---
title: "Updating from Convert Forms 5 to 6 - Convert Forms"
description: "Everything the update to Convert Forms 6 changes in your 5.x forms, and how to fix a form that looks or works differently after you update."
url: "https://www.tassos.gr/docs/convert-forms/troubleshoot/updating-to-convert-forms-6"
date: "2026-11-03T20:39:03+00:00"
language: "en-GB"
---

[ Home ](https://www.tassos.gr/docs) / [ Convert Forms ](https://www.tassos.gr/docs/convert-forms) / [ Troubleshooting and Support ](https://www.tassos.gr/docs/convert-forms/troubleshoot)

#  Updating from Convert Forms 5 to 6

##  Everything the update to Convert Forms 6 changes in your 5.x forms, and how to fix a form that looks or works differently after you update.

Convert Forms 6 keeps your existing forms working. Your forms, submissions, tasks and connections carry over, and the update converts every setting we removed.

This page lists everything the update changes. If a form looks or works differently after you update, find the symptom under [If something looks different](#if-something-looks-different) and apply the fix.

## [Before you update](#before-you-update)

1. Take a full backup of your site, files and database. To go back to 5.x, you restore this backup.
2. Update a staging copy of your site first.
3. Open your most important forms on the staging site, submit each one and check that the emails and tasks still run.
4. Once everything works there, update your live site.

## [What carries over](#what-carries-over)

Every form, submission, task and connection stays where it is. The update runs once, on install, and converts each form's old settings into the new ones. Forms you import later from a 5.x export get the same treatment.

## [What the update converts](#what-the-update-converts)

Here's every setting we removed and what the update does with it.

"Custom CSS" means the update writes the matching CSS into the form's Custom CSS (Design → Advanced → Custom CSS), so the form keeps its look. You'll find it under the comment "Styles migrated from the old form design settings. Edit or delete them freely."

| 5.x setting | Handled by | What you get in 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Border style, width, color and radius | Custom CSS | The same border |
| Width and Max Width | Custom CSS | The same width |
| Background image, with its repeat, size and position | Custom CSS | The same background |
| Form area color | Custom CSS | The same colored area |
| Heading Line Height and Letter Spacing | Custom CSS | The same heading |
| Hide Form, when turned off | Custom CSS | The fields stay visible under the message, but they clear after each submit |
| Different border radius on inputs and the submit button | Custom CSS | 1 Border Radius for the form, and the button keeps its own corners |
| Design → Image | Moved | The image moves into the form's header, with its alt text, width and Hide on mobile |
| Heading Link | Moved | The link moves into the heading's text |
| Success message and redirect | Converted | An ending with the same message or redirect |
| Email Notifications | Converted | 1 Email task per email, with the same options |
| Labels Color and Inputs Text Color | Converted | 1 Text Color, plus an input color when yours was different |
| Submit button design: font size, colors and padding | Converted | Design → Buttons, shared by every button on the form |
| Submit Button element at the end of the form | Converted | The form's own Submit button, with the same caption and alignment |
| Old width classes, like cf-one-half | Converted | The new grid classes, at the same widths |
| Honeypot v1 and v2 | Converted | An on/off switch that checks every submission |
| Form Position and Form Column Size | Removed | The form shows in 1 column |
| Clear Form Fields | Removed | The fields always clear after a submit |
| Hide Header | Removed | An ending always hides the header |

## [If something looks different](#if-something-looks-different)

A few changes can't be converted, because they depend on your template or your own code. Each one below starts with what you see and ends with the fix. Replace `1` in `#cf_1` with your form's ID, which you'll find in the Forms list.

### [Every submission fails with "Your submission couldn't be verified"](#every-submission-fails-with-your-submission-couldn-t-be-verified)

Convert Forms 6 checks every submission for spam with JavaScript. A page cached before the update still has the 5.x form, so the check fails.

The update clears Joomla's own cache. A cache outside Joomla keeps the old page until it expires:

1. Purge your CDN cache (Cloudflare, for example).
2. Purge your server cache (LiteSpeed Cache, Varnish or your host's cache).
3. If you use a script optimizer that delays or combines JavaScript, exclude Convert Forms' scripts from it.

### [Links on the form changed color](#links-on-the-form-changed-color)

Links on a form now take the form's Accent Color. In 5.x they used your template's link color.

Set Design → Theme → Accent Color to your template's link color, or add this to the form's Custom CSS:

```
#cf_1 a { color: #224faa; }

```

### [The title in the form's header changed size or font](#the-title-in-the-form-s-header-changed-size-or-font)

Headings in the header now follow the form's own heading sizes. In 5.x they used your template's heading font and sizes.

Add your old font and size back with Custom CSS:

```
#cf_1 .cf-header h1 { font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 40px; }

```

### [The header and the fields share one background color](#the-header-and-the-fields-share-one-background-color)

This affects forms that gave the fields area its own color. The header now sits inside that area, so both get the same color.

Give the header its own background again with Custom CSS:

```
#cf_1 .cf-header { background-color: #1e3a5f; }

```

### [Your Custom CSS stopped working](#your-custom-css-stopped-working)

The form's markup changed in 6, so CSS written for 5.x classes and variables may not match anymore. Update it with this table:

| 5.x | 6 |
|---|---|
| `.cf-content-wrap`, `.cf-content`, `.cf-content-text` | `.cf-header` |
| `.cf-content-img` | Gone. The image is an `<img>` inside `.cf-header`. |
| `--label-color`, `--input-color` | `--text-color` |
| `--color-primary` | `--accent-color` |
| `--border-radius` rounded the form's box | `--border-radius` rounds inputs and buttons. Use `--input-border-radius` or `--button-border-radius` to round one of them. |
| Variables set on `.convertforms` | Set them on `#cf_1`, or the form's own values win. |

| Margins between the header, fields and footer | One gap on `.cf-form-wrap`, set by Design → Theme → Spacing |

### [Fields clear after the success message](#fields-clear-after-the-success-message)

Every form now clears its fields after it shows a success message. In 5.x, a form with Hide Form and Reset Form both turned off kept the visitor's answers, which some calculators and quizzes relied on.

There's no setting to keep them. If a form needs its answers after submitting, show them in the ending with [Smart Tags](https://www.tassos.gr/docs/convert-forms/features/smart-tags).

### [A PHP script shows an empty success message](#a-php-script-shows-an-empty-success-message)

The success message now lives in an ending, so `$submission->form->successmsg` is empty. A script in After Form Submission that changed the message should change the ending instead:

```
// 5.x
$submission->form->successmsg = $svg . $submission->form->successmsg;

// 6
$ending->set($svg . $ending->get());
```

### [A script can't find the submit button](#a-script-can-t-find-the-submit-button)

Multi-page forms have Back and Next buttons, so `.cf-btn` no longer points to one button. Select the submit button with `button[type="submit"]` instead.

## [Still stuck?](#still-stuck)

If a form still looks or works differently, [contact us](https://www.tassos.gr/contact) with the form's export and a link to the page. We'll fix it.

 Last updated on Nov 3rd 2026 18:11