Back to Community
Home / Community / Plugin → Flamingo

Troubleshooting Common Flamingo Plugin Issues: Inbound Messages, Editing, and Search Exposure

47 threads Sep 10, 2025 Plugin → Flamingo

Content

Flamingo is a powerful tool for storing contact form submissions from Contact Form 7 directly in your WordPress database. However, users sometimes encounter issues that prevent the plugin from working as expected. Based on community reports, this guide covers the most common problems and their solutions.

1. Inbound Messages Not Loading or Appearing

The Problem: Users report that after a form submission, the message appears in the Inbound Messages list but cannot be viewed. Clicking on it results in an error such as "No se pudo cargar flamingo_inbound" or "flamingo_inbound can't be loaded." In other cases, messages stop being saved entirely.

Why It Happens: This is frequently caused by a conflict with another plugin or the active theme. Outdated versions of WordPress, Contact Form 7, or Flamingo can also contribute to this problem.

How to Fix It:

  1. Conflict Test: The most reliable way to identify a conflict is to temporarily switch to a default WordPress theme (like Twenty Twenty-One) and deactivate all plugins except for Contact Form 7 and Flamingo. If the inbound messages load correctly, reactivate your plugins and theme one by one to find the culprit.
  2. Update Everything: Ensure your WordPress installation, Contact Form 7, and Flamingo are all updated to their latest versions.
  3. Check User Role: Some users have noted that the Flamingo admin menu is only visible to Administrators. If you are using a custom user role, you may need to adjust its capabilities.

2. Cannot Edit Messages or Add Notes

The Problem: The "Edit" link is missing for Inbound Messages, or the "Update Message" button is inactive, preventing users from adding internal notes or comments to submissions.

Why It Happens: This appears to be a limitation or an unresolved issue within the Flamingo plugin itself. Community threads indicate this functionality is either not fully implemented for Inbound Messages or is currently broken.

How to Fix It: As this is a core plugin issue, a fix would need to be implemented by the Flamingo development team. Users seeking this functionality should look for alternative contact form storage plugins that support editing submissions.

3. Form Data Appears as Shortcodes, Not Values

The Problem: The message listing shows field tags like [your-name] and [your-email] instead of the actual submitted information.

Why It Happens: This occurs when the form fields in Contact Form ⁠7 do not use the specific default field names that Flamingo recognizes.

How to Fix It: For Flamingo to properly capture and display data, your Contact Form 7 form must use the default field names: your-name, your-email, and your-subject. If you use custom field names, you will need to use the flamingo_name, flamingo_email, and flamingo_subject tags in your form's Additional Settings to map them correctly.

4. Private Messages Exposed in Site Search

The Problem: In a serious privacy concern, form submissions stored by Flamingo were appearing in the public search results of the website, exposing senders' personal information.

Why It Happens: Flamingo stores messages as a custom post type within WordPress. By default, these may not be properly excluded from the site's search index, making them publicly accessible if a theme's search function does not filter them out.

How to Fix It: This is a critical issue that requires immediate attention. To prevent this, you must ensure the Flamingo post type is explicitly set to be excluded from search results. This typically requires adding custom code to your theme's functions.php file or using a dedicated plugin to manage post type visibility. It is highly recommended to consult a developer to implement a secure solution for your specific site.

5. Hidden Fields Not Being Saved

The Problem: Data from hidden fields in a Contact Form 7 form is not being captured or displayed in Flamingo.

Why It Happens: Flamingo may not save all field types by default, or the hidden field may not be configured correctly to send its data.

How to Fix It: Ensure the hidden field is properly implemented in your form. You may need to use the flamingo special mail tag in your Contact Form 7 configuration to explicitly tell the plugin to process that field's data.

By following these troubleshooting steps, you can resolve the majority of issues encountered with the Flamingo plugin. For persistent problems that appear to be bugs, the best course of action is to report them on the plugin's official support forums where the development team can address them.

Related Support Threads Support