GuideForms
Login GuideForms PRO

Installation

System requirements

Before installing GuideForms, make sure your server meets these minimum requirements:

  • WordPress 6.0 or higher
  • PHP 7.4 or higher
  • MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.3+

Most modern WordPress hosting providers meet these requirements out of the box. If you’re unsure, check your hosting control panel or ask your host’s support team.

Install from the WordPress plugin directory

This is the easiest way to install GuideForms:

  1. In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New.
  2. Search for “GuideForms” in the search bar.
  3. Click Install Now on the GuideForms plugin card.
  4. Once installed, click Activate.

The plugin is now active and ready to use.

Install via ZIP upload

If you downloaded GuideForms as a ZIP file (for example after purchasing Pro), you can install it manually:

  1. In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New.
  2. Click the Upload Plugin button at the top of the page.
  3. Click Choose File and select the guideforms.zip file from your computer.
  4. Click Install Now.
  5. Once the upload completes, click Activate Plugin.

Verify the installation

After activation, you should see a new GuideForms menu item in your WordPress admin sidebar. Click on it to open the GuideForms dashboard. If you see the dashboard with a welcome message and quick-action buttons, the installation was successful.

First-time activation

On first activation, GuideForms will show an opt-in dialog from Freemius (the licensing service used for the Pro version). You can choose to allow anonymous usage data to help improve the plugin, or skip this step entirely — it does not affect functionality. The plugin works fully regardless of your choice.

During activation, GuideForms also creates four database tables for sessions, analytics events, the facet index, and the integration queue. This happens automatically and requires no manual setup.

Updating

GuideForms supports standard WordPress auto-updates. When a new version is available, you’ll see a notification on the Plugins page. Click Update Now to install the latest version. If you’re running the Pro version, make sure your license is active to receive updates.

Next steps

With GuideForms installed, you’re ready to build your first guide. Follow the Creating Your First Guide tutorial to get started.