Strange issue with random field values appearing in sent emails

Hi, and thanks for a very useful add-on to the CF7 plugin.

I had originally contacted CF7 here requesting their support on my issue, but they redirected me to your support forum as a better source of useful information instead. My issue is as follows (copying over from the original post in the CF7 support thread):

I have been having a problem lately with one of my forms, which I can’t figure out how it is caused, so I was hoping maybe you could assist me.

I have set up a contact form which my clients can fill out to send us orders on when we should visit their properties for cleaning services. To set this up I started with a standard CF7 setup, then used the Conditional Fields for CF7 (by Jules Colles) plugin which requires the use of groups in the form of

[group ClientA]
[select ClientA-dropdown "Property 1" "Property 2"]
[/group]

The way that works is it allows us to introduce as many groups as we would like, and share the same form with more than one customers. When they fill out the form they can only select values from one drop-down list (their properties), so there is no way that one customer sends me an order for another customer’s properties. To set that up I used the Conditional Fields for CF7 basic IFTTT to set up a pseudo-login mechanism which only returns the correct customer’s select field based on a combination of two “credentials” I have created and shared with every customer.

For instance, when customer C would submit an order, I would receive the following message:

From: Form CF7
Subject: [Subject] from [Username]
Date: [_date] | [_time]

User [Username] of customer's [Username] sent a message for [command] for their property:

The property value of the customer C as selected from the drop-down list.

Date time to begin: [start-time]

Date time to finish: [finish-time]

Note: [notes]

--
This email was sent from a contact form on _site_title
serial number of submission: [_serial_number]

For the past year or so, that has performed free of problems. However, as the list has grown bigger, I have now close to a hundred customers – i.e. a hundred conditionals, a hundred of select lists, a hundred of everything.

The problem is this now: After the introduction of the last batch of customers, I have occasionally been receiving emails where the group names are showing up in my email, which is something that had never happened before. As a result an example of a problematic email I would receive would look like this:

From: Form CF7
Subject: [Subject] from [Username]
Date: [_date] | [_time]

User [Username] of customer's [Username] sent a message for [command] for their property:

The property value of the customer C as selected from the drop-down list.[CG][/CG][CH][/CH][CI][/CI][CJ][/CJ][CK][/CK][CL][/CL][CM][/CM][CN][/CN][CO][/CO][CP][/CP][CQ][/CQ]

Date time to begin: [start-time]

Date time to finish: [finish-time]

Note: [notes]

--
This email was sent from a contact form on _site_title
serial number of submission: [_serial_number]

To make matters worse, this is not happening every time when the same one customer submits their new order. It has happened with 4 or 5 customers so far, and it has not happened every time those customers submitted an order after the introduction of the last batch of customers.

The current setup of the textarea in the Mail #1 under the Mail tab contains the following:

From: Form CF7
Subject: New cleaning order from user [Username]
Date: [_date] | [_time]

User [Username] of customer's <span style="font-size: 1.2rem; font-weight: 900;">[Username]</span> sent a message for <span style="font-size:12rem; font-weight: 900;">[command]</span> for their property: <div style="font-size: 1.2rem; font-weight:900;">

[A][A-dropdown][/A]
[B][B-dropdown][/B]
[C][C-dropdown][/C]
[D][D-dropdown][/D]
[E][E-dropdown][/E]
[F][F-dropdown][/F]
[G][G-dropdown][/G]
[H][H-dropdown][/H]
[I][I-dropdown][/I]
[J][J-dropdown][/J]
[K][K-dropdown][/K]
[L][L-dropdown][/L]
[M][M-dropdown][/M]
[N][N-dropdown][/N]
[O][O-dropdown][/O]
[P][P-dropdown][/P]
[Q][Q-dropdown][/Q]
[R][R-dropdown][/R]
[S][S-dropdown][/S]
[T][T-dropdown][/T]
[U][U-dropdown][/U]
[V][V-dropdown][/V]
[W][W-dropdown][/W]
[X][X-dropdown][/X]
[Y][Y-dropdown][/Y]
[Z][Z-dropdown][/Z]
[AA][AA-dropdown][/AA]
[AB][AB-dropdown][/AB]
[AC][AC-dropdown][/AC]
[AD][AD-dropdown][/AD]
[AE][AE-dropdown][/AE]
[AF][AF-dropdown][/AF]
[AG][AG-dropdown][/AG]
[AH][AH-dropdown][/AH]
[AI][AI-dropdown][/AI]
[AJ][AJ-dropdown][/AJ]
[AK][AK-dropdown][/AK]
[AL][AL-dropdown][/AL]
[AM][AM-dropdown][/AM]
[AN][AN-dropdown][/AN]
[AO][AO-dropdown][/AO]
[AP][AP-dropdown][/AP]
[AQ][AQ-dropdown][/AQ]
[AR][AR-dropdown][/AR]
[AS][AS-dropdown][/AS]
[AT][AT-dropdown][/AT]
[AU][AU-dropdown][/AU]
[AV][AV-dropdown][/AV]
[AW][AW-dropdown][/AW]
[AX][AX-dropdown][/AX]
[AY][AY-dropdown][/AY]
[AZ][AZ-dropdown][/AZ]
[BA][BA-dropdown][/BA]
[BB][BB-dropdown][/BB]
[BC][BC-dropdown][/BC]
[BD][BD-dropdown][/BD]
[BE][BE-dropdown][/BE]
[BF][BF-dropdown][/BF]
[BG][BG-dropdown][/BG]
[BH][BH-dropdown][/BH]
[BI][BI-dropdown][/BI]
[BJ][BJ-dropdown][/BJ]
[BK][BK-dropdown][/BK]
[BL][BL-dropdown][/BL]
[BM][BM-dropdown][/BM]
[BN][BN-dropdown][/BN]
[BO][BO-dropdown][/BO]
[BP][BP-dropdown][/BP]
[BQ][BQ-dropdown][/BQ]
[BR][BR-dropdown][/BR]
[BS][BS-dropdown][/BS]
[BT][BT-dropdown][/BT]
[BU][BU-dropdown][/BU]
[BV][BV-dropdown][/BV]
[BW][BW-dropdown][/BW]
[BX][BX-dropdown][/BX]
[BY][BY-dropdown][/BY]
[BZ][BZ-dropdown][/BZ]
[CA][CA-dropdown][/CA]
[CB][CB-dropdown][/CB]
[CD][CD-dropdown][/CD]
[CE][CE-dropdown][/CE]
[CF][CF-dropdown][/CF]
[CG][CG-dropdown][/CG]
[CH][CH-dropdown][/CH]
[CI][CI-dropdown][/CI]
[CJ][CJ-dropdown][/CJ]
[CK][CK-dropdown][/CK]
[CL][CL-dropdown][/CL]
[CM][CM-dropdown][/CM]
[CN][CN-dropdown][/CN]
[CO][CO-dropdown][/CO]
[CP][CP-dropdown][/CP]
[CQ][CQ-dropdown][/CQ]
</div>

Date time to begin: <span style="font-size: 1.2rem; font-weight: 900; color: #00d200;">[start-time]

Date time to finish: <span style="font-size: 1.2rem; font-weight: 900; color: #d20000;">[finish-time]

Note: [notes]

-- 
This email was sent from a contact form on [_site_title] ([_site_url])
serial number of submission: [_serial_number]

I have checked with Flamingo Inbound Messages, and it seems like when this happens, the properties defined in the customers’ of the last batch’s select dropdown lists return no values whatsoever, while other times they perform just fine. But when it does not perform fine, it is always a problem to do with those same 10-20 customers introduced to the form last.

I am suspecting this could have something to do with a hidden set limit on the number of groups I could use in one single form? But if this was the case, then I would have hit it every time, no?

Could it be possible that when this happens it is because a memory limit has been met on the server side, and that is the result of that maybe?

I am puzzled because I can not see a solid pattern when this is happening.

How could I troubleshoot this better? Please share any suggestions. I would be willing to share a link to the form in question, but I would rather not post a link in public. Could I send you the link via email maybe?

P.S. I have been running every theme, plugin, and WP core at their latest versions.

P.S.2 I think I have included everything that could be useful, but if I have omitted anything please let me know and I’ll get back to you asap.

Thanks in advance, and apologies for the long post.

• This topic was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by Konstatninos. Reason: incomplete question