The Overwhelming Load
Imagine you’re Alex, an HR manager at a growing tech company in charge of hiring. Job applications are pouring in – a good problem to have, right? But then comes the hard part: processing them. Gravity Forms makes it easy to receive applications, but what happens next? It’s all manual: reviewing each one, creating personalized documents, and sending them to different departments. Alex needed a way to automate this entire process, turning applications into professional, branded PDFs and automatically routing them to the right people. The goal? To eliminate tedious manual work. So how can Alex achieve this?
From Chaos to Clarity
Tired of the application chaos, Alex started researching solutions within the Gravity Forms ecosystem. That’s when they discovered the powerful combination of Gravity Flow and Gravity PDF.
What Alex learned was a game-changer:
Goodbye, Manual PDFs: Gravity PDF can automatically create personalized PDFs from application data. No more copy-pasting!
Workflow on Autopilot: Gravity Flow can help manage the entire approval and review process, sending notifications and keeping everyone informed.
Perfect Combination: These plugins work together perfectly, automating PDF generation at key points in the workflow.
Results? Less manual work, fewer errors, and a huge amount of time saved.
Application Automation
Armed with this knowledge, Alex uses these powerful plugins to transform the process. Gravity Flow formalized their application workflow, and Gravity PDF generates offer letters for successful candidates, and respectful rejection letters for others. No more chasing down approvals or losing track of applications. Everything is streamlined, organized, and efficient.
“And you know what?” Alex thought, “this could work for anyone.” So, let me guide you through this process, and show you how to bring clarity to your own workflows.
Step 0: Install and Activate Essential Plugins
To follow along with this guide, you’ll need three essential tools installed on your WordPress site:
Gravity Forms: The plugin that captures the application data. You can purchase and download it from the Gravity Forms website.
Gravity PDF: The plugin that generates PDF documents from the application form submissions. You can download the core software for free from this website.
Gravity Flow: The plugin that automates your workflow processes. You can purchase download it from the Gravity Flow website.
1. Creating the Application Form
First, we need to build our application form using Gravity Forms. Let’s call it “Job Application Form.” This form will collect all the necessary information from our applicants.
To help you visualize each step of this guide, I’ve created video walkthroughs. If you prefer to learn by watching, there’s a video available for every step in this guide.
Form Fields
Make sure to capture everything you need to assess and applicants. Your form might include fields for:
- Full Name: Name field
- Contact Information: Email, Phone Number fields
- Resume/CV Upload: File Upload field
- Cover Letter: Paragraph Text field or a File Upload field
- Any Other Relevant Details: Portfolio Links, Desired Salary, etc.
Once you’ve added all the fields, click Save Form. Now, let’s configure the confirmation message and notifications.
Form Settings
Configure the following settings:
Confirmation Message: Create a message that will be displayed to the applicant after they submit the form.
Notifications: We’ll set up a notification specifically for the applicant. Let’s call it “Applicant Notification.” This will send them a copy of their submitted application.
Want to follow along? Right-click and save the pre-built form and then import onto your website.
2. Configuring the Application Form
Gravity PDF gives you powerful control over how your PDFs look. In this section, I’ll guide you through setting up the application form PDF, focusing on the essential settings.
First, go to Forms and select the “Job Application Form” we created earlier. Then, navigate to Settings → PDF and click Add New PDF. While the General, Appearance, and Advanced tabs are consistent across templates, the Template tab changes based on the template you choose.
General
Let’s start with the General tab. You’ll need to fill out the Label and Filename fields. For the Filename, I highly recommend using merge tags to make each PDF file unique. To do this, simply click on the merge tag icon and select the field you want. For instance, I used {Name (Last):1.6}-{Name (First):1.3}-Application. This will create filenames like “Smith-John-Application.pdf”.
Next, select your template from the Template dropdown. For this guide, I’m using Barot (available in our online store). Feel free to choose any template you like, but if you’re following along, Barot will give you the same results.
Finally, in the Notifications section, select which email notifications should include this PDF as an attachment. Tick the Applicant Notification we created earlier. This will attach a copy of the PDF to the email notification sent to the applicant upon submission.
Appearance
Now, move to the Appearance tab. Here, you’ll set the paper size, orientation, font, and font size/color. Customize these settings to match your branding or preferences. There are no strict rules here, so experiment! If you’re working with a right-to-left language, enable that option here as well.
Template
The Template section is where you can further customize the layout and content of your PDF. The options here will vary depending on the template you selected. For Barot, I made the following adjustments:
Company Logo: I added a logo which you can download here by right-clicking and saving.
Header Background Color and Footer Font Color: I set these to
#0a174e.Footer Background Color: I set this to
#f5d042.Footer Content: I added “Copyright © 2025”.
You can skip the Advanced tab for now. The default settings are usually sufficient. Once you’re happy with your settings, click Update PDF to save your changes.
3. Building the Workflow with Gravity Flow
Next, I’ll guide you through setting up a workflow using Gravity Flow to manage the application review and approval process.
Go to your form’s settings and click the Workflow tab.
Click Add New to create a new workflow.
Workflow Steps
Notification Step - Application Submission
This step automatically sends a notification when an applicant submits the form. It’s similar to standard Gravity Forms notifications and informs relevant parties (like the HR team) that a new application has been received. Importantly, it also attaches the initial application PDF.
Configuration:
Step Name: Assign the name “Application Received” to this step.
Step Type: Select Notification as the Step Type.
Notification: Select the Applicant Notification you configured in Step 1 of this guide (link to that part of the guide). This ensures a copy of the application is sent to the HR team for their review.
Recipients: Configure the recipients of this notification. This is typically the HR recruitment team.
Save: Click Update Step Settings to save the workflow step.
Now, go back to the Workflow Steps list, and add a new step.
User Input Step - HR Team Approval
The User Input step is designed to gather information from designated users within the workflow, in this case, the HR team. This step allows them to review the application and provide their input, essentially acting as an initial screening process.
Configuration
Step Name: Assign a name for this step, such as “HR Initial Review.”
Step Type: Select User Input as the Step Type.
Assign To: Assign this step to the HR team members. In my example, I selected the Administrator role.
Instructions: Select Display Instructions and provide instructions for the HR team. For example: “Please review this application and provide detailed comments about the candidate’s qualifications, strengths, and any potential concerns. Your feedback will help determine if we should proceed with an interview.”
Workflow Note: Change the Workflow Note setting to Always Required so the assignee (the HR team representative) is required to provide a note along with submitting the step.
Assignee Email: You can set the To and From email addresses to internal HR team members, but for testing purposes, I’m using the admin email.
Subject: “Initial Review Required”
Message: “Please review the attached application and provide your recommendation.”
Attach PDF(s): Under Attach PDF(s), select the PDF we created (Job Application PDF from Step 2 – link to Step 2) so it’s included in the email for the HR team’s review.
Confirmation Message: You can add a confirmation message, but I’m leaving it as the default “Thank You” message.
You can further configure the workflow by adding editable fields, tweaking the assignee policy, highlighting editable fields, and adding more instructions. However, we’ll keep it simple for this guide and leave those untouched, as most default settings work in our sample use case.
Save: Click Update Step Settings to save the workflow step.
Now, go back to the Workflow Steps list, and add a new step.
Approval Step - Hiring Manager Interview
The Approval step facilitates a structured approval process, allowing assigned users (in this case, the hiring manager) to approve or reject the application for an interview based on the HR team’s recommendation. It automates the decision-making process and tracks the outcome.
This step forwards the application to the hiring manager for a decision on whether to proceed with an interview.
Configuration
Step Name: Assign a name for this step, such as “Hiring Manager Interview Decision.”
Step Type: Select Approval as the Step Type.
Assign To: Assign this step to the hiring manager. In this guide, I’ve used the Administrator role as an example, but you should select the specific user or role responsible for hiring decisions.
Other Settings: We’ll leave most of the other settings at their default values.
Email Notifications: We’ll configure the email notifications, which are crucial for communication with the applicant and the hiring manager.
Assignee Email: Enable the Send an email to the assignee option. This email is sent to the hiring manager when the application reaches this step, notifying them that their decision is required.
Configure the To and From addresses. For testing, I’m using the admin email.
Subject: “Interview Decision – {First Name} {Last Name}” (Make sure to use the appropriate merge tags).
Message: “The application from {First Name} {Last Name} is ready for your review. Please indicate whether you approve proceeding to an interview.” (Again, use merge tags).
Rejection Email: Enable the Send email when the entry is rejected option. This email is sent to the applicant if the hiring manager rejects the interview.
Configure and select the Email Address field so it sends to the applicant’s email address from the form.
Configure the To and From addresses. For testing, I’m using the admin email.
Subject: “Update on Your Application”
Message: “Dear {First Name} {Last Name}, Thank you for your interest at Stellaris. We have carefully reviewed your application, and at this time, we will not be moving forward with an interview. We appreciate your time and wish you the best in your job search.” (Use merge tags).
Approval Email: Enable the Send email when the entry is approved option. This email is sent to the applicant if the hiring manager approves the interview.
Configure and select the Email Address field so it sends to the applicant’s email address from the form.
Configure the To and From addresses. For testing, I’m using the admin email.
Subject: “Interview Invitation – Stellaris”
Message: “Dear {First Name} {Last Name}, You are invited to interview for the position at Stellaris Innovations. We were impressed with your application and would like to learn more about your qualifications. We will be in contact shortly with times.” (Use merge tags).
You can choose to attach the PDF of the submitted application form in any of these three emails.
Save: Click Update Step Settings to save the workflow step.
4. Testing the Workflow
Once you’ve configured all the steps, it’s essential to thoroughly test the entire workflow to ensure everything works as expected. Here’s how:
Submit a Test Application: Go to your website and submit a test application through the Job Application Form. Use your own email address for testing purposes.
Go to the Workflow Inbox: There are two ways to access the workflow steps: through your WordPress Admin Workflow Inbox, and the actual emails you’ve configured. I’ll describe the Workflow Inbox method here.
In your WordPress Admin dashboard, click Workflow, then click Inbox.
You should see the entry associated with the test application you just submitted. Click on that entry.
Review the User Input Step (HR Initial Review):
You should now be on the User Input step of the workflow, representing the HR team’s initial review.
Verify PDF Attachment: Check that the “Application Form PDF” is attached. You should be able to view and download it directly from this page via the PDF metabox found in the sidebar. Click the PDF to view its contents and ensure it displays the submitted application data correctly.
Act as HR: Enter a test note in the Workflow Note field (if you made this a required step), and then click Submit to simulate the HR team’s review.
Check Email Notification: Go to the email inbox you used for the test application. You should receive the notification email that was configured for the HR Initial Review.
Simulate the Approval Step (Hiring Manager Interview Decision):
After submitting the User Input Step, the page should refresh and display the Approval step, representing the Hiring Manager’s decision.
Act as Hiring Manager: Select either Approve Interview or Reject Interview.
If you select Approve Interview: Check the email inbox you used for the test application. You should receive the “Interview Invitation – Stellaris” email.
If you select Reject Interview: Check the email inbox again. You should receive the “Update on Your Application” email.
Verify PDF (If Applicable): Check that any PDF attachments you configured for these emails are included and display properly. You can check this on the PDF metabox found in the sidebar of the inbox.
Final Workflow Inbox Status: After making the approval/rejection decision, the Workflow Inbox should display Entry Approved or Entry Rejected, and you should also be able to view/download the relevant PDF attached in this step.
This process simulates the entire workflow, from application submission to the final decision. While this example stops at the interview decision, you can expand on this. For example, you can continue and even create offer letters using Gravity PDF. Or build an onboarding workflow for your new-hire and auto-generate the necessary documents that need to be completed.
6. Wrapping Up
Give yourself a pat on the back. You’ve just unlocked a powerful way to automate your workflow! This knowledge is incredibly valuable because Gravity Flow and Gravity PDF can be combined to build a wide range of automated processes, and this application workflow is just the beginning. Now, it’s time to streamline your own application processes! You’ll save time, reduce errors, and create a much better experience for everyone involved.
If you’re eager to explore more ways to automate your business with Gravity PDF, I encourage you to check out our other articles in the How To series. Or, if you’d like to see how other users are putting Gravity PDF to work, our video Case Study series is a great resource. If you found this guide helpful, please share it on your social media.
Happy PDFing!
