before the submission is saved or emailed, so what you receive can be trusted.
5. File uploads (0:51)
Accept site plans, photos, CVs or documents with a File Upload field. Each upload field has its own allowed file types and a size limit of 1–50 MB. Visitors get immediate feedback if a file is too large or the wrong type, the same rules are enforced on the server, and accepted files are attached to your notification email.
6. Hidden fields (1:04)
Find out where your enquiries come from. Hidden fields are invisible to visitors but included in every notification email and stored submission. Smart tokens fill them in automatically: {page_title}, {page_url}, {referrer}, {user_name}, {user_email}, {date}, {datetime} and {site_name}. Use one form across several pages and still know which page each enquiry came from.
7. Auto-save and review (1:15)
With Save Progress turned on, answers are saved in the visitor’s browser as they type. If they close the tab and come back later, they can choose Continue to pick up where they left off, or Start fresh. Saved progress is cleared once the form is submitted.
Turn on Show Summary Before Submit and visitors see all their answers on a review step before sending, with the option to go back and edit. It’s a simple way to cut down on mistakes in longer forms.
Also included
- AJAX submission: forms submit without a page reload, with inline validation before anything is sent.
- Email notifications and auto-replies: customise both with
{field_name}placeholders. - Spam protection: honeypot and IP rate limiting are always on, with optional hCaptcha or Cloudflare Turnstile.
- GDPR tools: consent checkboxes, per-form retention periods, automatic purging, and an email-only mode that stores nothing.
- Submissions manager: filter, search, mark as read or unread, and export to CSV.
- Menu item or shortcode: publish a form as a menu item, or drop
{postboxpro ID}into any article. Every feature works the same either way. - Import from PostBox (free): bring across existing forms, fields and submissions in one step.
- Lightweight: vanilla PHP and Joomla’s native MVC, with no jQuery, no Bootstrap and no third-party libraries in the front-end output.
Get PostBox Pro
PostBox Pro is US$19 per year and runs on Joomla 5 and 6 (PHP 8.1+). Need something simpler? The free PostBox is a lightweight alternative for straightforward contact forms, and you can upgrade later without rebuilding anything.