📋Forms and Validation

PressGang provides a structured form handling pipeline with built-in validation, CSRF protection, and error handling. No more tangled $_POST processing scattered across your theme — PressGang keeps your forms battened down and secure.

Architecture

FormSubmission (Base Class)

The abstract FormSubmission class handles the form lifecycle:

1. Nonce verification — rejects requests with invalid or missing nonces.

2. Input flashing — sanitises and stores submitted values in the session (via Flash), so forms can be repopulated after validation errors.

3. Validation — runs all configured validators and collects errors.

4. Processing — calls your process_submission() implementation on success.

5. Redirect — sends the user back to the referring page with success/error flags.

Creating a Form Handler

Extend FormSubmission and implement process_submission():

src/Forms/NewsletterSubmission.php

namespace MyTheme\Forms;

use PressGang\Forms\FormSubmission;

class NewsletterSubmission extends FormSubmission {

    protected function process_submission(): void {
        $email = sanitize_email($_POST['email'] ?? '');

        // Your newsletter subscription logic here
        subscribe_to_newsletter($email);
    }
}

Initialising and Registering Hooks

Form handlers register themselves with WordPress via admin_post actions:

Snippet or functions.php

use MyTheme\Forms\NewsletterSubmission;

NewsletterSubmission::init([
    'action' => 'newsletter_signup',
    'validators' => [
        new \PressGang\Forms\Validators\EmailValidator(['email']),
    ],
]);

This registers handlers for both logged-in (admin_post_{action}) and logged-out (admin_post_nopriv_{action}) users.

Built-in: ContactSubmission

PressGang ships with a ContactSubmission class that handles contact form emails out of the box:

• Sends email via wp_mail() to the site admin.

• Supports optional Twig templates for email formatting.

• Configurable success/error messages.

• Filterable recipient via pressgang_contact_to_email.

• Filterable subject via pressgang_contact_subject.

Contact form setup

use PressGang\Forms\ContactSubmission;

ContactSubmission::init([
    'action' => 'contact_form',
    'template' => 'emails/contact.twig',  // optional
    'success_message' => __("Thanks for your message!", THEMENAME),
    'validators' => [
        new \PressGang\Forms\Validators\EmailValidator(),
        new \PressGang\Forms\Validators\MessageValidator(),
        new \PressGang\Forms\Validators\RecaptchaValidator(),
    ],
]);

Validators

Validators implement the ValidatorInterface:

src/Forms/Validators/ValidatorInterface.php

namespace PressGang\Forms\Validators;

interface ValidatorInterface {
    public function validate(): array;
}

The validate() method returns an empty array on success, or an array of error messages on failure.

Built-in Validators

Validator	Purpose
EmailValidator	Validates that a submitted email address is well-formed
MessageValidator	Validates that a message field is not empty
RecaptchaValidator	Validates a Google reCAPTCHA response

Creating a Custom Validator

src/Forms/Validators/PhoneValidator.php

namespace MyTheme\Forms\Validators;

use PressGang\Forms\Validators\ValidatorInterface;

class PhoneValidator implements ValidatorInterface {

    public function validate(): array {
        $phone = sanitize_text_field($_POST['phone'] ?? '');

        if (empty($phone) || !preg_match('/^\+?[\d\s\-()]+$/', $phone)) {
            return [__('Please provide a valid phone number.', THEMENAME)];
        }

        return [];
    }
}

Form Template (Twig)

Your Twig form template must include a nonce field and target the admin_post endpoint:

views/forms/contact.twig

<form method="post" action="{{ site.url }}/wp-admin/admin-post.php">
    <input type="hidden" name="action" value="contact_form">
    {{ function('wp_nonce_field', 'contact_form', '_wpnonce', true, false) }}

    <input type="email" name="contact[email]" value="{{ flash('contact.email') }}">
    <textarea name="contact[message]">{{ flash('contact.message') }}</textarea>

    <button type="submit">{{ __('Send', THEMENAME) }}</button>
</form>

Security

All PressGang forms enforce WordPress security conventions — nonce verification, input sanitisation, and capability checks are mandatory. Never trust raw user input!

• Nonce validation is automatic — handled by FormSubmission::handle_form_submission().

• All input should be sanitised using sanitize_text_field(), sanitize_email(), etc.

• Validation logic must live in validators, not in controllers.

• Controllers may only consume validated data — they must never process form submissions directly.