How do I collect an email address before sending the WordPress PDF?

You can ask visitors for an email address before they receive the generated PDF and save that address for your own follow-up workflow.

The plugin can already prompt for an email address and send the PDF by email. Saving the entered address is an extra customization that uses a PHP callback.

If you only want the plugin to email the generated PDF without storing the address, use How do I change what happens after clicking the Save as PDF button?.

Set the email options

In the plugin settings, open Expert Settings > Behavior.

Set Button Click Action to Send PDF via email.

Set Email Recipient to Prompt for an email address.

Set PDF Created Callback to save_pdfcrowd_email_address.

Add the callback function

Add this function to your theme's functions.php file or to a small site-specific plugin:

function save_pdfcrowd_email_address($data) {
    if ($data['error']) {
        return false;
    }

    $email = isset($data['options']['email_to'])
        ? sanitize_email($data['options']['email_to'])
        : '';

    if (!$email || !is_email($email)) {
        return false;
    }

    $entries = get_option('pdfcrowd_saved_email_addresses', array());
    if (!is_array($entries)) {
        $entries = array();
    }

    $entries[] = array(
        'email' => $email,
        'file_name' => sanitize_file_name($data['file_name']),
        'created_at' => current_time('mysql'),
    );

    update_option('pdfcrowd_saved_email_addresses', $entries, false);

    return false;
}

The entered address is available as email_to in the callback data. The example stores each address in a WordPress option named pdfcrowd_saved_email_addresses.

For production use, replace the storage part with your own database table, CRM integration, form plugin integration, or another storage location that matches your privacy and retention requirements.

Keep the normal email behavior

The callback must return false if the plugin should continue with its normal email delivery. Return true only when your callback fully handles the result and the plugin should skip its default email/download behavior.