SMART TAGS & DYNAMIC DATA

Turn any PDF into a
Personalised Document —
Automatically

Smart Tags are dynamic placeholders you drop into any PDF template. Type a forward slash, search for any WordPress field, and PDFDraft replaces it with real data every time a PDF is generated — no manual editing, no coding.

15+

Smart Tags

3

Tag Categories

Zero

Manual Edits

Any

Template Type

HOW IT WORKS

What Are Smart Tags?

Smart Tags are placeholders you insert into a WP Data Field element on your PDF canvas. When a PDF is generated, each tag is automatically replaced with live data from WordPress — post details, user information, or site settings.

Drag a WP Data Field onto your canvas, double-click, and type / to open the tag search menu

Start typing to filter — select your tag and it’s placed instantly

The canvas shows the placeholder — generated PDFs show real data

Style tags exactly like text — font, size, color, and alignment all carry through to the PDF

TAG REFERENCE

Three Categories, Unlimited Possibilities

Every Smart Tag belongs to one of three data sources. Mix and match
across categories in the same template.

Post Data

Current Post or Page

Pull any field from the post or page the PDF is generated for.

/post.title /post.content /post.excerpt /post.author_name /post.date /post.featured_image

User Data

Current User or Author

Personalise with the logged-in user’s profile or the post author’s details.

/user.display_name /user.email /user.first_name /user.last_name /user.id /user.bio /user.avatar

Site Data

Global WordPress Settings

Brand your PDFs consistently using site-wide details from WordPress settings.

/site.name /site.tagline /site.url /site.admin_email /site.home_url /site.logo

DATE FIELDS

Date Formats, Your Way

Date fields output the current or post date in any format you choose. Pick a preset or enter a custom PHP date string for complete control over how dates appear in your PDFs.

Uses standard PHP date format strings. Any valid PHP format works.

COMMON DATE FORMATS

F j, Y January 15, 2025
m/d/Y 01/15/2025
Y-m-d 2025-01-15
l, F j, Y Monday, Jan 15, 2025

STYLING & DESIGN

Style Tags Like Any Other Text Element

WP Data Field elements sit on the canvas just like any text block. Select one and the same toolbar appears —
change font, size, weight, color, and alignment. Every style choice is preserved when the PDF is generated.

Font family, weight, and size — identical controls to a text element

Color, alignment, and line height carry through to the exported PDF

Position and resize freely — it’s just another canvas element

Use different styles per field — a name in large Fraunces, a date in small body text

PAIR WITH VISUAL BUILDER

Smart tags live inside the drag-and-drop canvas

Smart Tags work directly inside the Visual PDF Builder. Drop in a WP Data Field,
customize it freely, and data is populated automatically.

1

Drag a WP Data Field element onto the canvas

2

Double-click, type /, search and select your tag

3

Save and publish — real data appears in every generated PDF

USECASES

Smart Tags in Action

See how real teams use dynamic data to personalise every PDF they generate.

Personalised Certificates

Use {{user.display_name}} and {{post.date}} to auto-fill each certificate with the recipient’s name and the completion date.

Dynamic Invoices

Pull customer name, email, and post title into invoice headers with {{user.*}} and {{site.name}} tags for consistent branding.

Member Reports

Generate personalised activity or progress reports per user. Tags like {{user.first_name}} and {{user.bio}} make each report unique.

Event Tickets

Insert the attendee’s name, the event title from {{post.title}}, and the event date via a formatted date tag — all automatically.

WooCommerce Receipts

Combine customer user tags with site branding tags to generate fully branded order receipts for every WooCommerce transaction.

Blog Post PDFs

Use {{post.title}} , {{post.content}} and {{post.author}} to turn any blog post into a download-ready formatted PDF.

FAQs

Common Questions About Smart Tags

If a Smart Tag references a field that contains no data — for example, a post with no excerpt — the field will appear empty in the generated PDF. To avoid blank areas, ensure the relevant WordPress fields are populated before generating. For example, always add an excerpt if your template uses /post.excerpt.

Each WP Data Field element holds one Smart Tag. If you need to display multiple fields — for example, first name followed by last name — use separate WP Data Field elements positioned side by side on the canvas. This gives you independent styling and positioning control over each piece of data.

Current Smart Tags pull from standard WordPress post data, user profiles, and site settings. For WooCommerce-specific fields such as order totals or billing addresses, the tags available depend on how the PDF is triggered. Check the PDFDraft documentation for the latest WooCommerce integration details, as additional tags may be available.

Yes — styling is applied per element on the canvas, not globally per tag. The same /user.display_name tag can be displayed in large bold Fraunces on a certificate template and in small body text on an invoice template. Each WP Data Field element carries its own independent styling.

Currently, if a tag resolves to an empty value it outputs nothing. As a best practice, ensure your WordPress content is complete before triggering PDF generation. Fallback text support is on the PDFDraft roadmap — check the features page for the latest status.

START PERSONALISING TODAY

Every PDF, Personalised Automatically

Install PDFDraft free and start using Smart Tags in minutes. Drop a WP Data Field,
type a forward slash, and let your WordPress data do the work.

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