Description
HoundBell links your WordPress site to the HoundBell CRM, a lead management platform built for agencies and local service businesses.
Build and style your lead forms in the HoundBell app, and this plugin renders them on your site with a simple shortcode. Edits you make in the app appear on your site automatically. Every submission is validated, spam-checked, and delivered straight into your CRM pipeline, with an instant email notification, automatic service routing, and a daily action list telling your team who to contact next.
Features
- Render CRM-managed forms anywhere with the
[houndbell_form]shortcode - Form edits published in the app update your live site automatically
- Leads flow into customizable pipelines (quote requests, bookings, consultations)
- Built-in spam protection: honeypot field and per-IP rate limiting
- Custom form design (title, fonts, colors, corner styles) controlled from the app
- Secure by design: a one-click pairing that never shows or stores a password, then every request is HMAC-SHA256 signed with a rotating site key
How pairing works
- Install and activate this plugin. WordPress opens the HoundBell page.
- Press Connect to HoundBell. The app opens, you sign in or create a free account, and pick your business.
- That is it. Behind the scenes the app exchanges a one-time, ten-minute token for a site key, server to server. No application password needed. (Connecting by hand with an application password is still available in the app under Sites, Connect by hand.)
External Services
This plugin connects your site to the HoundBell service (https://houndbell.com), which is required for it to function. It is a connector for that service and does nothing without an account there.
What is sent, and when:
- When a site administrator presses Connect to HoundBell, the browser is sent to the HoundBell app with the site address, the site title and a one-time pairing token. The app then calls this site once to collect a secret site key it generated, and shares nothing else.
- When forms are published in the app, form definitions are received and stored on your site.
- When a visitor submits a HoundBell form, the submitted form fields (such as name, email, phone, and message) are sent to the HoundBell application that the site administrator paired with, where they are stored as leads in the administrator’s CRM account.
No data is sent for visitors who do not submit a HoundBell form, and nothing is sent before a site administrator explicitly pairs the site. Site administrators are responsible for disclosing this data collection in their site’s privacy policy.
Service terms: https://houndbell.com/terms
Privacy policy: https://houndbell.com/privacy
Installation
- Upload the plugin through Plugins Add New Upload Plugin, or install it from the plugin directory.
- Activate it. The HoundBell page opens.
- Press Connect to HoundBell, sign in or create a free account at https://app.houndbell.com, and pick your business.
- Build a form in the app, assign it to your site, publish, and place its shortcode, e.g.
[houndbell_form id="…"], on any page. The shortcode for each synced form is listed under Settings HoundBell.
FAQ
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Do I need a HoundBell account?
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Yes. This plugin is the bridge between your WordPress site and the HoundBell CRM; the forms and leads live in your CRM account. You can create an account at https://app.houndbell.com.
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No. Pairing uses a WordPress Application Password exactly once to establish the connection, and you can revoke it immediately afterwards. Ongoing communication is signed with a dedicated secret key that only your site and your CRM account share.
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What happens to form submissions?
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They are validated and spam-checked on your server, then forwarded securely to your HoundBell account, where they appear as leads in your pipeline. Submissions are not stored in your WordPress database.
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Does it work with caching plugins?
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Yes. Forms are rendered server-side from a locally stored definition, and submissions go through the WordPress REST API, which caching plugins do not cache.
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What spam protection is included?
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A honeypot field silently discards bot submissions, and per-IP rate limiting blocks flooding. Server-side validation enforces required fields.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“HoundBell” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “HoundBell” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
2.5.0
- One-click connect: activate the plugin, press Connect to HoundBell, sign in, pick your business. No application password to create or paste. Connecting by hand is still available in the app.
- Activation opens the HoundBell page, and the Plugins list shows a Connect to HoundBell link until the site is paired.
2.4.0
- Forms 2.0: booking-style forms (steps with a progress bar, service cards with icons and prices, size tiles, frequency pills, an extras grid, and a live running total) render on your site exactly as they do in the app’s builder and on the hosted form link. Forms that use the new look load the app’s renderer; classic forms render as before.
2.3.0
- Instant estimate: forms with pricing rules show visitors a live price before they submit, and the lead arrives with a draft quote already built.
- New Number field type, for rules priced per unit (e.g. square feet).
2.2.1
- The form centers itself inside wide page columns. Add align=”left” to the shortcode to keep it flush left.
2.2.0
- Pick-many field (checkbox group). Conditional logic gains “includes” and “does not include” for it.
2.1.0
- Conditional logic: fields can be shown only when an earlier answer matches. Hidden fields are never required and never submitted.
2.0.2
- Settings page now shows the [houndbell_form] shortcode for each synced form.
2.0.1
- Polished plugin description and documentation.
2.0.0
- The plugin is now HoundBell. Your pairing, settings, synced forms, and existing shortcodes on published pages all carry over automatically; no re-setup needed.
- Includes the full form toolkit: custom form design controlled from the app, booking pickers with live availability, phone fields with country-code validation, address autofill, marketing attribution, honeypot and rate-limit spam protection, and HMAC-signed delivery.