No help for mapping custom PDF uploaded forms

  • bandsaw12

    (@bandsaw12)


    4 days, 13 hours ago

    This plugin has great potential, but after a couple of hours trying to figure out how to map CF7 tags to form fields on my PDF generated with LibreOffice, I gave up. Nothing I tried works and there is no documentation on the support page that clearly explains how you do this or what is needed in a custom PDF uploaded form.

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
  • Cristopher

    (@cristopherzwt)

    2 days, 15 hours ago

    Hello,

    Sorry this was confusing. Here’s the simple way it works.

    What the plugin does

    It has 2 options:

    1. Upload a PDF
        Use this if you already have a ready PDF (like a brochure).
        That PDF is sent/attached as it is.
        Form answers are not added into it.

    2. Create a PDF from the form
        Use this if you want the PDF to show the user’s answers.
        You do not need LibreOffice for this.

    What to do if you want form data in the PDF

    1. Open the plugin settings.
    2. Choose your Contact Form 7 form.
    3. Turn PDF On.
    4. Choose No for “upload pdf or customize pdf?” (this means create PDF from form).
    5. In PDF Message body, write your text and add tags like:
        [your-name]
        [your-email]
        [your-message]
    6. Save.
    7. Submit the form once to check the PDF.
    8. Those tags will be replaced with the real answers.

    About LibreOffice

    That method does not work with this plugin.

    Easy alternatives

    • Want a fixed PDF only? → Use Upload PDF.
    • Want form answers in the PDF? → Use Customize PDF + tags in Message body.
    • Want a nice layout? → Write simple text/HTML in the Message body (logo, headings, line breaks, etc.).
    • If you send us your form field names, we can write the Message body text for you.

    You can also refer to our Generate PDF Using Contact Form 7 Pro documentation, which already covers the PDF field tags and PDF Message Body functionality and also includes information relevant to the Free plugin:

    https://store.zealousweb.com/documentation/wordpress-plugins/generate-pdf-using-contact-form-7-pro

    Thanks,

    Best regards,
    ZealousWeb

    Thread Starter bandsaw12

    (@bandsaw12)

    1 day, 13 hours ago

    Thank you for your response. I understand now that you do not have autofill functionality for an already predefined PDF form. Unfortunate.

    I did manage to use HTML to create a properly formatted form – sort of. Your message body does not seem to honour all HTML code. Text inside a cell of a table, for instance does not honour any kind of text alignment HTML tags (centre, left, or right), some of the cell alignments do not want to match what the HTML tags are telling it to do. I also can not get the generator to insert your the signature block that your signature addon creates.

    Lastly, I do not get a “Download PDF” box after submission. I am using the “Popups – Submission Messages For Contact Form 7” plugin. Perhaps that is blocking your download button. I don’t know. I just know that I am not getting the button. NOTE: I disabled the Popups – Submission Messages For Contact Form 7, and the download button now appears. So there is a conflict with that plugin.

    I do like your plugin as it has the one feature that I want the most – to be able to password protect the document as it will contain some sensitive information. A feature that none of your other competitors seem to have.

    • This reply was modified 1 day, 12 hours ago by bandsaw12.
Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this review.