Core Essentials

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Email Gated Downloads helps you create email gated downloads (also called gated downloads or gated content) on your WordPress site. Visitors enter an email address (and optional name), accept your consent message, and then receive a secure download link for your PDF or ZIP file.
If you’re offering a lead magnet, content upgrade, checklist, guide, template, or resource library download, this plugin gives you a simple “download after email submission” flow without bloated form builders.
<h3>What you can do with Email Gated Downloads</h3>
<ul>
<li>Gate a PDF download behind an email form (great for guides, ebooks, brochures, spec sheets)</li>
<li>Gate a ZIP download (templates, assets, bundles)</li>
<li>Create a clean lead generation offer: “Enter your email to download”</li>
<li>Prevent casual scraping with secure links and rate limiting</li>
<li>Keep a lightweight audit trail of who downloaded what (CSV export)</li>
</ul>
<h3>Why site owners choose this plugin</h3>
<ul>
<li>Email capture for lead magnets – Exchange a valuable download for an email address and build your list.</li>
<li>Secure gated download links – Generate one time, time limited tokens so your file URL is not publicly exposed.</li>
<li>GDPR friendly consent – Built-in consent checkbox and customizable message.</li>
<li>Download logging + CSV export – Record email, optional name, file, IP, and timestamp. Export to CSV for your CRM or email tool.</li>
<li>Lightweight & theme friendly – Minimal footprint, optional stylesheet (or disable and style it yourself).</li>
</ul>
<h3>Quick setup (3 steps)</h3>
<ol>
<li>Upload your file: Go to Settings > Email Gated Downloads and upload your PDF or ZIP.</li>
<li>Configure your form: Enable optional name field, add your GDPR consent checkbox text, and customize messages.</li>
<li>Place the form: Add shortcode <code>[spdfed_download_form]</code> to any page/post (use a Shortcode block in the block editor).</li>
</ol>
Visitors will see your download form, submit their email, and receive a secure download link.
<h4>FREE FEATURES</h4>
<ul>
<li>Email gated download form – Require an email address (optional name) before download.</li>
<li>Secure file storage – Files stored in a protected directory; links use one time, expiring tokens.</li>
<li>Download logging & CSV export – Track downloads with email, name, file name, IP address and timestamp.</li>
<li>GDPR consent checkbox – Built-in consent checkbox with customizable text.</li>
<li>Rate limiting – Reduce repeated downloads and basic bot abuse.</li>
<li>Customizable styling – Use CSS variables, or disable the plugin stylesheet and add your own.</li>
<li>Fast & lightweight – Minimal code and clean database usage.</li>
</ul>
<h4>PREMIUM FEATURES</h4>
Upgrade to Premium to manage multiple lead magnets and deeper reporting:
<ul>
<li>Unlimited gated files – Create multiple download offers with a “Gated Files” Custom Post Type.</li>
<li>Per file customization – Override global settings (name requirement, consent text, confirmation message) per file.</li>
<li>Analytics dashboard – View total downloads, top files and trends with charts.</li>
<li>Individual shortcodes – Use <code>[spdfed_download_form id="123"]</code> to embed a specific gated download anywhere.</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://coreessentials.online/plugins-for-wordpress/email-gated-downloads/" rel="nofollow ugc">Upgrade to Premium →</a>
<h4>Ideal use cases</h4>
<ul>
<li>Lead magnets (ebooks, checklists, templates, worksheets)</li>
<li>Content upgrades for blog posts and newsletters</li>
<li>Resource libraries (downloads behind email capture)</li>
<li>Digital product samples (share a preview while protecting the main asset)</li>
<li>Course companion files (PDF handouts, ZIP resources)</li>
</ul>
<h3>Third-Party Libraries & Source Code</h3>
This plugin includes human readable source code and uses the following third-party library:
<h4>Chart.js</h4>
<ul>
<li>File: <code>assets/js/chart.js</code></li>
<li>Version: 4.5.1</li>
<li>Purpose: Powers the analytics charts in the premium version</li>
<li>License: MIT License</li>
<li>Source Code: https://github.com/chartjs/Chart.js</li>
<li>CDN Reference: https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/chart.js@4.5.1/dist/chart.umd.js</li>
</ul>
All other JavaScript and CSS files in this plugin are written by the plugin author and are provided in uncompressed, human readable format.

Email Gated Downloads

Email gated downloads for WordPress: collect emails with a GDPR friendly download form before visitors can download your PDF or ZIP lead magnet.

Wyatt Kirby

Contact Form 7 Gated Content is a lead-capture extension for Contact Form 7. This plugin adds options to your CF7 forms to gate access to a file so users don’t see a download button until after the form has been successfully submitted. Repeat visitors will be presented with the download button only, so repeat form submissions are not required.
Image Credit: Uehara, Konen, Artist. Secchū Mimeguri. Japan, None. [Between 1900 and 1920] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2008660511/.
<h3>Supported Versions</h3>
We support and test against CF7 versions 5.2, and 6.0. Earlier or later versions may not behave as expected. If you need support for a version before 5.2, download and install version 1.4.4 or earlier of CF7 Gated Content.
<h3>Issues?</h3>
If you’re experiencing an issue with the plugin, please file an issue on our <a href="https://github.com/apsislabs/cf7-gated-content/issues" rel="nofollow ugc">GitHub</a>.

Contact Form 7 Gated Content

Gate files behind your Contact Form 7 forms.

Email Gated Downloads vs Contact Form 7 Gated Content