I have a client that wants to have a custom form added as a page on his Wordpress site. His site is using the "Genesis" framework and is already using a child theme of "Manhattan". I can create the form as a page template from within the Manhattan directory but if they ever update, the changes will be lost. What should I do?
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3 Answers
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I suggest you make it a plugin with a shortcode that way you can use it on every page you want. And even posts (which don't use templates)
You also could take a look at form plugins, which are fine if you don't need advanced forms.
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As long as you place your template inside the Manhattan directory -- assuming you don't place that directory inside of the Genesis directory -- you won't have a problem with over-writing on update of the Genesis theme. Child themes do not have to be inside the parent theme's directory, indeed, they sd not -- they sd be in the /themes directory. See, http://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes
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it is a very complex form? If you add a custom template to the existing theme you may loose the changes when the theme is updated.
If is a simple form, I'd use a plugin like contact form 7, or caldera forms.
If not (or you don't wan't to use a wp.org plugin), you can create your own plugin and register a shortcode, you can write all the form functionality at the plugin and use the shortcode in the WP editor.
This way you won't have any risks of loosing features due to a theme upgrade
