Simple File List Documentation Page 1 of 27

SIMPLE FILE LIST

Wordpress Plugin
Provides a List of Your Files on Your Website

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support@simple [Link] Simple File List Documentation Rev 10/22
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Documentation

About the Plugin 3

Simple File List 3
The Admin File List 4
File Actions 4
Displaying the File List 5
Displaying a Sub-Folder 5
Plugin Settings 6
File List Settings 6
File Upload Settings 12
Noti cation Settings 15
The Tools Tab 17
Pro Extensions 18
Search & Pagination 18
File Access Manager 19
Getting Started with Access Manager 21
Create Additional File Lists 23
Sending Files 24
FAQs 25
Getting Help 27
Website Resources 27

Note - There are two versions of Simple File List, the free version and the pro version. The free
version is well suited for displaying a single le list on your website. If you need to organize a
large number of les into folders and want more customization options please consider
upgrading to Simple File List Pro.

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About the Plugin

Simple File List
Simple File List is a plugin that
gives your WordPress website
a basic list of your les,
separate from the Media
Library, which allows your
users to open, download and
optionally upload and manage
les on the front-end.

To make the le list appear on

the front-end, you simply need
to place this shortcode snippet
on any page, post or widget:

[eeSFL]

You add and manage the les

and folders from the Admin
List (shown), where you can
add descriptions, rename les
and delete them.

Both the front-end list and

upload form can be shown to
users based on their role; SIMPLE FILE LIST PRO
Everyone (Public), Only
Logged-in User, Only Admins or
Nobody.

The le list has options to show the le size, modi cation date, date added and thumbnails.
Thumbnail images are generated automatically for images, videos and PDF les. You can sort
les by name, dates, size or randomly.

File names are automatically renamed to remove problem characters for URLs, but you can
add descriptions as well as assign a “nice name” to a le or folder. This is then shown in place
of the real le name and can contain any characters needed.

When a user uploads a le, you can collect their name, email and le description. This can
optionally be shown in the front-end le list.

You can also give your front-end users full control over renaming, moving, sending, deleting
and editing descriptions and le modi cation dates.

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The Admin File List

The Admin File List, on the back-end of your site, serves as the main location to manage your
les. Here you can add, edit and delete anything in the list. Use the function bar at the top to
create new folders and bulk edit checked items in the list.

File Actions
File Actions allow you to perform di erent operations on
the item.

• Open - Open the le in a new browser tab. The open

link will only appear for le types that browsers can
open.
• Download - Download the le directly to your
computer or device. Folders are downloaded as a ZIP
le.
• Copy Link - Copy the URL of the le and paste it into a
web page or email.
• Edit - Open an Edit Details dialog. Here you can
rename, add/edit a description or modify the dates of
the le.
EDIT FILE DIALOG BOX
• Delete - A conformation box will appear. If you choose
OK, the le will be deleted. Deleted Files and Folders
are gone FOREVER.
• Move - Open a selection of folders where you may move this le or folder to.
Whole folders and their sub-folders can be moved as easily as les.
• Extract - ZIP les will include an Extract action. Clicking this will create a folder of the same
name and in the same location, provided the folder does not already exist. (Pro only)
• Send - Open an overlay where you can dictate an email message. You can also add more
les to be sent. The message will contain links to the les chosen.
Requires Pro with the Simple File List Email extension.

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Displaying the File List

To display the le list, add the shortcode to a
page or post or widget. Simply paste this code
and update...

[eeSFL]

Use the plugin settings to de ne the appearance

of the list and the le actions available. There are
three types of list formats: table, tiles and ex.

Displaying a Sub-Folder
You can display any folder in your list on the
front-end by adding this shortcode attribute: BASIC FRONT-END LIST

[eeSFL folder="folder-a/folder-b/folder-c"]

To easily get the correct shortcode snippet, navigate to

the folder you want to display on the back-end, then copy
the snippet displayed at the top of the page.

Note - When you display a folder on the front-end, users can navigate downward into any sub-
folder, but cannot navigate upward above the folder you have speci ed.

Additional Shortcode Attributes

There are many optional shortcode attributes that allow you to over-ride the plugin settings.
You will only need to use these when you are showing a list in secondary locations. Use the
Get Shortcode tab to create highly customized shortcode snippets.

Folder Breadcrumb Trail

The Breadcrumb trail allows you to know where

you are within a folder hierarchy. You can see
each folder above your current location and click
on it to go there.

You can hide this using the plugin settings if you

wish to rely on the browser’s back button.

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Plugin Settings
Simple File List provides a full set of option settings that allow you to de ne exactly how you
want the list to behave and be displayed. Click on the List Settings tab on the back-end le
list to go to the File List Settings options.

File List Settings

File List Settings determine how your list appears and behaves. Use shortcode attributes to
over-ride for secondary list locations.

File List Details

Simple File List Pro allows you to de ne a custom le list directory. This directory must be
relative to your Wordpress home directory, and may not be within one of the Wordpress core
directories.

Note - Changing the directory will not a ect the les on the disk, but may cause the loss of le
descriptions, nice names and other information.

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File List Access

Front-End Display: You can choose to show the

list to everyone, only logged-in users, only Admin,
or not at all.

Back-End Access: You can choose to show the

Dashboard menu to user with any Wordpress role.

Front-End Management: Allow le editing and

deletion on the front side of the site.

If you check this box, ANYONE who can access

the page/post using the shortcode will be able to
rename or delete les.

To create multiple lists, each with its own settings

and extended front-end user access control,
consider adding the File Access Manager extension to Simple File List Pro.

File Folders

Show Breadcrumb
Shows the relative folder path above the list.

Sort Folders First

Shows the folders grouped together at the top of
the list, rather than sorted along with the les.

Show Folder Size

Show the total size of sub-folders. If unchecked,
the count of items within a folder will be shown.

Allow Folder Download

Allow front-end users to download entire folders
and sub-folders as a ZIP le.

When users click the download link, a zip le is

generated and a download link is presented.

Note - Zip les are temporarily stored in a temp

directory on your server, then deleted
automatically each hour.

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File List Style

There are three available front-end layouts to

choose from: Table, Tiles and Flex.

There are also two color themes to choose from:

Light and Dark. You can also choose not to use a
color theme.

Color themes use transparency and are designed

to accent your existing website theme colors. To
de ne your own colors and styles, choose “No
Theme” and then add the appropriate CSS to your
site theme.

File List Actions

Bulk File Download

Allow front-end users to download multiple les at
once as a Zip archive.

Show Open Action

Displays an “Open” action below the le name.

Note - The user’s browser determines if the le

can be opened. If it cannot the le will be
downloaded.

Show Download Action

Displays a “Download” action below the le
name. This option forces the le to be
downloaded, even if the browser can open it.

Show Copy Action

Displays a “Copy Link” action below the le
name. This will copy the URL of the le to the
user’s clipboard.

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File Sorting and Order

You can sort the le list by:

• Name
• Date Added
• Date Modi ed
• File Size
• Randomly

You can also choose the sorting order:

• Ascending (Going up)

• Descending (Going down)

Note - You can choose to display either the date added or the date modi ed regardless of the
date sorted. See the File List Display section below.

File List Performance

Disk Scanning

The le list consists of an array of data stored in

the Wordpress database. Fetching this data is
much faster than scanning the physical disk upon
each page load.

Because changes outside of the plugin (using FTP

or other means) need to be accounted for,
periodic re-scanning is done. You can choose
how often this occurs and whether it occurs as
the le list loads or by a Wordpress background
task.

If you rarely change your les outside of the

plugin, use the manual-only option for the fastest performance.

For each setting, you can always click the Re-Scan Files button on the Admin File List to force
a re-scan of the disk. More About Scanning

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Thumbnail Generation

Simple File List can automatically create thumbnail

images for certain le types; gif, jpg, png and tif
les, page 1 of PDF les, and the 1 second mark of
most video les.

Your server must be compatible and have the

required components for these features to work.
Check with your web host if one of these features
appears unavailable.

Thumbnail checking and generation happens when

les are uploaded and when the disk is scanned.

Smooth Scroll

Automatically scroll down to the list after an upload

or other action that refreshes the page.

This feature can be helpful if the le list is not near

the top of the page.

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File List Display

Show Thumbnail
Show the le thumbnail and de ne the label
text.

Show Date
Show the le date and de ne the label text.
Also choose which date is displayed; Added or
Changed

Show File Size

Show the le size and de ne the label text.

Show File Description

Show the le description and de ne the label
text.
The le description will appear below the le
name.

Show File Submitter

Show the le submitter information and de ne
the label text.

Show Header
Show the table header above the le list or not.

Show Extension
Show or hide the le extension ( .jpg ) in the le
name display. If you don't like the appearance
of the extension, this setting allows you to
remove it.

Preserve File Name

Whenever a les is upload, renamed, or found
as new on the disk, the name is sanitized to
make sure it can be used as a valid URL.
However, the original le name is always
preserved. This feature will show that as the Nice Name in place of the real le name in the list.

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File Upload Settings

The File Upload Settings tab contains all of the available options that de ne how the le upload
form appears and functions.

Upload Restrictions

Who Can Upload

Allow anyone to upload, only logged-in users,
only administrators or nobody.

Note - If you want to restrict uploading by

WordPress users or roles, add the File Access
Manager extension to Simple File List Pro.

Upload Job Limits

Upload Limit
Set the maximum number of les that may be
uploaded per submission.

Maximum File Size

The maximum le size allowed will be detected
and set. You can lower this if needed.

Note - There are two PHP INI variables which limit

your maximum upload le size: post_max_size
AND upload_max_ lesize

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Allow Overwriting

Overwrite or Save as New

Usually new les using an existing name will be
numbered so a le is not overwritten. Check this
box and existing les will be overwritten instead.

Allowed File Types

File Extensions
Add the le extensions you would like to accept.
Separate each with a comma.

Only use the le types you absolutely need.

Common le types include:

• Images: gif, jpg, jpeg, png, tif

• Documents: pdf, doc. docx, ppt, txt, rtx
• Audio: wav, wmv, wma, avi
• Video: mov, mp4, m4v, mp3
• Archives: zip, dmg

Note - Simple File List will not allow for certain potentially dangerous le types to be uploaded.

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Get File Submitter Information

Upload Description
Display a text area input so users may add a
description to the le, or group of les, being
uploaded.

Submitter Information
Get the le submitter's name, email and
description.

For logged-in users, their name and email

address are automatically added, so those inputs
will not be displayed.

This information will be included within the

upload noti cation email and added to the le
details, which can be shown along with the le.

Upload Form Display

Upload Form Position

Choose to display the upload form either above
or below the le list.

Con rmation
Choose the show an upload con rmation page
after a successful le upload job, or simply go
back to the le list.

Show Upload Limits

Show the user information about what can be
uploaded: le size, number and le types.

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Noti cation Settings

If selected, each time a le is uploaded on the front-side of your website an email will be sent
to the address de ned.

Send Notification
Send an email notice when a le is uploaded via website's front-side.

Note - Noti cations are not sent when les are uploaded on the back-end.

Notice Recipients

Notice Email
This is the address the notice is sent to.

Copy to Email
Send a copy of each notice email to this
address.

Blind Copy to Email

Blind copy notice emails here. No recipients
see this address.

Note - You can add more than one email

address for each input. Separate multiple
addresses with a comma.

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Message Details

Your Name
The visible name in the From eld.

Reply Address
If someone replies to a noti cation message, it
will go to this address.

Notification Message
Message Subject
The noti cation email subject line.

Message Body
This will be the text for the le upload noti cation messages. To insert le information and link,
use this shortcode: [ le-list] To insert a link pointing to the le list, us: [web-page]

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The Tools Tab

The Tools tab allows you options if you’d like to reset the le list and settings to the defaults.

Reset the File Array

Use this tool only if your le list array has become corrupted or if you wish to clear all
descriptions and user information.

Reset the List Settings

This tool simply resets the le list settings back to the defaults.

Delete Orphaned Thumbnail Files

Thumbnail les for images and videos are generated when the le is detected. If the le is later
moved, renamed or deleted outside of the plugin, the thumbnail le will remain. This tool allows
you to delete any thumbnail that doesn’t have an associated le.

Thumbnail les are stored in the .thumbnails folder, located within the main le’s folder.

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Pro Extensions
The free version of Simple File List provides the base features needed to post a single list of
les. However, if you need more user access control or have a large number of les, upgrade to
Simple File List Pro to have the ability to add extensions.

If an extension includes new settings, these will be added to the Extension Settings tab.

Search & Pagination

This extension adds le searching and pagination functionality to Simple File List Pro. It is
designed to make very large le lists more manageable.

Clicking on a date entry box will bring up a date picker. You can search for les with dates
before, after or between two dates.

Use the text box to search le names, descriptions and submitter information. Text searches
are case-insensitive. You can search for le types by just typing in the extension (pdf).

Search & Pagination Options

Search on the Front-End

You can disable the search bar on the front-end and
only use it on the back-end.

Search Parameters
You can choose to show either the date entry, text
entry or both.

Date Type to Search

When searching by date, you can search either the
date the le was changed or the date it was added.

Enable Pagination
Break up long le lists into smaller sections. A
navigation bar will appear below the le list.

Choose Page Size

De ne how many les will be shown in each
pagination section.

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Search Form Shortcode

You can also use a shortcode to place a search form anywhere on your website.

[eeSFLS permalink=“[Link]

The permalink value will be the page address where the le list you want to search is located.

File Access Manager

This extension adds the ability to create additional le lists, each with its own settings and user
access permissions. Restrict access to les and lists based on WordPress user or role.

Create Five Types of File Lists

• Restricted Mode
Restrict access to all of the les by default. Grant access to speci c les to speci c users
and roles.
• User Mode
Restrict le list access to a speci c Wordpress user.
• Group Mode
Restrict le list access to a speci ed group of Wordpress users.
• Limited Mode
Restrict le list access to all except Wordpress users matching a speci ed role or with a
minimum role or higher.
• Normal Mode
Do not restrict access. Files are viewable by anyone who can reach the le list page. Files
may also be linked-to from outside of your website.

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Plugin Settings

These settings apply to all le lists. They can be found be going to the “All File Lists” tab, then
to the “Access Settings” tab.

Minimum Role
De ne the minimum role to be considered when
adding users to a list. This helps keep the choices
manageable if you have many subscribers.

Blind Copy Admin

Choose to notify the WordPress Admin for each le
uploaded for all lists. This address is located on the
WordPress Settings page.

Extension Settings
These settings can be found by going to the “File
List Settings” tab, then to the “Extension Settings”
tab.

Maximum List Size

Set a limit for the maximum size of a le list. When
this is exceeded the upload form will not appear
until some les are removed or the limit is raised.

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Getting Started with Access Manager

Step 1: Activate the File Access Manager

Make sure the main Simple File List Pro plugin is active,
then activate the File Access Manager extension plugin.

Go to the File List Pro settings menu.

Step 2: Select the Mode

Go to the File List Pro menu item. You will see this dialog asking you which type of mode you
want to apply to your current list. Make your selection and the click save. You can always
change this later.

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Step 3: Define the Operations Permissions

Next, de ne the le operations permissions allowed on the front-end. For each operation
choose from these permissions:

• Nobody – The feature is disabled.

• This User / This Group (For User and Group modes)
• Minimum Role – Only logged-in user with this role or above.
• Match role – Only for users with this speci c role.
• Anybody – Everyone, including public users.

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Create Additional File Lists

After you have de ned the mode for your main le list, you can create additional le lists for
other applications. To create a new le list, go to the "All File Lists” tab, then to the “Create
List" tab.

When a new list is created it uses the settings from the main le list, so be sure to go through
the settings tabs for the new list to ensure they are what you need.

Note - Once you create a new le list, the directory location cannot be changed. Create a new
le list using the new directory location.

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Step 5: Place the Shortcode

To display the list on your website, go to the Admin File List and copy the shortcode snippet
displayed at the top of the page:

[eeSFL list=“2"]

You can also create a customized shortcode for secondary display locations on the Get
Shortcode tab. Place the shortcode snippet onto any Page, Post or Widget. Be sure to test the
le list visibility and operations permissions using while logged-in as an intended user or role.

Note - If you omit the list attribute, the Main File List will be displayed. If the ID does not have
an associated le list, no list will be displayed.

Sending Files
This extension adds the ability to easily send emails
with links to one or more les within the list.

Click on the Send le action below the le name

within the list to open the input dialog box. To add
more les, click the “Add More Files” button.

Fill in the desired addresses, the subject line and

the message body.

Links to the selected les will be added to the

message.

Plugin Settings

Allow File Sending

Choose to allow le sending on the front-end.

Blind Copy Self

Choose to send a blind copy (BCC) of each email
to the list administrator.

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FAQs

Can I place multiple shortcodes on a single page?

Yes, with limitations. When placing more than one le list on a single page, only the rst list
displayed will have full functionality. Subsequent le lists will be limited to displaying only les.
Sub-folders, front-end management controls and the upload form will not appear.

Are the le uploaded to the Media Library?

No, les are uploaded to a separate folder inside your general WordPress uploads folder or
another location you specify.

Can I limit the access to my les to only logged-in users?

Yes, you can limit access to Admins or anyone who is logged in. If you need to restrict access
by WordPress user or role, consider the File Access Manager extension to Simple File List Pro.

Can people who upload overwrite existing les?

Not by default. If a le is uploaded having the same name as one already present, a series
number is appended to the name ( lename_2.ext ). If you want les to be replaced, uncheck
the box on the Upload Settings tab.

Why does the le sometimes get renamed when it is uploaded?

File names must adhere to the rules of web URLs. Some characters are not allowed and will
make the le unreachable if used. These are replaced upon upload. More Information

Can I place di erent lists in di erent places?

Yes, you can place the same list or di erent sub-folders on as many pages as needed. Using
the File Access Manager extension you can place completely separate le lists.

Can I approve les before they appear on my website?

Yes. You will use two folders, one for an inbox and another for the outbox (approved les).
When someone uploads a le to the inbox folder, you simply move it to the outbox folder if
approved. You will use two di erent shortcodes, one only showing the upload form and the
other for only showing the list. Example

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Can I Force Acceptance of Terms Before Viewing or Uploading Files?

This isn’t a part of Simple File List, but you can accomplish this with a little code added to your
website theme. Here’s how

How Do I Prevent Users From Downloading Files?

If users can view les, you cannot prevent them from downloading them. More Information

Can I Prevent Direct URL Access to My Files from Outside My Website?

Some website owners do not want anyone from outside their own site to be able to access the
les in their list directly, sometimes called “hot linking”. Simple File List adds hotline protection
automatically unless you choose to show the les to everyone.*

*Apache web servers only

Are the les in the list searchable by Google and other search engines?

Only if you place a list on the front-end of your website which is viewable to the general public.
If you choose USER, ADMIN or NO, in the List Settings these les will not be indexed by
search engines.

Can I customize the appearance of the list and uploader?

Yes, the CSS is easily over-ridden, making it easy for anyone with CSS knowledge to
customize the page design. More Information

Can I change the appearance of the date?

Yes, the le date format uses the format selected in your WordPress Settings. Go to Settings >
General

Can I create custom behavior after an upload completes?

Yes, you can hook into the actions "eeSFL_UploadCompleted" and

"eeSFL_UploadCompletedAdmin" and do pretty much anything you want upon upload
completion.

What is the maximum upload le size?

This is a setting that you choose in the le con guration. The absolute maximum size allowed
will depend on your hosting setup. which is automatically detected.

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Getting Help
What if I have trouble or need assistance? Will you help?

Yes! I enjoy helping people. Please contact me with any issues using my support ticket system.
I usually respond within 24 hours.

Website Resources
The website has many helpful resources. Visit [Link] [Link]/documentation/

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