Download Monitor Buttons Extension

A button pinned to a version keeps handing out the old version

You publish this year's catalog, link it with a button from the contact page and from the press page, and in spring you upload the new edition. If someone picked the previous version by hand when building the button, the page keeps handing out that one.

In a download button, what expires is not the design but the version it points to: leave it on the current one unless you want to freeze that edition.

Download Button is a Download Monitor Pro block for the block editor. Instead of linking to a file, it points to a download that already exists in Download Monitor. You can leave it on "Latest version", which is the default and uses the current version of that download, or choose a specific version.

Block settings

• Text with placeholders: the text accepts the placeholders %name%, %filename% and %filesize%, so the button shows the name, the file and the size of the chosen download. By default it writes the name and, on a smaller line below, the file and the size.
• Icon: you turn it on or off, choose a built-in one or paste your own SVG code, place it on the left or the right and adjust size and spacing.
• Colors: background, text, border and icon, with separate settings for when the visitor hovers. For a gradient you fill in the background and the gradient end.
• Typography and border: font family and size, width, color and corner radius.
• Dimensions: automatic or custom width, content alignment, inner padding and outer margin. The editor preview changes as you adjust.

Templates that are copied, not linked

When you like a button, you save it from the Styles panel with "Save current design as template" and give it a name. That template appears in the selector of any other Download Button block. Applying it copies the button's design and text into the chosen block.

A practical consequence follows: deleting a template does not affect blocks that already use the copied design. Among its functions there is no template that spreads by itself to existing buttons, so if you later change your brand style, check page by page which buttons carry the old design.

A sample button for a resources page

Picture a page with three PDF manuals. You create a button with a download icon on the left, text with %name% and %filesize% below it, save it as a template and apply it to the other two. For the manual that must stay on the previous edition, you pick that version in the block; for the rest, you leave "Latest version". It is just one way to use it; change it to suit your case.

Requirements and getting started

The block needs the block editor, Download Monitor and its Pro version active, and at least one published download. If the download list is empty, create and publish a download first.

1. Edit the page or post and click "Add block".
2. Search for "Download Button" and add it.
3. Under "Download Information" choose the download and, if needed, a version.
4. Adjust text, icon, colors and dimensions, and save the design as a template if you will repeat it.
5. Publish or update the page.

If you used the standalone buttons add-on before, its templates migrate on their own the first time an administrator loads the updated site. Afterwards, review the important buttons, especially those with custom CSS. If the editor and the site look different, clear the caches.

Alternatives for offering downloads

The button is only the visible part: file and version management lives in Download Monitor. If you want another download manager with its own approach, look at WordPress Download Manager Pro or WP File Download. To list documents in a table instead of single buttons, see Document Library Pro.

Answers about Download Button

Can I use the block without Download Monitor Pro?

No. The block requires Download Monitor and its Pro version to be active.

Can I show the file size on the button?

Yes. The %filesize% placeholder inserts the size of the chosen download, just as %name% inserts its name and %filename% the file name.

What happens to a button if I publish a new version?

If you left it on "Latest version", it uses the current version of the download. If you chose a specific version, it points to that one.

Can I use my own icon?

Yes, with your own SVG code in the icon panel. Only use SVG from a source you trust.