WooCommerce Custom Quote Form Builder Settings Guide

Applies to Cmsmart Product Designer (formerly NBDesigner) 2.17.0, WP Admin > Cmsmart > Custom quotes / Quote form builder / Settings > Request Quote · Updated October 2026. Screens below are from the live nbdesigner.cmsmart.net demo store; every name, email and key you see is masked or redacted demo data, not a real buyer or a working credential.

A WooCommerce custom quote form builder matters the moment a product needs a negotiated price instead of a fixed one — bulk print runs, made-to-order signage, a B2B buyer who needs 500 units and a PO, not an 'Add to cart' button. Cmsmart Product Designer's Custom quotes screen and Quote form builder turn 'email us for pricing' guesswork into one dashboard.

Why does a manual quote process cost you print jobs?

When a product can't carry a fixed price — a custom print run, a made-to-order sign, a bulk apparel order — most WooCommerce stores fall back on the same pattern:

• A buyer emails or calls because asking is the only way to get a price, and that message sits in a shared inbox until someone has time.
• Nobody tracks which requests are new, in progress or quietly gone cold.
• Every quote is typed up by hand in whatever format that day's staff member prefers, so pricing isn't consistent.
• Following up means re-checking an inbox thread instead of one list of open requests.

Speed is not a soft factor: B2B manufacturers take 24-72 hours on average to respond to a quote request, and operations that reply within an hour win meaningfully more business than ones that take a day or more, at an equivalent price (Go Autonomous, 2026). A quote sitting unseen in a shared inbox is exactly that delay.

What does a smooth custom quote workflow look like for your store?

How does Cmsmart's WooCommerce custom quote form builder work end to end?

The Custom quotes dashboard opens on stat cards for new requests, requests in review, the value of quotes still awaiting a decision, and quotes accepted in the last 30 days, with status, time and search filters above the request list.

Each row lists a quote number, customer, estimated value, status and a 'Review' action. A request can sit as New, move to In review, and finish as Accepted, Declined or Expired, so nothing stays in limbo once a decision is made.

Clicking 'Configure form' opens the Quote form builder — the fields a buyer actually fills in. The default set covers first name, last name and email (connected to the matching WooCommerce fields) plus an open message box; add a new field by name, then set its label, placeholder, validation and whether it's required.

Settings > Request Quote decides what the product page looks like once 'Get quote' is on for a product: the General section controls whether 'Add to cart' and the price stay visible, whether the quote email shows pricing, whether out-of-stock products can still be quoted, and whether a quote button also appears at checkout.

On the live demo, both 'Hide Add to cart' and 'Hide the price' are set to No — and the storefront matches exactly: price and Add to cart show side by side with the site's own 'Request a quote' header link. Switching either toggle to Yes replaces that price and button with a quote-only path.

The Form section adds registration and spam controls (account registration on submit, an optional reCAPTCHA v2 challenge with your own site/secret key pair from Google, and autocomplete for WooCommerce-connected fields). The PDF quote section controls My Account PDF downloads, email attachment, and the logo/note printed on the document.

What's the business value of running quotes through one screen?

How do you set up and configure the Cmsmart Custom quotes screen?

1. Confirm you're on a current Cmsmart Product Designer build under WP Admin > Plugins before relying on a specific field.
2. Go to WP Admin > Cmsmart > Custom quotes, then click 'Configure form' to open the Quote form builder.
3. Review the default fields (first name, last name, email, message) and type a new field name plus 'Add field' for anything else — quantity, deadline, artwork notes, a PO number.
4. Click Edit on a field to set its label, placeholder, validation rule and required state, then Save changes.
5. Go to Settings > Request Quote > General: decide whether to hide the price and/or Add to cart for quote-enabled products, and whether out-of-stock products can still be quoted.
6. In the Form section, decide on account registration and, for a public storefront, turn on reCAPTCHA with your own Google key pair.
7. In the PDF quote section, set My Account downloads, automatic email attachment, and upload your own logo and note text.
8. Click Save Options.
9. Open the product you want to sell by quote, enable 'Get quote,' then check the live page matches the General settings you chose.
10. Back in Custom quotes, use the status filter and Review action to work new requests through to Accepted, Declined or Expired.

Common mistakes we see:

• Hiding the price without also deciding what 'Add to cart' should do — the two toggles are independent, so check both before launch.
• Adding every possible field 'just in case.' Each extra required field is one more reason to abandon the form; per the UK ICO's data minimisation guidance, a field needs a real purpose to justify being there.
• Turning on reCAPTCHA without generating a key pair first, leaving the challenge non-functional.
• Leaving the demo PDF logo and note text in place at launch — buyers notice a quote PDF that still says 'demo.'

If a submitted request doesn't show up right away, check for a Required field the buyer's theme may have skipped validating — a blank required field can block submission silently on some themes.

Going further: custom quote workflows Cmsmart builds beyond the standard form

The built-in screen covers submission through a reviewed, priced PDF. Stores regularly ask Cmsmart to build further on that foundation:

• Automatic price calculation. Turning quantity and option fields into an instant estimated price instead of a number staff type in by hand.
• Multi-step approval chains. Routing a large or discounted quote through a manager before it's sent back, for B2B sign-off processes.
• ERP/MIS and CRM sync. Pushing accepted quotes into an ERP, MIS or CRM automatically instead of manual re-entry.
• Conditional form logic. Showing or requiring different fields by product — a gang-sheet field for apparel, a venue field for signage.
• Quote expiry automation. Moving a stale In review quote to Expired and notifying staff.

Delivery follows the same path for all of it: discovery, solution design, build sprints, QA, launch and ongoing support — see real examples on Cmsmart's project case studies, or the web-to-print pricing engine service page for scope and pricing shape. Plan my custom quote workflow

Why work with Cmsmart on your quote-to-order process?

Cmsmart has run 6,300+ client projects since 2012, with 4,600+ delivered and 1,800+ stores live across 80+ countries, and carries a 4.2 rating from 404 reviews on Trustpilot. As one reviewer put it: 'NBDesigner has lots of variable options, including colour and image swatches and pricing tables and much much more' — Ray Barlow, Trustpilot, 2021.

Related chapters: start from the admin settings guide hub, continue with the General settings chapter, and see Custom quote forms for large print orders and WooCommerce request-a-quote for print products.

Frequently asked questions

Can a buyer check out directly once a quote is accepted, or do they need a new order?

The Custom quotes screen tracks the request through Accepted; whether it becomes a WooCommerce order automatically or needs a manual step depends on how 'Get quote' is configured on that product — check the product's design settings alongside the Request Quote tab before launch.

Do I need reCAPTCHA on the quote form?

Not to submit a quote, but it's worth it once the form is live and public, since any open form attracts spam. Enable it in Settings > Request Quote > Form with your own Google reCAPTCHA v2 key pair — the field stays inactive without one.

Can I add custom fields like quantity or a deadline to the quote form?

Yes. Type a new field name in the Quote form builder, click 'Add field,' then set its type, label, placeholder, validation rule and whether it's required — there's no limit to the built-in first name/last name/email/message set.

What happens to a quote nobody responds to?

A request can end as Declined or Expired as well as Accepted, so an unanswered quote doesn't just sit as 'New' forever once your team works through the status filter.

Can Cmsmart connect accepted quotes to our ERP or pricing system automatically?

Yes, as custom development — automatic price calculation, approval routing and a live ERP/MIS/CRM sync for accepted quotes are among the most common requests we build on top of the standard screen.