FileDeck – Document Library, Download Manager & Client Portal

No. The frontend automatically handles large libraries: small libraries get a zero-round-trip inline search index; larger ones paginate efficiently.

Yes — each document can use an uploaded file or an external URL (Google Drive, Dropbox, SharePoint, S3, YouTube, etc.).

Yes, every document shows a running download count (visible in the admin list and optionally as a frontend column).

FileDeck uses minimal, namespaced styles designed to inherit your theme’s typography, and works with any properly-coded theme.

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.

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.

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.

Partly. Documents saved as drafts or set to Private stay out of your libraries. The free version does not lock the files themselves, though: a file in your uploads folder can be opened by anyone who has its exact address. Pro restricts documents by role, person, group or password and moves restricted files into a protected folder that serves them only after an access check.

Yes, with Pro. Restrict a category to a role, which covers any membership plugin that gives members a role, or admit people to a client area by membership plan (MemberPress, Paid Memberships Pro, WooCommerce Memberships, Restrict Content Pro, s2Member), by purchase (WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads) or by course (LearnDash, Tutor LMS, LifterLMS). Access ends when the membership, order or enrolment does.

Not completely: a browser that can show a file has the file, and a determined visitor can save it. The AI tier’s view-only mode refuses downloads while keeping the document readable in the browser and closes the direct file link, and watermarking stamps the reader’s name and the date on each PDF they get, so a leaked copy shows who it came from.

With Pro, yes. Attach files from Amazon S3 or any S3-compatible service (Cloudflare R2, Wasabi, DigitalOcean Spaces), Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, SharePoint or Box, and mirror protected files into your own bucket so downloads come from the bucket after FileDeck’s access check.

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.

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, and BSK PDF Manager’s old shortcodes too.

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.

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

Yes. In the free version, the Document Embed block, the Elementor widget and the [filedeck_embed] shortcode show a PDF on any page in the browser’s own viewer, with a full-screen button and an optional download link, and each document’s own page can show it too. Add page="5" to open a PDF at page 5. Pro adds a viewer served from your own site, with bookmarks, page thumbnails, links that work, find, zoom and print, that also shows protected and watermarked files; link to any page of it with #page=12 in the address.

Free: Document Library, Document Search (a search box that opens your library), Document Download (one file as a button, link or card), Popular Documents (most downloaded, newest, recently updated or related) and Document Embed. Pro adds blocks for the client portal, front-end submissions, the document changelog and, with the AI tier, Ask this library. Each has a shortcode for classic themes and page builders.

Libraries work with a keyboard and a screen reader: labelled search and filter controls, column headings you sort with the keyboard, and a contrast check that keeps buttons readable when a library takes on your theme’s colours. You can also switch on a “Request an accessible version” link on document pages, so visitors can ask for a document as an accessible PDF, in large print, as plain text or audio; requests are emailed to you and listed under Documents → Format requests.

Its scripts and styles load only on pages that show a library, embed or search box, and the front end uses no jQuery. Small libraries search from an index built into the page, with no request per keystroke; large ones fetch one page of results at a time from your server.

They stay. Your documents, categories, tags and files are kept unless you first tick “Delete all documents, categories, tags, and leads when the plugin is uninstalled” under Documents → Settings. Even then, the uploaded files stay in your Media Library.

The documentation is at getfiledeck.com/docs : getting started, each feature, and how-to guides. For questions about the free plugin, use the support forum here on WordPress.org. Pro customers can ask from the Help button in their dashboard or at getfiledeck.com/support .

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.

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 on a paid license only if you also allowed Freemius’s optional “View Diagnostic Info” (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 and once 8 days after a paid plan starts, to guide the product roadmap. It contains only which ping it is (weekly, day 1, 3 o