FileDeck – Document Library & Download Manager

01 / SOURCE DETAILS

About this tool

FileDeck is a WordPress plugin for documents, downloads and client portals. It turns file collections into a fast, searchable document library with table, grid, gallery and folder layouts; tracks and protects every download; and gives each client a private document portal. Instant search filters the library as visitors type. For teams that need more than a file list, Pro adds document management proper — version history, review and approval cycles, scheduled expiry and a full audit trail. See it in action: try the live demo — the real plugin with a full sample library, no signup — or read the documentation . A free version that’s actually usable. Every layout, every filter, and the Gutenberg block are free, and you can list as many documents as you like. Nothing essential is locked away just to force an upgrade. What people use FileDeck for Safety data sheets and product documentation – SDS, manuals and spec sheets searchable by product code, with a QR code per sheet. SDS library Meeting minutes, agendas and newsletters – filed by year, with a free year filter. Minutes archive School policies and forms – for parents, with the library’s interface in nine languages. For schools Staff policies and procedures – an intranet policy library; Pro limits it to staff and tracks review dates. Client portals and secure file sharing – Pro gives each client a private document area. Client portal guide Annual reports and public documents – reports, public notices and tender documents. What you won’t find elsewhere Full-text document search – Pro searches inside your PDFs, Office and text files — text is extracted on your own server; only the optional OCR for scanned documents sends files off-site, and only when you switch it on One-click migration – switching plugins? FileDeck imports the whole library, files and all (see below) Large file uploads – drawings, scans and video upload in resumable chunks, so your host’s upload limit is no longer the ceiling and a dropped connection resumes instead of restarting Library event webhooks – a signed JSON POST when a document is published, updated, retired or deleted; point Zapier, Make or your own system at it Client areas – give each client a private document portal with uploads and email notifications Free features Four layouts – searchable table, responsive card grid, a thumbnail-forward document gallery, or collapsible folders that follow your category hierarchy, sub-folders and all, in the order you choose Instant search – filters as you type, no page reloads Date-added filter – narrow a library to the past week, month or year (optional) Year filter – a dropdown of the years the library’s documents span, read from their dates, for minutes, newsletters and reports filed by year (optional); year="2025" pins a library to one year Reference number – a part number, document code or form number on every document: searchable, and a sortable column Group by category – one library rendered as a titled section per category, with one search box across all of them, instead of a stacked library per category AI-agent ready – read-only abilities for WordPress 6.9’s Abilities API, so agents can search the library through MCP Sortable columns – title, date, size, type, downloads, and more Unlimited documents – no cap; search scales automatically as your library grows Download tracking – per-document download counts Force download or open in browser – choose per document whether the button saves the file or opens it in the browser Library builder – design a library with a live preview on your own site, in your theme, then create the page in one click or copy its shortcode Gutenberg block + shortcode + six page builders – a native block, the [filedeck] shortcode, and elements for Elementor (Library, Document Embed — also findable as “PDF Viewer” — and Search), Bricks, Divi, WPBakery (Visual Composer), Avada (Fusion Builder) and Beaver Builder Translation-ready, nine languages bundled – the library’s front end ships translated into Hungarian, Slovak, Spanish (Spain and Mexico), German, French (France and Canada), Italian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese and Simplified Chinese, with a .pot template for translating it into any other language; documents and categories translate with WPML, Polylang and compatible plugins, and a bundled wpml-config.xml declares how document data behaves ⌘K command palette – site-wide quick-search overlay that jumps straight to any document Sidebar widgets & Popular Documents block – Recent Documents and Top Downloads widgets for any sidebar, plus a Popular Documents block that puts the most-downloaded (or newest) list on any page; access-aware, so restricted documents never show to someone who cannot open them QR codes – generate a printable QR for any document (offline, nothing leaves your site) for noticeboards and posters Multi-select filters with counts – pick several categories or tags at once, see how many documents sit behind every option before you click, and drop any single one from the active-filter bar; put the filters above the library or under the column headings, and click a category in the table to filter by it Multi-column sorting – click a heading to sort, shift-click a second to break the ties (file type, then newest first) Shareable filtered views – search, filters, sort order and page all live in the URL with a one-click “copy link”; hover previews show a thumbnail and file details Pagination your way – page numbers, a Load more button or infinite scroll, plus an optional fixed library height that scrolls the documents in place External links – list documents hosted on Google Drive, Dropbox, SharePoint, or any URL — pasted Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drive links embed as live previews Custom field & taxonomy columns – add any post meta (cf:field) or taxonomy (tax:slug) as a column; Pro adds the field builder that defines those fields, fields that apply only to chosen categories, and one-click import of your existing ACF field groups Document previews – lightbox preview for PDFs and images, and featured images open in a lightbox from the image column Inline document embed – embed a single document as an always-visible viewer on any page with the [filedeck_embed] shortcode, the Document Embed block or the Elementor widget: PDFs, images and Google links, with width and height controls, an optional download link and a full-screen button Single document pages – a page per document listing its reference, dates, categories and tags (you pick which), with a download button Standalone search & links – [filedeck_search] , [filedeck_login] , and [filedeck_download] shortcodes Styles to match any theme – a full design-token system: a “Match my theme” preset that inherits your theme’s colours, Minimal/Bordered/Compact presets, a built-in light/dark/auto colour scheme, accent + surface + text colours, plus link styles, custom download-button text, empty messages and pagination — no CSS required, and every element is a --fdk-* variable when you want to go further Any file type – PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OpenDocument, images, audio, video, and more Lightweight – no jQuery on the frontend; assets load only where a library appears Old links keep working – after a migration, old download links, item pages and shortcodes open your FileDeck documents, even if Pro lapses Theme template overrides – copy a template into your theme’s filedeck/ directory to replace library markup without forking the plugin Accessible – keyboard-sortable columns, ARIA labels, screen-reader friendly Switching from another plugin? If you’re looking for a Download Monitor alternative, a WordPress Download Manager alternative, or a Document Library Pro alternative, FileDeck Pro imports your existing library in one click — documents, nested categories, tags, files, and (where the source records them) download counts and access rules — read straight from your own database. Shared Files libraries import the same way. No export files, no column mapping, safe to re-run, and we’ll help you move free if you’d like a hand. FileDeck Pro Upgrade for the features organizations need — from $59/year, your renewal never increases, and every purchase is covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee: Full-text search inside files – search the text inside PDFs, Office documents and text files (optional OCR makes scanned PDFs searchable too); extraction runs on your own server, and results tell you which page of a PDF the match is on so you can jump straight to it Access control – role restrictions on categories, password protection on a category or any single document, plus assigning a document to specific named people or to a group you define once and reuse — an assigned document is hidden from everyone else, not padlocked. Site-wide IP rules can limit downloads to your own networks, and a refused visitor can be sent to a page of your own instead of a dead end Protected files – restricted files move to a deny-all vault and stream only after an access check, so direct file URLs stop working; optional signed links expire, for sharing with someone who can’t log in, and a single-use link works for exactly one download and then stops. Optional hotlink protection refuses downloads requested from other sites’ pages Share button on every document – copy the link, open the device share sheet, or send it by email, X, Facebook, LinkedIn or WhatsApp; shares the document page, never the file, and loads nothing from any network until a visitor picks one Client areas – per-client private portals with front-end submission, moderation and new-document emails; admit people by name, by group, by email domain (a whole company, without listing everyone), or by membership plan (MemberPress, Paid Memberships Pro, WooCommerce Memberships, Restrict Content Pro, s2Member) — plan access ends when the membership lapses. Add a personal download history, new/already-downloaded markers that show what changed since each person’s last visit,

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Getting started

Upload the plugin to wp-content/plugins/filedeck , or install it from Plugins → Add New in your WordPress admin. Activate the plugin. A Document Library page is created automatically. Go to Documents → Add New , add a title, and attach a file (from the Media Library, or paste an external URL). It appears in your library instantly; organize documents with categories and tags. Add the Document Library block to any page or post — or use the [filedeck] shortcode, e.g. [filedeck layout="grid" category="policies" columns="title,excerpt,size,link" per_page="20"] — to display your library. The FAQ lists the shortcode options. Adjust layouts, columns, and styling under Documents → Settings .

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Frequently asked questions

Is there a document limit? No. The frontend automatically handles large libraries: small libraries get a zero-round-trip inline search index; larger ones paginate efficiently. Can I link to files hosted elsewhere? Yes — each document can use an uploaded file or an external URL (Google Drive, Dropbox, SharePoint, S3, YouTube, etc.). Does it track downloads? Yes, every document shows a running download count (visible in the admin list and optionally as a frontend column). Does it work with my theme? FileDeck uses minimal, namespaced styles designed to inherit your theme’s typography, and works with any properly-coded theme. What do I get in the free version? Every layout — table, grid, gallery and folders — plus instant search, sortable columns, multi-select filters with counts, the Gutenberg block, shortcodes, native Elementor, Bricks and Divi elements, download tracking, and no cap on how many documents you can list. Pro adds full-text search inside your files, access control, version history and one-click migration from other plugins. Can visitors search inside my PDFs and Word documents? With Pro, yes. Full-text search reads the contents of your PDFs, Office and text files — with optional OCR for scanned documents — and it runs on your own server, so your documents stay on your site. Can I restrict documents to certain people? With Pro, yes. Restrict a whole category or a single document by role, by password, to logged-in users, to named people, to a group you define once and reuse, or to everyone with an email address at a given domain. Restricted files move into a protected folder and are streamed through FileDeck rather than served from a guessable URL. Site-wide IP rules can additionally limit downloads to chosen networks. Does it work with Elementor, Bricks or Divi? Yes, and in the free version. FileDeck ships native Elementor widgets — Library, Document Embed (also listed as “PDF Viewer”) and Search — plus Library and Document Embed elements for Bricks and Divi. They set the common options directly; for anything else, design the library in the Library builder and paste its shortcode into your page builder’s shortcode element. Can I move my library over from another plugin? With Pro, yes — in one click, read straight from your own database, with no export files and no column mapping. Supported sources include Download Monitor, WordPress Download Manager, Document Library Lite and Pro, Shared Files, Simple Download Monitor, Simple File List, FileBird, BSK PDF Manager, Download Attachments, WP Customer Area and Advanced File Manager. The import is safe to re-run. Once you deactivate Download Monitor, WordPress Download Manager, Simple Download Monitor, Shared Files or Simple File List, the free plugin keeps their old download links, item pages and shortcodes working. I use Simple File List — can I still install or update it? Not from the directory: its wordpress.org listing has been closed since 23 July 2026 (the directory gives the reason as a security issue). If you’d rather move, FileDeck imports your entire Simple File List library in one click — files, folders and descriptions — straight from your own database. What shortcode options are there? layout – table, grid, gallery, or folders columns – comma-separated: id, image, title, excerpt, content, categories, tags, date, modified, author, size, type, filename, downloads, views, preview, link ( views needs Pro activity logging) category – limit to category slugs (comma-separated) per_page – documents per page sort_by – title, date, modified, menu_order sort_order – asc or desc link_style – button, button_icon, button_icon_only, icon, icon_text, text dl_text – custom text for the download button/link (default “Download”) image_lightbox – set to 0 to stop featured images opening in a lightbox wrap – set to 0 to keep every document on a single truncated row scroll_offset – pixel offset for pagination jumps, for themes with a sticky header stable_columns – set to 0 to let table columns resize to whatever rows are showing (on by default: columns keep their width while visitors search) stable_height – set to 1 to also keep a table library at its first-page height while visitors search I’m on nginx — how do I protect restricted files? FileDeck moves restricted documents’ files into wp-content/uploads/filedeck-protected/ and drops in an .htaccess deny rule. Apache honours that automatically. nginx ignores .htaccess , so add one location block to your server config and reload nginx: location ^~ /wp-content/uploads/filedeck-protected/ { deny all; return 403; } Until that rule is in place, authorised downloads still work (they are streamed through FileDeck), but the raw files in that folder remain directly reachable. On Apache (and most managed WordPress hosts), no action is needed. What external services does FileDeck connect to? This plugin can connect to these external services, all only with your opt-in: Freemius — FileDeck uses Freemius to deliver plugin updates, and (for Pro customers) to activate licenses. On activation you are asked to opt in; if you decline, no data is sent and only anonymous update checks are made. If you opt in, Freemius receives basic environment data (site URL, WordPress/PHP versions, active theme/plugins) to power update delivery and diagnostics. This happens when you activate the plugin, opt in, activate a license, or check for updates. Freemius terms: https://freemius.com/terms/ — privacy policy: https://freemius.com/privacy/ FileDeck usage ping — only if you opted in to usage tracking above (and never otherwise), FileDeck sends a small anonymous ping to https://in.getfiledeck.com/telemetry once a week, plus once on days 1, 3 and 8 after a new install, to guide the product roadmap. It contains only which ping it is (weekly, or day 1, 3 or 8), the plugin/PHP/WordPress versions, the plan tier, a bucketed count of published documents (e.g. “11–50”), a handful of feature flags — on, off, or not-applicable when the feature isn’t in this build (search index, OCR, AI mode, subscriptions, sample library used), how far the setup wizard got (completed, skipped, dismissed, or not finished), how far the library builder was used (opened, a shortcode loaded, a page created), the dates (day only, no times) the plugin was installed and your first document was added and published — sample documents never count — whether an import in the last week had items that failed, a bucketed count of documents whose OCR stopped on an error, and a random identifier created on your site (not derived from your address, email or account) so that several pings from one site are counted once. It never includes document contents, file names, URLs, emails, IP-based profiles, or any personal data, and uninstalling FileDeck deletes the identifier. Declining or opting out of Freemius tracking disables it completely, and developers can switch it off with the filedeck_telemetry_enabled filter. FileDeck privacy policy: https://www.getfiledeck.com/privacy/ Cloud storage (Pro, optional) — if you connect a cloud provider under Documents → Cloud storage, FileDeck contacts that provider’s API using credentials you supply, only to list folders and fetch files you choose. Amazon S3 ( *.amazonaws.com , or the S3-compatible endpoint you configure), Dropbox ( api.dropboxapi.com , OAuth via dropbox.com ), Google Drive ( googleapis.com , OAuth via accounts.google.com ), and Microsoft OneDrive and SharePoint Online ( graph.microsoft.com , OAuth via login.microsoftonline.com ), and Box ( api.box.com , OAuth via account.box.com ; terms: https://www.box.com/legal/termsofservice). Nothing is sent to these services unless you set up a connection. Amazon S3 terms: https://aws.amazon.com/service-terms/ — Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/terms — Google: https://policies.google.com/terms — Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com/servicesagreement Scanned-PDF OCR (Pro, optional) — off by default. When you enable it, FileDeck sends PDFs that have no text layer to the FileDeck OCR service ( https://filedeck-ocr-production.up.railway.app , or a Service URL you set): each one you publish, or give a document as its new file, while OCR is on; and scans already in your library, or added on the Import & Export screen, when you press Send on the Search Index tab. Each file is sent with its name and your site’s Freemius install ID, which the service uses to confirm your license with Freemius. The service extracts the text and discards the file. FileDeck privacy policy: https://www.getfiledeck.com/privacy/ Bot protection & mailing lists (Pro, optional) — if you add CAPTCHA keys, the token from a completed check is verified against the service you selected: challenges.cloudflare.com for Cloudflare Turnstile (terms: https://www.cloudflare.com/website-terms/) or www.google.com for Google reCAPTCHA (terms: https://policies.google.com/terms). If you connect a mailing-list provider, captured lead names and emails are sent to the provider you chose — Mailchimp ( api.mailchimp.com , https://mailchimp.com/legal/) or Brevo ( api.brevo.com , https://www.brevo.com/legal/termsofuse/). Both are off until you configure them. The optional AI tier features (semantic search and Ask this library) are not part of this free plugin, and are not included in Pro. If you buy the AI tier and enable them with your own API key, the document text you choose to index is sent to the AI provider you pick (OpenAI, Anthropic, Voyage or Fireworks AI) to create embeddings and answers. They are off by default and never active in the free version.

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