Download Monitor Email Lock

Each locked file generates its own email list

A PDF guide, a template and an industry report are on your site, and all three ask for the same thing in return: an email address. If you put every address into a single list, you lose the only thing you knew about each person, which is which file they wanted.

With Email Lock, addresses stay tied to the file each person requested, and that already segments your list before you send anything.

Email Lock is a Download Monitor extension. With one checkbox you lock the download you choose: the visitor leaves an email and gets access. Each locked download keeps the addresses it received, and you can view them per file or export them all.

How it locks and what it collects

• Lock per download: in the file's Download Options box you check Email Lock and save.
• Two actions on submitting the email: unlock the requested download or unlock all locked downloads.
• Double opt-in: the visitor must confirm their address before getting access.
• Name field: adds a name, which becomes mandatory when you enable it.
• Consent checkbox: with your own text, a checkbox is added to the form.
• Validation: the field uses the HTML5 email type, is validated in the browser and on the server, and the address's MX records are checked.

The form is shown on Download Monitor's no-access page, or in a popup if you enable the No Access modal. You can also insert it with the unlock shortcode and the download ID, and redesign it by copying the download-email-lock.php template into the download-monitor folder of your theme.

Each locked file has an Email Addresses box where you see the addresses received, remove them or export them to CSV. In Downloads > Email Logs there is a record with the user data, the files downloaded and the time.

From that log you choose Export all, a provider and Export. The formats are Mailchimp, MailerLite, Aweber or a default CSV, and from there you take them to your email tool or your CRM.

A guide and a template with separate lists

Suppose you lock two files, a guide and a template. Each collects the addresses of those who requested it. When exporting, you upload each list to your email tool with a different tag and each group gets a first message that fits what it downloaded. This is just one way of using it; change it to suit your case.

What it needs and what it does not do

Email Lock needs Download Monitor and WordPress. The WordPress installation can be the self-hosted kind or a WordPress.com site on the Business plan, and it does not work on platforms such as Shopify, Wix, Drupal, Joomla or Squarespace.

Among its functions there is no campaign sending: it collects addresses and exports them, and marketing email is done in the tool you already use.

Lock your first download

1. Install and activate Download Monitor and the extension.
2. Open a download, check Email Lock in Download Options and save.
3. Review the settings under Downloads, Settings, Content Locking, Email Lock: action, double opt-in, name and consent.
4. Insert the form with the unlock shortcode or let it appear on the no-access page.

Download Monitor extensions to compare

For other pieces of the same ecosystem you can look at Download Monitor Email Notification and Download Monitor Advanced Access Manager. The base plugin is Download Monitor.

Answers about Email Lock

Can I lock only some files?

Yes. The lock is enabled on each download with a checkbox.

Can I ask for the name as well as the email?

Yes, with the name field, which becomes mandatory when enabled.

Which tools can I export to?

The formats are Mailchimp, MailerLite, Aweber and a default CSV.

Does it check that the email exists?

It validates the format and the address's MX records, which aims to stop made-up addresses.