Free downloadable products

[Toina]

Can anyone help? I have search this subject but unfortunately in a archived thread it wasn't fully answered.

I was wondering if a link to a free downloadable product is possible in ZC without a visitor filling in a lengthy form (creating an account). I was hoping to have a simple form to collect info in ZC such as:
- name
- email address

And these details are recorded in ZC.

Once the visitor has completed this it directs them to a web page where they can download a pdf file. Is this possible and if so, how do I set up a form?

Thanks

Toina

[edwinlloyd]

Part as a bump, and part to extend the question, I cannot find a way to do a free download without going through checkout.
I just want to offer the "Click here to download the manual for this product" option from the product detail page. At the moment the only way I can see of doing free downloads requires the user to go right through the checkout process.
While Toina is happy with a simple and quick registration process, I want to offer the download with no registration process.
Can anyone help please? Many thanks, Edwin

[misty]

Try adding an html type link, in product description
of item in question, to your downloadable file/zip

[edwinlloyd]

Thank you for that rapid response Misty. Now you say it, that solution is blindingly obvious. I've had a play and I think it will do fine for now. It is not however a particularly scaleable solution. I envisage creating my list of products in Excel and using Easy Populate to upload them. If there was an "attribute" style solution that would be better.
Thank you for your idea though.
Edwin

[misty]

It is not however a particularly scaleable solution. I envisage creating my list of products in Excel and using Easy Populate to upload them.

Using Easy Populate should not make any difference to my suggestion.
Possible to add html link into production description via Easy Populate

[edwinlloyd]

misty

I have come back to this problem now I am setting up my products in earnest. I am embedding an html link in the product description text to the user manual for the product (to allow the shopper to examine what they are getting in more detail).

I put the pdf in the /download/ directory and use blank target so the file opens in a new browser window. However when the link is clicked the new window opens with with an internal server error and the apache2 error log shows that the problem is: "Could not open password file: /etc/apache2/.htnopasswd". I realise that this entry in the .htaccess file is to prevent casual browsing, but in this case it seems to stop the downloads too. Note that these are not downloadable "products". They do not appear in the database - they are just freely downloadable, free pdf files of instruction manuals.

Is there a solution to this that retains security but allows the downloads?

Many thanks,
Edwin

[misty]

I put the pdf in the /download/ directory and use blank target so the file opens in a new browser window.

download directory is protected as you have realised..place
pdf files into new directory, named something else...
alter path in html to reflect change..you could also place pdf
file/s into zip/s if necessary.. zip files can be password protected
if needed.