Description
PDF Gallery Viewer allows you to easily embed PDF galleries with live previews. It uses PDF.js to render the first page of each PDF directly in the browser, without relying on server-side libraries like Imagick. Each item includes a customizable title and a “View” button that opens the PDF in a modal viewer.
The layout is responsive and adapts from a multi-column grid to a single-column stack on smaller screens.
Key Features:
- Live thumbnail of first PDF page (via PDF.js) — lazy-loaded via IntersectionObserver
- Responsive layouts (Grid, List, or Slider)
- Modal viewer with zoom, navigation, and download
- Gutenberg block with layout selector and drag-and-drop file integration
- Tooltip + truncation for long titles
- Dynamic shortcode generation by category, tag, or post
- Sorting UI (Title / Filename / Manual drag & drop)
- Manual ordering with FIFO/LIFO behavior for newly added items
- Zero external requests — all assets (PDF.js, Font Awesome, Swiper.js) served locally
- Assets only load on pages that contain a gallery
- Settings page (Settings > PDF Gallery Viewer) for site-wide accent color, surface color, text color, corner radius, and default layout
- Per-gallery accent color override via the
accent_colorshortcode/block attribute
Usage
Basic usage:
[pdf_gallery url=”https://example.com/doc.pdf” title=”Document Title”]
Multiple items in a container:
[pdf_gallery_container layout=”grid”]
[pdf_gallery url=”…” title=”…”]
[pdf_gallery url=”…” title=”…”]
[/pdf_gallery_container]
Sorting / ordering:
[pdf_gallery_container layout=”grid” order_by=”title” order=”asc” ui=”1″]
…
[/pdf_gallery_container]
Manual ordering (UI drag & drop) with FIFO/LIFO for newly added items:
[pdf_gallery_container id=”my-gallery” layout=”grid” order_by=”manual” manual_mode=”fifo” ui=”1″]
…
[/pdf_gallery_container]
IMPORTANT: Manual ordering is managed by admins and saved server-side (post meta) so the order is the same for all visitors.
For reliable persistence, always set a stable id=”…” on each container (the Gutenberg block does this automatically).
Dynamic by category:
[pdf_gallery_container category=”brochures” layout=”slider”]
Per-gallery accent color (overrides the site-wide default set in Settings > PDF Gallery Viewer):
[pdf_gallery_container layout=”grid” accent_color=”#ff6600″]
…
[/pdf_gallery_container]
Screenshots
Blocks
This plugin provides 1 block.
- PDF Gallery (Multiplo) Inserisci una galleria PDF con più documenti.
Installation
- Upload the plugin to
/wp-content/plugins/pdf-gallery-viewer/ - Activate it via the WordPress Plugins menu
- Use the
[pdf_gallery]or[pdf_gallery_container]shortcodes in posts or pages
FAQ
-
Does this plugin require Imagick?
-
No. Previews are generated client-side using PDF.js.
-
Will this work on mobile?
-
Yes, all layouts and the modal are responsive.
-
Can I add multiple PDFs?
-
Yes, using either multiple shortcodes or the Gutenberg block.
Reviews
Contributors & Developers
“PDF Gallery Viewer” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “PDF Gallery Viewer” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.8.1
- Confirmed compatibility with WordPress 7.0
- Fixed: screenshot captions in the plugin listing were shifted and no longer matched the actual screenshots; added the missing 6th screenshot (tooltip/truncation demo)
1.8.0
- Added a Settings page (Settings > PDF Gallery Viewer) for site-wide accent color, surface color, text color, and corner radius
- Added a default layout setting (grid/list/slider)
- Added a per-gallery
accent_coloroverride, available as a shortcode attribute and a Gutenberg block color control - Manual drag & drop ordering is now fully functional: dragging reorders items, “Salva ordine” saves the order server-side, and it now correctly persists across page reloads
- Fixed: saved manual order was being ignored on reload for galleries built with the Gutenberg block
- Fixed: button hover color and icon color did not follow the accent/text color settings (were hardcoded)
- Fixed: block-presence check used the wrong block name and never matched (asset loading already worked via the shortcode check, so no user-facing effect)
1.7.1
- Added missing Text Domain header for translations
- Removed unused internal global variable
- Documented why manual drag & drop ordering controls remain disabled (client-side wiring incomplete)
1.7.0
- Performance: thumbnails now lazy-loaded via IntersectionObserver (renders only when item enters viewport)
- Performance: all scripts and styles skipped on pages without a gallery
- Privacy: Font Awesome now served locally — no CDN requests
- Privacy: PDF.js worker now served locally — no CDN requests
- All external network dependencies removed
1.6.3
- Fixed: disabled UI order controls
1.6.2
- Added filename visibility in Gutenberg block selection list
- Added numeric ordering for PDFs (admin-defined, persistent)
- Removed FIFO/LIFO ordering logic
- Fixed manual ordering issues in block editor
- Fixed frontend sorting UI buttons not working
- Improved list view readability (title + actions layout)
- General UI/UX refinements and accessibility improvements
1.5.0
- Added sorting UI (Title / Filename / Manual)
- Added admin-managed manual ordering via drag & drop (saved server-side, same order for everyone)
- Added FIFO/LIFO option for newly added items when manual ordering is enabled
1.3.0
- Added dynamic gallery support by category, tag, and post ID
- Added layout selector: Grid, List, Slider
- Integrated Swiper.js for modern carousel layout
- Added title truncation and tooltips
- Improved shortcode output and styling
1.2.1
- Integrated Font Awesome for icons
1.2.0
- Removed Imagick dependency
- Live thumbnail previews using PDF.js
- Modal viewer with zoom, navigation, and download
- Initial Gutenberg block with visual editing
1.0.0
- Initial release