Redirect Contact Form 7 To New Tab With PDF: A How-To Guide

Aug 16, 2025 by Mei Lin 60 views

How to Redirect Contact Form 7 Submissions to a New Tab with a PDF Link

Hey guys! Ever wanted to redirect your Contact Form 7 submissions to a snazzy PDF link, but also have it pop open in a brand-new tab? It’s a neat trick to keep your site visitors engaged without navigating them away from your main page. Let's dive into how you can make this happen! I know many of you have been trying to figure this out, so let's break it down step-by-step.

Understanding the Challenge: Opening PDF Links in a New Tab After Contact Form 7 Submission

So, you've got a Contact Form 7 form, which is awesome! It’s super popular and flexible, but sometimes the default redirect behavior isn't exactly what we need. The main challenge is that after someone hits that submit button, we want them to see a PDF, but in a new tab. This way, they still have your website open in the background. It's all about user experience, right? We don’t want to lose potential customers or readers just because they clicked a link. We need to make sure that the redirection of the contact form submission is smooth and intuitive.

To achieve this, we need to tap into some custom code. Don't worry, it's not as scary as it sounds! We'll be using a bit of JavaScript and some WordPress hooks to get the job done. The key here is to intercept the form submission, prevent the default redirect, and then trigger our own redirect that opens the PDF in a new tab. We’ll walk through the code piece by piece, so you understand exactly what’s going on. By the end of this guide, you’ll be able to implement this on your own site and even adapt the code for different scenarios. Whether it's redirecting to a PDF, a special offer page, or any other link, this technique will give you the control you need to create a seamless user experience. It’s about making sure your visitors get the information they need, exactly when they need it, without interrupting their journey on your website. So, let’s get started and make those redirects work for you!

The Code Snippet: A Step-by-Step Guide to Implementation

Alright, let’s get into the fun part – the code! This is where we'll piece together the solution that redirects our Contact Form 7 submissions to a new tab. First, we’ll need to add a snippet to our WordPress site that hooks into the Contact Form 7 submission process. You can add this code to your theme’s functions.php file or, even better, use a plugin like Code Snippets to keep things organized and avoid messing with your theme directly. This ensures that your changes won't be overwritten when you update your theme. Remember, safety first!

Here's the code we’ll be using:

add_action( 'wp_footer', 'redirect_cf7_submission' );
function redirect_cf7_submission() {
?>
<script type="text/javascript">
document.addEventListener( 'wpcf7mailsent', function( event ) {
 if ( 'YOUR_FORM_ID' == event.detail.contactFormId ) {
 window.open('YOUR_PDF_LINK', '_blank');
 }
}, false );
</script>
<?php
}

Let’s break this down bit by bit:

add_action( 'wp_footer', 'redirect_cf7_submission' );: This line tells WordPress to run our function redirect_cf7_submission in the footer of our site. This is a good spot because it ensures that the JavaScript code will be executed after the Contact Form 7 scripts are loaded.
function redirect_cf7_submission() { ... }: This is where we define our function. Everything inside the curly braces will be executed when the wp_footer action is triggered.
?> <script type="text/javascript"> ... </script> <?php: This might look a bit weird, but it's just a way to switch between PHP and HTML/JavaScript. We need to use PHP to output the JavaScript code into our page.
document.addEventListener( 'wpcf7mailsent', function( event ) { ... }, false );: This is the heart of our code. We're adding an event listener to the document that listens for the wpcf7mailsent event. This event is triggered by Contact Form 7 when a form is successfully submitted and the email is sent.
if ( 'YOUR_FORM_ID' == event.detail.contactFormId ) { ... }: This is a conditional statement. We only want to run our redirect code for a specific form, so we check if the contactFormId matches our target form's ID. You'll need to replace 'YOUR_FORM_ID' with the actual ID of your Contact Form 7 form. You can find this ID in the Contact Form 7 admin panel.
window.open('YOUR_PDF_LINK', '_blank');: This is the JavaScript magic that opens the PDF in a new tab. window.open() is a JavaScript function that opens a new browser window or tab. The first argument is the URL we want to open (in this case, our PDF link), and the second argument '_blank' tells the browser to open the link in a new tab. Make sure to replace 'YOUR_PDF_LINK' with the actual URL of your PDF file.

Key things to remember:

Replace 'YOUR_FORM_ID': Find the ID of your Contact Form 7 form and put it here.
Replace 'YOUR_PDF_LINK': Use the actual URL of the PDF you want to redirect to.

This code snippet is your golden ticket to redirecting Contact Form 7 submissions exactly where you want them. But, of course, you need to make sure you slot it into the right place and customize it for your specific needs. Once you have this code in place, your form submissions will automatically open your specified PDF link in a new tab, enhancing user experience and keeping visitors engaged. So, let’s move on to the next step and see how to tweak this code to fit different scenarios!

Customizing the Code: Adapting the Snippet to Your Needs

Okay, so you've got the basic code in place, but what if you need to tweak it a bit? Maybe you want to redirect different forms to different PDFs, or perhaps you want to redirect to a completely different type of page. No sweat! Customizing the code is pretty straightforward once you understand the basics.

Handling Multiple Forms

Let's say you have multiple Contact Form 7 forms on your site, and each one needs to redirect to a different PDF. You can easily extend the code to handle this. Instead of a simple if statement, you can use a series of if...else if statements to check the form ID and redirect accordingly. Here’s how it might look:

add_action( 'wp_footer', 'redirect_cf7_submission' );
function redirect_cf7_submission() {
?>
<script type="text/javascript">
document.addEventListener( 'wpcf7mailsent', function( event ) {
 if ( 'FORM_ID_1' == event.detail.contactFormId ) {
 window.open('PDF_LINK_1', '_blank');
 } else if ( 'FORM_ID_2' == event.detail.contactFormId ) {
 window.open('PDF_LINK_2', '_blank');
 } else if ( 'FORM_ID_3' == event.detail.contactFormId ) {
 window.open('PDF_LINK_3', '_blank');
 }
}, false );
</script>
<?php
}

In this example, we're checking for three different form IDs (FORM_ID_1, FORM_ID_2, and FORM_ID_3) and redirecting to their respective PDF links (PDF_LINK_1, PDF_LINK_2, and PDF_LINK_3). Just replace these placeholders with your actual form IDs and PDF URLs. You can add as many else if statements as you need to handle all your forms.

Redirecting to Different Types of Pages

What if you don't want to redirect to a PDF? Maybe you want to redirect to a thank-you page, a special offer, or any other URL. The code is almost exactly the same; you just need to change the URL in the window.open() function. For example:

window.open('https://www.example.com/thank-you', '_blank');

This will redirect the user to https://www.example.com/thank-you in a new tab. You can use any valid URL here, whether it's an internal page on your site or an external website.

Adding a Delay Before Redirecting

Sometimes, you might want to add a short delay before the redirect happens. This can be useful if you want to display a success message or give the user a moment to see that their form has been submitted. You can use the setTimeout() function in JavaScript to achieve this. Here’s how:

add_action( 'wp_footer', 'redirect_cf7_submission' );
function redirect_cf7_submission() {
?>
<script type="text/javascript">
document.addEventListener( 'wpcf7mailsent', function( event ) {
 if ( 'YOUR_FORM_ID' == event.detail.contactFormId ) {
 setTimeout(function() {
 window.open('YOUR_PDF_LINK', '_blank');
 }, 2000); // Delay for 2 seconds
 }
}, false );
</script>
<?php
}

In this example, we've wrapped the window.open() function inside a setTimeout() function. The setTimeout() function takes two arguments: the function to execute and the delay in milliseconds. In this case, we're delaying the redirect for 2000 milliseconds (2 seconds). You can adjust this value as needed.

By understanding these customization options, you can really tailor the redirect behavior of your Contact Form 7 forms to fit your specific needs. Whether it's handling multiple forms, redirecting to different types of pages, or adding a delay, a little bit of code can go a long way in improving the user experience on your site. So, go ahead and experiment with these tweaks to make your redirects work exactly how you want them to!

Best Practices and Troubleshooting Common Issues

Alright, you've got the code, you've customized it, and you're ready to roll. But before you launch this into the wild, let’s talk about some best practices and common issues you might encounter. This will help ensure that your Contact Form 7 redirect works smoothly and provides the best experience for your users.

Best Practices for Smooth Redirections

Use a Child Theme or Code Snippets Plugin: As mentioned earlier, adding custom code directly to your theme’s functions.php file can be risky. If your theme updates, your changes might get overwritten. Using a child theme or a plugin like Code Snippets keeps your customizations safe and organized.
Test Thoroughly: Always test your form and the redirection multiple times after implementing the code. Fill out the form, submit it, and make sure the redirect works as expected in different browsers and on different devices. This helps catch any unexpected issues early on.
Inform Users: Consider adding a message to your form or thank-you page to let users know they will be redirected to a new tab. This can help avoid confusion and provide a better user experience. For example, you could add a line like,