Email gated file transfers: how the gate works
The email gate asks visitors for an email address before the files open, and saves it as a contact.
The email gate asks visitors for an email address before the files in a transfer open, and saves it as a contact. This article covers how to set it on a transfer, what the visitor enters, where each submission is saved, and how long a visitor stays unlocked.
Set the email gate on a transfer
Set the transfer to require an email before download when you create it. This setting belongs to the transfer, not to the workspace. A transfer has one download setting, so the email gate cannot be combined with a direct download link. For a link that starts the download with no page in between, see Direct download links in Tarkle. The same gate applies to audio transfers. To create a transfer, follow How to create a file transfer.
What the visitor sees
Until the form is submitted, the transfer page does not send the file links to the visitor. The form has a Your name (optional) field and a required Your email address field. The browser checks only that the email contains an @ sign. The visitor clicks Access files to open the files.
Workspace owners and team members who open the link are not asked for an email.
Where submissions are saved
Tarkle saves each submission when the form is submitted, before any download starts. A visitor who submits and then leaves is still saved. The address is stored as a contact in the workspace with the status lead, and the name is stored only when the address is new to the workspace. A contact does not record which transfer it came from. Find the saved contacts on Contacts in the workspace you shared from.
Return visits
After a visitor submits the form, their browser keeps access to that transfer for 24 hours, and the form does not appear again during that time. After 24 hours, the visitor sees the form again. Each transfer keeps its own access, so passing the form on one transfer does not open another.
Notifications
Each submission is passed to the email marketing provider connected to the workspace, if there is one, as Email marketing sync describes. When Slack is connected and the Email captured notification is on in Integrations, Tarkle posts a Slack message for each submission. The form sends no email to the workspace.
Paid transfers
A paid transfer cannot use the email gate. Tarkle collects the buyer's email at checkout, and it refuses to save the email gate on a paid transfer. Paid transfers, which charge for access through your own Stripe account, are described on Paid transfers.