BlitzFunnel documentation
Step-by-step guide to every BlitzFunnel screen, setting, and workflow — from install through funnels, email delivery, tracking, and troubleshooting.
Getting started
BlitzFunnel is a WordPress funnel plugin. Each funnel is a published landing page plus an optional email follow-up sequence and a tracked offer link. Everything runs on your site — leads stay in your database.
WordPress admin menu
After activation, open the BlitzFunnel menu in wp-admin. These pages cover the full workflow:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Funnels | Dashboard — create, edit, duplicate (Pro), preview, and delete funnels. |
| Start here | Five-step creation wizard for your first (or next) funnel. |
| Email sign-ups | Global list of all leads across funnels with filters and export. |
| Email templates | HTML email layouts and brand colors used by follow-up messages. |
| AI-assisted prompts | Pro: generate a structured AI prompt from your product URL. Free: preview only. |
| Pro License | Paste and activate your Appestra license key. |
| Settings | Site-wide basics, email delivery, and ads tracking (Pro). |
Recommended first-time flow
- Install the free plugin (see Installation).
- Open Settings → Email delivery and connect SMTP or your API provider.
- Send a test email to confirm delivery.
- Go to Start here and run the wizard to publish your first funnel.
- Optional: install BlitzFunnel Pro and activate your license for unlimited funnels, premium templates, and tracking.
Guide mentor panel
A context-aware tips panel appears on most admin screens. It explains the current step in plain language and suggests what to do next based on your funnel stats and setup progress.
Installation
BlitzFunnel Pro is an add-on. Always install and activate the free BlitzFunnel plugin first, then install Pro as a second plugin.
If funnel URLs return 404 after install, open Settings → Permalinks and click Save Changes — no edits needed. This refreshes your site links so funnel pages load correctly.
- Download the free plugin ZIP from the BlitzFunnel product page on Appestra.
- In WordPress go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, choose the ZIP, and click Install Now → Activate.
- After purchasing Pro, download BlitzFunnel Pro from Account → Downloads and upload it the same way.
- Activate both plugins — you should see BlitzFunnel and BlitzFunnel Pro listed separately.
- WordPress 6.0 or newer
- PHP 8.0+ (8.1+ recommended)
- Pretty permalinks (Post name) — required for funnel pages and tracked links
- HTTPS recommended for secure opt-in forms and email links
License activation
Pro features unlock when BlitzFunnel Pro is active and a valid license key is saved. Keys are tied to your site URL.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| License key | The key from your Appestra portal. One activation per site per plan tier. |
| Status | Active, grace period (renew soon), or expired. Grace keeps Pro working briefly after expiry. |
| Deactivate | Frees the activation slot so you can move the license to another domain. |
- Log in to your Appestra account and open Account → Licenses.
- Click Show next to your key, then Copy.
- In WordPress open BlitzFunnel → Pro License, paste the key, and click Activate.
Funnels dashboard
BlitzFunnel → Funnels is your home base. Each card represents one published funnel with live stats and quick actions.
Free plan allows one active funnel. To add another, upgrade to Pro or pause/delete the existing funnel.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Visits | Page views on the funnel landing page (admin views excluded by default). |
| Sign-ups | Leads who submitted the opt-in form or completed a quiz/calculator gate. |
| Product clicks | Clicks on your affiliate or offer link — direct, from emails, or after form submit. |
| Edit | Opens the funnel editor (Basics, Design, Emails, Sign-ups, Results tabs). |
| Duplicate | Pro only — clones the funnel including settings and email sequence. |
| Copy link / Preview | Share the public funnel URL or open it in a new tab. |
Start here wizard
BlitzFunnel → Start here walks you through creating and publishing a funnel in five steps. Choose Guided setup for the step-by-step flow, or AI prompt (Pro) to jump to the AI-assisted builder.
Step 1 — Topic & page type
Select your niche so BlitzFunnel can recommend templates and email copy. Then choose a page type — email capture, quiz, bridge page, VSL layout, and more.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Niche | Vertical category (health, finance, SaaS, etc.) — drives template and email recommendations. |
| Page type | Determines landing layout and whether quiz/calculator builders appear. Free: starter and opt-in only. |
Step 2 — Design & page
Pick a landing template and color theme, then edit headline, bullets, images, and form settings. Use Desktop / Tablet / Mobile preview toggles. The side-by-side editor (Pro) opens a focused editing overlay.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Landing template | Visual layout for your page — free uses starter; Pro adds 17+ premium designs. |
| Theme | Color palette applied to the selected template. |
| Fill with example text | Inserts placeholder copy so you can see the layout before writing your own. |
| Add affiliate disclosure | Appends FTC-style disclosure text where the template supports it. |
Step 3 — Your links
Name your funnel, set the public URL slug, and paste your affiliate or checkout link. Toggle Active to publish immediately or leave paused as a draft.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Funnel name | Internal label shown in the dashboard — not necessarily visible on the public page. |
| URL slug | The path segment for your funnel page, e.g. /your-slug/. Must be unique. |
| Affiliate / offer link | Where visitors go when they click your CTA. BlitzFunnel tracks clicks on this link automatically. |
| Defer link | When paused, allows saving without an offer URL yet. |
| Status | Active publishes the WordPress page; Paused keeps it as draft. |
Step 4 — Follow-up emails
Build your automated sequence. Each email has a day offset, send time, subject, and body. Use placeholders like {{first_name}} and {{affiliate_link}}. Free plan: up to 3 emails.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Day | Days after opt-in when this email sends (Day 0 = immediately). |
| Time | Send time in your WordPress timezone. |
| Format | Plain text or HTML using an email template layout. |
| Use recommended sequence | Loads niche-specific starter emails you can edit. |
Step 5 — Go live
Review the launch checklist, confirm email delivery is configured, and click Launch funnel. You land on a success screen with your live URL.
Funnel editor
Open any funnel from the dashboard to edit it. The editor uses the same five tabs as the wizard, plus detailed stats on Sign-ups and Results.
Tab 1 — Basics
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Funnel name | Admin label (max 120 characters). |
| Affiliate / offer link | Required when status is Active. Clicks on this link are tracked in your funnel stats. |
| Status | Active = live page; Paused = draft, no public access. |
Tab 2 — Design & page
Four sub-tabs appear depending on your page type:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Opt-in mode | Required — collect emails before offer access. Skip — button goes straight to offer (no follow-up emails sent). |
| Display mode | Inline form on page, or Popup triggered by a link. |
| Form fields | Email (always), plus optional name, phone, company, website. Set required and width per field. |
| Consent checkbox | GDPR-style consent with customizable message and privacy links. |
| Shareable link slug | Public URL path for this funnel page. |
- Landing page — headline, hero, bullets, images (fields vary by template). Each field has a Visible toggle.
- Email form — opt-in mode, form fields, popup vs inline, consent checkbox, button text.
- Quiz — intro, questions, scoring, results screens (quiz templates only, Pro).
- Calculator — assessment questions, grade bands, results gate (calculator templates only, Pro).
Tab 3 — Emails
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Subject | Email subject line — supports {{first_name}} and other placeholders. |
| Body | Plain text or HTML content. |
| Template | HTML layout from Email templates (minimal, extended, or custom). |
| Attachments | Optional media library files included with the message. |
Tab 4 — Sign-ups
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Email sequence progress | Which scheduled emails were sent or are pending. |
| Status | Getting emails, completed sequence, or opted out. |
| Clicks | Product link clicks attributed to this lead. |
Tab 5 — Results
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Page visits | Total landing page views. |
| Email sign-ups | Opt-ins captured by this funnel. |
| Product link clicks | All outbound offer clicks (direct, email, post-submit). |
| Sign-up rate | Sign-ups divided by visits, as a percentage. |
| Clicks per email (Pro) | Which sequence message drives the most offer clicks. |
Settings
BlitzFunnel → Settings stores site-wide options in three tabs. Changes apply to all funnels.
Basics tab
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| WordPress timezone | Read-only — email send times follow this timezone. |
| Enable JSON editor mode (Pro) | Adds Visual/JSON tabs on Page, Quiz, Calculator, and Emails in the funnel editor. |
| Show Powered by BlitzFunnel (Free) | Optional small footer credit on published funnel pages. Off by default. |
Email delivery tab
Three sub-steps: set sender identity, choose provider credentials, then send a test email. Free supports SMTP and PHP mail. Pro adds transactional API providers.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Sender name | From name on outgoing emails (defaults to your WordPress display name). |
| Sender email | From address — must be verified with your email provider. |
| Provider | SMTP, PHP mail, or a Pro API: SendGrid, Mailchimp, Mailgun, Brevo, Postmark, Amazon SES, SparkPost, Mailjet, SMTP2GO, Resend, Elastic Email, Pepipost. |
| SMTP host / port / encryption | Standard SMTP settings when provider is SMTP (default port 587, TLS). |
| API keys / tokens | Provider-specific credentials shown when you select an API integration. |
| Send test email | Sends using unsaved form values so you can verify before saving. |
Ads tracking tab (Pro)
Pro-only. Captures UTM and sub-ID parameters, fires conversion pixels, and passes tracking data through to offer URLs.
On the free plan this tab shows a preview only — settings are not saved until Pro is active.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Enable tracking | Master switch — when off, no pixels or param capture run. |
| Conversion snippets | Paste Meta Pixel, GA4 gtag, or other scripts. Auto-detects pixel ID or G- measurement ID. |
| Capture UTMs | Save standard UTM campaign parameters when visitors land on your funnel page. |
| Capture sub-IDs | Save affiliate sub-IDs and similar tracking parameters from the landing URL. |
| Custom URL parameters | Comma-separated list of extra parameter names to capture. |
| Passthrough to offer URL | Forward captured tracking data when visitors click through to your offer. |
| Email click tracking | Tag offer links in follow-up emails so you can see which message drove the click. |
| Redirect delay | Brief pause before redirecting to your offer — helps conversion pixels fire reliably. |
| Event toggles | Fire pageview, Lead (on opt-in), and outbound click events when snippets are present. |
| Exclude admin | Skip tracking for logged-in administrators. |
Email templates
BlitzFunnel → Email templates controls HTML layouts for follow-up messages. Set a default template and customize colors, logo, header, and footer.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Default template | Layout used when a funnel email does not specify one (minimal or extended). |
| Default format | Plain or HTML for new sequence emails. |
| Logo URL | Brand image in the email header. |
| Header name / tagline | Text shown above the email body. |
| From line prefix | Label before sender name in the header (default "From:"). |
| Footer line / copyright | Optional footer text and copyright notice. |
| Theme colors | Per-template: header/body/footer backgrounds, text, accent, link, and CTA button colors. |
| Custom templates | Free: one custom template. Pro: unlimited. Extended layout is Pro-only for funnel emails. |
Email sign-ups (global leads)
BlitzFunnel → Email sign-ups lists every lead across all funnels. Filter by funnel, status, or search. Pro with tracking enabled adds Source, Campaign, and Sub-ID columns.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Total / Getting emails / Opted out | Summary pills at the top of the page. |
| Follow-ups sent | Count of sequence emails delivered to each lead. |
| Product clicks | Offer link clicks from this lead. |
| Export CSV | Pro: full export with filters. Free: last 10 sign-ups only. |
AI-assisted prompts (Pro)
BlitzFunnel does not call external AI APIs. The AI builder prepares a structured prompt you run in ChatGPT, Claude, or similar — then you paste the JSON response back and review everything before publishing.
- Open BlitzFunnel → AI-assisted prompts.
- Step 1: Enter product URL and description (min 20 characters).
- Step 2: Configure funnel name, slug, offer link, and template.
- Step 3: Download the prompt, run it in your AI assistant, paste the JSON response, validate, and launch.
Click tracking
BlitzFunnel counts clicks on your offer link from the landing page, follow-up emails, and post-signup CTAs. Pro adds UTM capture, affiliate sub-IDs, and conversion pixels — see Settings → Ads tracking for those options.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Offer link clicks | Every click on your affiliate or checkout link is logged in funnel stats. |
| Email link clicks | Clicks from follow-up emails are counted separately so you can see which message performs best. |
| Unsubscribe links | Each lead receives a personal unsubscribe link in every follow-up email. |
Free vs Pro
The free plugin is a complete workflow for one funnel. Pro removes limits and adds premium templates, API email providers, tracking pixels, AI prompts, and advanced analytics.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Funnels | Free: 1 · Pro: unlimited |
| Follow-up emails | Free: up to 3 · Pro: unlimited |
| Landing templates | Free: starter · Pro: starter + 17 premium (quiz, VSL, bridge, etc.) |
| Email providers | Free: SMTP & PHP mail · Pro: SendGrid, Mailchimp, SES, Mailgun, Brevo, Postmark, and more |
| Lead export | Free: last 10 rows · Pro: full CSV with filters |
| Metrics | Free: summary totals · Pro: per-email and per-lead click tables |
| Ads tracking & pixels | Free: preview only · Pro: functional |
| JSON editor | Free: no · Pro: yes |
| Duplicate funnel | Free: no · Pro: yes |
| AI-assisted prompts | Free: teaser · Pro: full builder |
Troubleshooting
- Funnel page returns 404: go to Settings → Permalinks and click Save Changes to refresh your site links.
- Emails not sending: verify provider credentials under Settings → Email delivery, then send a test email.
- Emails land in spam: use a verified sender domain, SPF/DKIM with your provider, and avoid spam trigger words.
- License activation fails: confirm the key matches your site URL exactly (including www vs non-www).
- Pro features still locked: ensure both BlitzFunnel and BlitzFunnel Pro plugins are active and license status is Active.
- Follow-ups not sending: confirm the lead opted in (not skipped), sequence emails are scheduled, and your site can run scheduled tasks.
- Tracking not recording: Pro license required; enable tracking in Settings and confirm you are not logged in as admin with exclude-admin enabled.
Updates & downloads
While your license is active, download the latest ZIP from Account → Downloads or update from Dashboard → Updates when WordPress notifies you.
- Log in to your Appestra account.
- Open Account → Downloads for BlitzFunnel (free) or BlitzFunnel Pro.
- Upload the new ZIP via Plugins → Add New → Upload, or use the in-dashboard update prompt.
Frequently asked questions
Is BlitzFunnel really free to start?
Yes. Download the free plugin, install it on WordPress, and launch one complete funnel with starter templates and up to three follow-up emails. No credit card required.
Who is BlitzFunnel for?
Business owners, agencies, email marketers, and affiliate marketers who want landing pages and funnels that convert — without learning a page builder or paying for another monthly SaaS subscription.
How does the AI-assisted builder work?
On Pro, open Start here and choose AI prompt mode — or generate a prompt from your product URL under AI-assisted prompts. BlitzFunnel builds a structured draft for headlines, page copy, and emails. You edit everything in live preview before publish. Free shows a preview only.
Which email providers are supported?
SendGrid, Mailchimp, Amazon SES, Gmail SMTP, Brevo (Sendinblue), Mailgun, Postmark, Elastic Email, SMTP.com, and generic SMTP — use your existing account.
Can I track conversions and export leads?
Yes. The dashboard shows visits, opt-ins, email clicks, and outbound clicks. Pro adds CSV lead export and deeper funnel monitoring with improvement tips.
Do I need design or email marketing experience?
No. Templates, wizard steps, and built-in guidance walk you through each decision. You focus on your offer — BlitzFunnel handles the technical setup.
Will this work with my checkout or offer link?
Yes. Paste any valid https URL — your store checkout, product page, affiliate hop link, or demo signup. Outbound clicks can pass UTM parameters and tracking IDs.
How does pricing compare to funnel SaaS tools?
BlitzFunnel Pro is a one-time or annual WordPress license — not a per-funnel monthly fee. You pay for hosting and email separately, which is why many teams switch from $97–$297/mo platforms.
How do I activate Pro after purchase?
Install BlitzFunnel Pro, then paste your license key under BlitzFunnel → Pro License in WordPress admin. Pro unlocks immediately alongside Free.
What if it does not convert?
Pro is covered by a 14-day money-back guarantee. Start with the free plugin to validate your offer and funnel flow before upgrading.
Still need help? support@appestra.com · BlitzFunnel