Gated Downloads

Introduction

Gated Downloads turns any file download into a lead magnet. You create a “gated file”, place it with a shortcode, block, Elementor widget or automatic placement, and visitors must submit a short form before the download unlocks. Every submission is stored as a lead you can search and export.

It also works without a file at all. The content locker hides part of a post behind the same form — the second half of a guide, a pricing table, a coupon code — and a form with no file attached becomes a plain email opt-in.

It works with any WordPress theme — the capture modal is rendered in the site footer and styled independently, so it never fights your theme's CSS. The free plugin is fully functional; Gated Downloads Pro adds popup triggers, double opt-in, lead lists, automation, integrations, spam protection, and protected links.

Requirements

Installation

1. In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New.
2. Search for “Gated Downloads”, click Install Now, then Activate.
3. A new Gated Downloads menu appears in the sidebar. You're ready to create your first gated file.

Prefer manual install? Upload the templatesell-gated-downloads folder to /wp-content/plugins/ and activate it from the Plugins screen.

Quick start

1. Go to Gated Downloads → Add New and give your gated file a title (e.g. 2026 Pricing Guide).
2. In the Gate settings box, choose your file — upload from the Media Library or paste a URL — and set a button label.
3. Publish. Copy the shortcode shown in the sidebar, e.g. [tslgd_download id="123"].
4. Edit any page or post, paste the shortcode (or add the Gated Download block), and update.
5. Visit the page — click the button, and the capture modal appears. Submit it, then check Gated Downloads → Leads.

Tip: New to it? On Gated Downloads → Leads a setup checklist tracks your progress, and a one-click Create demo content button builds a sample gated file and page so you can try the whole flow instantly. To reuse a setup later, hover any file in the list and click Duplicate.

Creating a gated file Free

A gated file is the unit Gated Downloads protects. Each one has its own file, button label, and shortcode.

File source

In the Gate settings metabox you can pick between two sources:

• Media Library — click Select file to choose or upload an attachment. Best for PDFs and files hosted on your site.
• External URL — paste any link (e.g. a file on cloud storage). Gated Downloads delivers it after the form is submitted.

Button label

The text shown on the button that opens the modal — for example Download the guide. If left empty, the default from Settings is used.

Form fields & behavior Free

Every gated file is its own form. In the Form Fields & Behavior box on the file's edit screen you choose exactly which fields it collects, in what order, and how it behaves after submit — independently of every other form. Leave the overrides off and the form simply inherits your global Settings, so existing forms keep working unchanged.

Choosing & ordering fields

Turn on Customize the fields for this form, then tick the fields you want and drag to reorder them. Mark any field Required. The standard field set is:

Messages & behavior

Turn on Customize messages & behavior to override, per form:

Notification

Turn on Customize the email notification to send this form's leads to a different address (or to silence notifications for this form only). Otherwise the global notification applies.

Categories Free

Gated files support a fully custom taxonomy — nothing is hardcoded. Create whatever categories fit your library (Guides, Datasheets, Case Studies…) under Gated Downloads → Categories, then assign them when editing a file. Categories are stored with each lead so you can see which topic drives sign-ups.

Displaying a gate Free

There are five ways to place a gate — pick whichever fits your layout. They all render the same button and modal, so leads and analytics work identically no matter which you use.

Shortcode

Place this anywhere shortcodes run — a page, post, or text widget:

[tslgd_download id="123" label="Download the guide"]

[tslgd id="123"] is a short alias of [tslgd_download id="123"] — both render the same form, so use whichever reads better in your content.

Block

In the block editor, add the Gated Download block, then pick a gated file from the dropdown and (optionally) set a custom label. The block renders the same button and modal as the shortcode.

Inline link New in 1.3.0

Sometimes a button is too heavy for the layout — mid-sentence, inside a list, or in a table cell. Wrap any wording in [tslgd_link] and it becomes a gate trigger instead:

[tslgd_link id="123"]Download the price list[/tslgd_link]

The text keeps your theme's link styling, so it blends into the paragraph around it.

Elementor widget New in 1.3.0

If Elementor is active, a native Gated Downloads widget appears in the widget panel with a file picker, an optional label override, and an alignment control. The widget only registers when Elementor is present, so it costs nothing on sites that don't use it.

Content locker Free New in 1.3.0

Instead of gating a file, you can gate a section of a post. Wrap the part you want to hold back in [tslgd_lock]:

[tslgd_lock id="123"]
The rest of the guide, a pricing table, a coupon code…
[/tslgd_lock]

Visitors see a blurred placeholder with an Unlock content button. They submit the same capture form, and the content appears in place, without a page reload. Returning visitors are recognised and see it unlocked automatically for 30 days.

A gated file used purely for locking doesn't need a file attached — leave the file empty and the form works as a pure content unlock.

Automatic placement Free New in 1.3.0

If you want a download button on every post, you no longer have to paste a shortcode into each one. Under Gated Downloads → Settings → Automatic Placement, choose a file and it is added to post content automatically.

Every targeted post also gets a Gated Downloads box in the sidebar with three choices: use the default, hide the button here, or offer a different file on this post only.

Settings Free

Under Gated Downloads → Settings you set the global defaults. Any form can override these on its own edit screen (see Form fields & behavior); forms that don't override inherit the values here.

Leads & export Free

Every submission appears under Gated Downloads → Leads in a searchable, sortable table: date, name, email, phone, form, category, and consent. A Details column shows any extra fields the form captured (Company, Job Title, Website, Country…). Before your first lead arrives you'll see a short “how it works” guide.

Click Export CSV to download all leads (formula-injection-safe) for your CRM or spreadsheet. Search narrows the list by name, email, phone, or file title.

Campaign tracking New in 1.3.0

Every lead now records where it came from: utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_term, utm_content, and the referring site. Attribution is captured on the visitor's first page and kept for the session, so it survives them browsing around before they convert.

Values appear in the Details column and as four new CSV columns — Source, Medium, Campaign, and Referrer — so you can finally answer “which campaign produced these leads?”. Nothing is stored for visitors who arrive without campaign parameters.

Download counter New in 1.3.0

The plugin counts actual file deliveries, not just form submissions — the two differ whenever someone submits but never opens the file. All-time downloads appear on the Gated Files list, and you can optionally show the count publicly under the button (see Settings).

Once leads start arriving, the top of the screen shows headline stats — total, last 7 days, last 30 days, and your top file — and, when you have more than one form, a filter to view leads from a single form.

Conversion analytics

The plugin automatically tracks three privacy-friendly counters per gated file: button views, form opens, and leads — daily totals only, with no cookies and no personal data, so there is nothing to disclose in a privacy policy. You'll see them in two places:

• A "Last 30 days" column on the Gated Files list — leads captured and the conversion rate for each form (hover for views and opens).
• A funnel strip on the Leads screen — button views → form opens → leads with the overall conversion rate for the last 30 days.

Tracking works even behind full-page caching, because counts are sent by the visitor's browser rather than measured server-side. Pro adds a full analytics card on the Pro dashboard: a 30-day funnel, a leads-per-day trend, and a per-form conversion table.

Pro features Pro

Gated Downloads Pro is a separate add-on that attaches to the free plugin through its hooks — it never modifies free files, so the free plugin can update freely. Pro adds:

Try Pro free. Every paid plan starts with a 7-day free trial — no credit card required. If you decide not to upgrade, your site simply reverts to the free plugin and you keep every lead you captured.

Activating Pro Pro

1. Install and activate the free Gated Downloads plugin first (Pro requires it).
2. Upload and activate Gated Downloads Pro. A new Gated Downloads → Pro dashboard appears.
3. Enter your license key under Gated Downloads → Account to unlock updates and support.
4. Configure integrations from the Pro dashboard tabs (Automation, Email Marketing, Popup, Double Opt-in, Lead Lists, Security, Downloads, Custom Fields).

Developers Free

Gated Downloads is built to be extended without editing plugin files — that is exactly how the Pro add-on attaches. Everything below is part of the free plugin.

Front-end events New in 1.3.0

Two CustomEvents are dispatched on document, so you can react to a capture or a download without touching the plugin's JavaScript:

document.addEventListener( 'tslgd:lead', function ( e ) {
    console.log( 'New lead on gate', e.detail.gateId );
} );

These are the same events Pro's conversion tracking listens to, which is why it can report to GA4 or the Meta Pixel without the free plugin knowing anything about analytics.

PHP hooks

A selection of the most useful ones:

FAQ

Does it work with my theme and page builder?

Yes. The modal is rendered in the site footer and self-styled, so it works with any theme. The shortcode runs anywhere shortcodes do, including most page builders; the block works in the standard editor.

Where are leads stored?

In a dedicated table in your own WordPress database. Your data never leaves your site (unless you enable a Pro integration that sends it somewhere you choose).

Is it GDPR-friendly?

Gated Downloads offers an optional consent checkbox with custom wording, stores only what you ask for, hashes IP addresses with a salt, and can remove all its data on uninstall. You remain the data controller — pair it with your own privacy policy.

Can visitors bypass the form?

The download is delivered only after a valid submission. For stricter control, Pro's protected links stream files through signed, expiring URLs so the real file path is never exposed.

Will it slow down my site?

No. The capture CSS/JS load only on pages that actually contain a gate, and admin assets load only on Gated Downloads screens.

Does the visitor also get the file by email?

Yes. Besides the instant in-browser delivery, each lead automatically receives a clean email with their download link (switch it off under Settings → Notifications). Pro's autoresponder lets you write your own subject and message with placeholders.

Does it block spam?

Every capture form ships with an invisible honeypot trap that silently blocks most bots — zero configuration, no keys, no visitor friction. Sites under heavier attack can add score-based reCAPTCHA v3 with Pro.

Can I use it as a plain email subscribe form (no file)?

Yes. Leave a gated file's file source empty and the form becomes a simple email opt-in — the email is captured and a success message (or your redirect) shows after submit, with no download. Show just the Email field and label the button “Subscribe”. With Pro, new subscribers can sync straight to Mailchimp, Brevo, FluentCRM, or MailPoet.

Can someone read locked content by viewing the page source?

No. Content inside [tslgd_lock] is never rendered into the page — the page ships with the locked placeholder only, and the real content is fetched separately after a successful submission. This also means a caching plugin cannot accidentally serve unlocked content to the next visitor.

Does the content locker work with page caching?

Yes, and it was designed for it. The page HTML is always the locked version, so it is safe to cache. Unlocking happens in the browser after submit, and returning visitors are recognised the same way — so cached pages and unlocked visitors never conflict.

Will automatic placement duplicate buttons I've already added?

No. Posts that already contain the same gated file — via shortcode or block — are skipped. You can also override the placement per post, or turn it off for individual posts.

Support

Free plugin support is available on the WordPress.org support forum. Pro customers get priority support and updates through TemplateSell.

You can also reach us directly by email: