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.pdf file downloads?

  1. Is it possible to create a form where a free eReport (.pdf file) is delivered to the person completing my form? If so how do I do this?

    Thanks. -Mark

    Posted 13 years ago on Saturday December 3, 2011 | Permalink
  2. Yes, you can certainly do this.

    How you implement it is going to depend on how you want to deliver the PDF file. Do you want to email it when the form is submitted, do you want to make it available for download on the confirmation page they see when they submit the form, or both?

    If you would like to deliver the PDF via email notification...

    - Upload your PDF to your web server via the WordPress Dashboard. Then get the full http:// path to that PDF file.

    - Edit your Form

    - Edit the Notifications

    - Enable the User Notification and configure it's settings

    - In the Message for the User Notification you would configure what you want to send to the user via email when they submit the form. You would simply put a link to the PDF file you uploaded to your Media Library in the message itself using standard HTML. You may also want to include text that mentions how to save the file, etc. See this screenshot:

    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/185347/Slingshot/Pictures/Screen%20Shot%202011-12-03%20at%201.04.26%20AM.png

    - Save your form

    Now when the form is submitted, a user email notification will be sent containing what message you configured as well as the link to the PDF as you configured it.

    If you would like to deliver the PDF via form confirmation message...

    - Edit Form

    - Select Form Settings

    - Select Confirmation tab

    - Use the default Text confirmation type

    - Just like with the User Notifications above, you have control over the confirmation / thank you message that appears when the form is submitted. So all you need to do is use HTML to add the PDF download link as part of the form confirmation message.

    There are also some more advanced download delivery methods you could use for the link to the file itself. If you wanted the file download to be protected your best bet is going to be using Amazon S3 which is a cloud storage solution. It's what we use here at Gravity Forms to secure our digital downloads and updates.

    If you go the Amazon S3 route, here is a good plugin that handles being able to quickly generate a file download link to your PDF on Amazon S3 that will automatically expire after a certain amount of time:

    http://pluginbuddy.com/free-wordpress-plugins/s3/

    I hope this helps. Thanks!

    Posted 13 years ago on Saturday December 3, 2011 | Permalink
  3. Carl, Thank you! This is exactly what I needed. Much appreciated. -Mark

    Posted 13 years ago on Saturday December 3, 2011 | Permalink

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