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Shared Files – Frontend File Upload Form & Secure File Sharing

Shared Files – Frontend File Upload Form & Secure File Sharing

Description

File management plugin featuring frontend file upload form, download manager, statistics and download log.

The best file sharing plugin for WordPress

Shared Files is a powerful WordPress plugin that allows you to securely share and manage files, documents and downloads directly from your WordPress site.

With features like user permissions, frontend file upload, and download tracking, it’s the perfect solution for businesses, educational institutions, and anyone needing to share files easily and securely.

Install Shared Files today and enhance your WordPress site’s file management capabilities.

You can also optionally collect new leads by asking for contact info before showing the files.

Get the Shared Files plugin and stay neatly organized and managed with your documents and files.

Shared Files provides an interface for uploading and managing a large group of documents and files easily with numerous layout options and shortcodes for inserting downloadable files anywhere on the website.

  • Controlled and isolated files from the media library, making it simple to list shared files on the WordPress website
  • Frontend uploader and file manager functionality to upload files
  • View supported files in the browser, including photos, movies, and other types of files (including lightbox view)
  • Search functionality to easily and quickly find uploaded documents

Download Manager

  • Top 50 most popular files
  • Collect leads by asking for contact info before showing the file(s)
  • Download log of all file downloads
  • Search log of all searches made in the front end
  • Download counter for all files
  • Front end search from all files
  • Add tags to files
  • Allow visitors to upload files without logging in
  • Allow only logged in users to upload files
  • Enable support for any file type
  • File manager in the WP admin area

These are just some of the highlights offered by the Shared Files plugin.

Getting started with this file management plugin

Installing and getting started with organizing your files is super simple when you are using Shared Files plugin. Let’s see how!

Start managing your files right inside WordPress admin with 2 steps:

  1. Add some files and documents from WP admin > Shared Files > File Manager.
  2. Insert one of these shortcodes to any page or post on your site.
    • [shared_files] (default file list)
    • [shared_files_simple] (simple file list)
    • [shared_files file_upload=1] (file list with frontend uploader)

That’s it! The files are now listed for downloading.

File Management

Shared Files for WordPress has a file manager that allows adding files by the following actions:

  • Adding file name
  • Choosing the file
  • Setting the date for the file
  • Setting the expiration date for the file
  • Adding file description
  • And many more

The plugin is extremely simple to use while also being scalable for a big number of files all thanks to a bulk of features offered by Shared Files plugin.

Host local downloads – an alternative solution to Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive

Use this download manager plugin as an alternative to Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive to list the downloads directly on your WordPress site instead of an external service.

Media Gallery

Create a media gallery of images (JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP and AVIF are supported formats) and allow users to upload their own images.

File Manager

Use the file manager at WP admin / Shared Files / File manager to add the files. Then use one of the shortcodes listed at WP admin / Shared Files / Shortcodes to list the downloads anywhere on your site.

Files of any type

Shared Files is a file sharing solution for WordPress that allows sharing numerous types of files with ease, including

  • PDF
  • Word
  • PowerPoint
  • XLS
  • Images (JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP and AVIF)
  • YouTube videos
  • Any file type can be activated from the plugin settings
  • File folders – this is particularly important for big teams for effective collaboration

File search

What is the purpose of a file-sharing plugin if not allowing you to easily and quickly find the exact file you’re looking for. This is what Shared Files plugin offers to it’s users.

Powerful and fast file search functionality based on various defined categories, such as file name, description, and more makes it super easy for Shared Files plugin users to track and find the exact file/document they’re looking for.

Previewing files

This file managing plugin allows a team to upload files onto the WordPress admin, collaborate with each other, and most importantly administrator and users can preview the files on the browser before going live to ensure the accuracy of the uploaded file.

Download files

The files you have listed on your site are available for anyone to download by default. It’s also possible to manage, track and limit downloads by various settings.

Document / file tags

The best way to stay organized and seated with a bulk of files is to assign them tags. With a couple of tags, you can instantly categorize and label files for hassle-free searches down the road, and then find all of those files again easily.

Shared Files allows adding tags to files, either using the same tags as posts or a custom taxonomy.

File management

If your site is continuously growing there is definitely a need to handle the dozens of files and media you have out there. Luckily if you are using the Shared Files plugin, you don’t need any other add-ons.

File managing solution Shared Files not only helps to upload and organize files, but it also performs the task of the media library and file manager allowing to store and categorize files and images without the need for other third-party solutions.

Lightbox preview

Shared Files plugin offers the feature of opening YouTube videos or image files in a lightbox preview. Lightbox previews offer a number of benefits including the ability to customize, add content and update it when necessary, flexibility in location placement, and most importantly high visibility.

File upload

An exciting feature of the Shared Files WordPress file-sharing plugin is the ability of users or visitors to upload files. So any of the users having access can upload files right from the front end having their own contribution to a vast depository of website files.

It is critical to allow both visitors and users to upload files/documents, particularly allowing to do it from the frontend as it requires the least effort.

File sharing

For a team collaboration or a group of developers working on the same website, it’s crucial to be able to constantly share files and be able to preview the files others have shared.

The Shared Files plugin has thought of it. The plugin allows the quick and easy share of uploaded files with various users with access.

FTP upload

Using an FTP server is a common solution for businesses that want to keep their data safe. File manager enables the administrators and users to upload files using File Transfer Protocol (FTP). They can do it using a single-file or multi-file uploader.

Statistics

What is more important than having a statistics of your uploads! Shared Files plugin allows you to have constant eye on the uploaded files and documents by providing you with accurate file upload statistics and analysis.

Shared Files FREE – a simple solution for file management and download tracking

  • Fast search of all files targeting all the defined file/document categories, e.g. name and description
  • Frontend file upload with tag support for logged-in users
  • Wait for the Countdown page with a counter and automatic download when the counter reaches zero
  • Any file type upload (audio, video, image, PDF, Word, file folder, etc)
  • SVG icons of high quality for 25 various file types, plus individual custom icons for various file types
  • Browser preview of the uploaded files/documents
  • Lightbox view for images and videos (, YouTube, mp4, webm, ogg, mov)
  • Functions as a file explorer, download manager, and file manager
  • WordPress Multisite compatible
  • A lead generation tool for WordPress

Shared Files PRO – a full featured download manager and file management plugin

  • Search filters based on categories, tags, and custom field data
  • Users and roles with different file-opening permissions
  • Downloads wait countdown page
  • More features for the frontend file uploader
  • Visitors/users can upload and add files to new categories
  • FTP files can be uploaded and activated with a single click
  • Upload multiple files
  • Allow any user role to edit files from the front end
  • Favorite files for both logged-in and non-logged-in users
  • Activate Media Library files
  • Sort files into groups
  • Alternatively, specify an external URL for the file and track its loads
  • When a file is downloaded or uploaded, you will receive an email notification
  • Set a file’s expiration date
  • Limit the number of downloads for each file
  • Display files in the site search results
  • Log downloader’s city and country
  • City and country also in the search log

This product includes GeoLite2 data created by MaxMind, available from maxmind.com

Demos

Additional resources

You can check more info about us on our website: https://www.sharedfilespro.com/

For any support queries or feature requests regarding the free version, please contact us at the support forum.

Follow the Shared Files blog to stay informed about the plugin and its advancements.

Do you want to effectively work with a lot of files by managing them quickly and easily? The solution is one – Shared Files!

How can I report security bugs?

Please see the first FAQ item below.

Screenshots

  • List of files available for download
  • Frontend file upload
  • Files listed in 2 columns (more layout options available)
  • File manager in admin area
  • Edit a single file
  • Search from all files (Pro)
  • Display only 1 specific file on page, using shortcode in post content (Pro)
  • Opening a password protected file (Pro)
  • Opening a file that’s download limit has been reached (Pro)
  • List files by category (Pro)

Blocks

This plugin provides 1 block.

  • Shared Files Embed one or all files from Shared Files.

Installation

  1. Activate the plugin from WordPress plugin directory or manually upload it to your site
  2. See the Help / Support page for further instructions

FAQ

How can I report security bugs?

You can report security bugs through the Patchstack Vulnerability Disclosure Program. The Patchstack team help validate, triage and handle any security vulnerabilities. Report a security vulnerability.

What happens to WordPress Media Library?

Nothing. The Shared Files plugin works completely outside WP media library and doesn’t affect how the Media Library works.

Can I use the plugin to share files?

Yes! The plugin’s is main idea is to share files on your site. You can list files on any of your site’s blog articles or pages by adding the appropriate shortcode there.

Do I have to pay for using the plugin?

The paid version of Shared Files has many features that might interest you, but you can use the Free version without restrictions as long as you want.

Do you offer support?

Of course! We offer support in the forums here on WordPress.org and if you have a paid subscription we offer priority email support here.

Does Shared Files work with some other plugin?

The plugin is widely tested with other plugins, but if there’s any kind of compatibility issue with some other plugin we will do our best to solve the issue.

Is this a download manager, file sharing plugin, media library or what?

You can use the Shared Files plugin for any purpose that suits your needs. The basic idea is to present a user friendly list of downloadable files. 🙂

Can the visitors or logged in users upload files?

You may add the file upload form to any page on your site, and any visitor or logged in user who has access to that page, can upload files.

Can I use FTP to upload files?

You can use FTP in the paid version. There is a feature that allows you to upload files using FTP and then activate them for the plugin with a single click.

Can I use the plugin only as a file manager in the WordPress admin area?

Yes, you can use it as a file manager like that. You don’t necessarily have to add any publicly available list of files on your site, you can just use the admin tools to manage files.

Who can download the files?

Anyone who can open the page which contains the file list is able to download the files. It is also possible to restrict the permissions in the Pro version of the plugin.

Reviews

December 19, 2024 1 reply
Easy to use and it’s the best tool to use for sharing files. The free version is great and the paid version is worth getting for the multiple file capabilities.
December 14, 2024
This plugin makes building a site for sharing documents easy. It offers a comprehensive set of features and options. Many of these are only availble in paid versions, but the free version is still useful. However, files are accessible for anonymous website visitors if they happen to know the full URL, so the files are not completely secure.
December 28, 2023 1 reply
Its a great plugin to working with!I use it on a photography and Affinity site.
October 18, 2023 1 reply
Easy to setup, great feature. If more custom layout, and simple list view will be great.
Read all 33 reviews

Contributors & Developers

“Shared Files – Frontend File Upload Form & Secure File Sharing” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

Contributors

“Shared Files – Frontend File Upload Form & Secure File Sharing” has been translated into 4 locales. Thank you to the translators for their contributions.

Translate “Shared Files – Frontend File Upload Form & Secure File Sharing” into your language.

Interested in development?

Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.

Changelog

1.7.46 – 2025-02-28

  • Fix: solved an issue with allowing more custom file types for file upload

1.7.45 – 2025-02-11

  • Improvements to the mime type detection in file upload

1.7.44 – 2025-02-05

  • Bug fixes

1.7.43 – 2025-02-02

  • Tweaks and fixes

1.7.42 – 2025-01-27

  • Tweaks and fixes

1.7.41 – 2025-01-23

  • Bug fixes

1.7.40 – 2025-01-13

  • Minor tweaks and fixes

1.7.39 – 2024-12-29

  • Fix: the download button is now hidden from the file card also for images (if defined so in the settings)
  • Tweaks and fixes

1.7.38 – 2024-11-19

  • Tweaks and fixes

1.7.37 – 2024-10-26

  • Search log improvements

1.7.36 – 2024-10-23

  • New feature: Search log. It is now possible to log all searches made in the front end. Can be activated from the plugin settings, Search log tab.

1.7.35 – 2024-10-12

  • Bug fixes

1.7.34 – 2024-09-24

  • Tweaks & fixes

1.7.33 – 2024-09-13

  • Tweaks & fixes

1.7.32 – 2024-08-03

  • Bug fixes

1.7.31 – 2024-08-02

  • New setting: Show Delete button for logged in user’s own files (plugin settings, File upload tab)

1.7.30 – 2024-07-30

  • Bug fixes

1.7.28 – 2024-07-28

  • Gutenberg block added: Shared Files (category: media)

1.7.27 – 2024-07-26

  • Added support for WebP and AVIF images

1.7.26 – 2024-07-14

  • Fixed an issue with PHP 8.3
  • Bug fixes

1.7.25 – 2024-06-01

  • Updated Google preview URL
  • Fixed an issue where the domain wasn’t added to the preview URL

1.7.24 – 2024-05-24

  • New settings for front end uploader: File title required and Description required

1.7.23 – 2024-05-23

  • Bug fixes

1.7.22 – 2024-05-19

  • Added compatibility for WordPress Playground

1.7.21 – 2024-05-19

  • Bug fixes

1.7.20 – 2024-04-26

  • Bug fixes

1.7.19 – 2024-03-31

  • Bug & layout fixes

1.7.18 – 2024-03-17

  • Fix: the minimum file card height now works correctly in multiple column layout and smaller card sizes
  • Fixed an issue where the file preview url would get first part of path duplicated when WP is installed in a subdirectory
  • New setting (File upload tab): Set the status of uploaded files to “Pending Review”

1.7.17 – 2024-03-07

  • Bug fixes

1.7.16 – 2024-02-20

  • New field for files: Filename. You can now edit the filename in the url after the file has been added.
  • Fix: the filename in the url no longer gets “-1”, “-2” etc. appended if a file with the same name exists in the same directory
  • Bug fixes

1.7.15 – 2024-02-08

  • Fixed some layout issues on certain type of themes

1.7.14 – 2024-01-18

  • Bug fixes + tweaks

1.7.13 – 2024-01-14

  • Layout tweaks & fixes

1.7.12 – 2023-12-26

  • Bug fixes + tweaks

1.7.11 – 2023-12-13

  • CSS tweaks

1.7.10 – 2023-11-30

  • Minor CSS tweaks

1.7.9 – 2023-11-28

  • Fix: the search results are now presented in the same amount of columns as the default file list
  • Fix: when the search input value is removed, the default file list is now shown with the pagination, instead of all available files as search results

1.7.8 – 2023-11-02

  • New fields for contacts / lead generation: name, phone and description (see plugin settings, Lead generation tab)
  • CSV export for creating a csv file from all contacts / leads (WP admin / Shared Files / Leads)
  • New PHP action shared_files_add_lead, fires when a new lead / contact is added

1.7.7 – 2023-10-21

  • New feature: ask for an email address before showing the file(s) – add the parameter ask_for_email=1 to a shortcode to ask for an email address before showing the file(s) to the user, these emails can be found from WP admin / Shared Files / Contacts. See also WP admin / Shared Files / Shortcodes for details regarding the shortcodes.
  • Number of top downloads increased from 20 to 50

1.7.6 – 2023-09-09

  • Bug fixes

1.7.5 – 2023-08-16

  • Tweaks and fixes

1.7.4 – 2023-08-07

  • Added the CSS class shared-files-card-12345 to all file cards (the list item, “li”) in all shortcodes, where 12345 is the file id
  • New setting for simple list: Show download counter
  • New setting for simple list: Title for download counter

1.7.3 – 2023-07-25

  • Compatibility for WP 6.3

1.7.2 – 2023-07-21

  • Minor tweaks and fixes

1.7.1 – 2023-07-05

  • Bug fixes

1.7.0 – 2023-06-30

  • Various tweaks & fixes

1.6.99 – 2023-06-10

  • Bug fixes

1.6.98 – 2023-05-06

  • Bug fixes

1.6.97 – 2023-03-19

  • New setting: Prevent search engines from indexing files uploaded using front end uploader

1.6.96 – 2023-01-08

  • New settings for download log: Log downloader user data, Log downloader IP, Log downloader user agent and Log referer url
  • New action: shared_files_frontend_file_uploaded (fires when a file has been uploaded using the front end uploader), more information at https://www.sharedfilespro.com/docs/php-actions/

1.5.0 – 2019-12-09

  • New licensing model (separate free and paid version)

1.0.0 – 2018-07-15

  • Initial release