WP File Manager Google Drive

For people who share Drive folders with clients or students from WordPress, not for anyone who wants a standalone cloud manager

Sending files by email, granting Drive permissions person by person or posting links that get lost in a message thread is a drain that repeats every week at academies, studios and agencies. This plugin connects your Google Drive to WordPress so that you, your team or your users can work with the folders without leaving the site.

It fits if your material already lives in Drive and you want to show part of it on a page. It is not for you if:

• You don't have the base WP File Manager plugin: this is an add-on and does not work on its own.
• You don't want to touch Google Cloud Console: you have to create a project, enable the Google Drive API and generate a Client ID and a Client Secret.
• You are looking for another storage service: Dropbox, OneDrive, AWS S3 and Digital Ocean have their own add-ons, separate from this one.

Upload, download, edit and delete in Drive without opening another tab

With WP File Manager Google Drive you can edit, delete, upload, download, copy and paste files and folders in your Drive from the WordPress dashboard. Once the add-on is activated, a Google Drive section appears in the WP File Manager menu, where you enable the integration and paste the Google credentials. Then an authentication button takes you to Google's screen to give consent, and you return to your site with Drive already visible inside the manager.

What each user sees in WP File Manager Google Drive

The useful part if you have an audience is that Drive can also be shown on the public side of the site through shortcodes. You don't need to hand over the whole account: you decide what is shown and what is allowed.

• Allowed roles: limit access to administrators, editors, authors or subscribers.
• Blocked users: exclude specific people by their user ID.
• Specific folder: point to a folder by its name or by its ID (the one in the folder's URL in Drive), even several at once.
• Operations: set whether people can upload, download, read or write.
• Presentation: list view, light theme, language and date format.

There is also an administrator shortcode that gives full control on the public side. Important: role and user restrictions only work with that shortcode, and the changes you make in the add-on settings apply to it. Before publishing, test with a low-role account that access behaves as you expect.

Two steps people forget that make it look broken

After inserting the shortcodes you need to authenticate the plugin again with the authentication button so the changes take effect. It is also a good idea to clear the site's cache and cookies, or the folders will not be listed properly. If the authentication screen shows an error, review the steps and check that everything is entered correctly, such as the Client ID and the Client Secret.

Questions before putting Drive on your site

Does it work without WP File Manager?

No. It is an add-on for the file manager and is managed from its menu.

Do I have to create anything in Google?

Yes: a project in Google Cloud Console with the Google Drive API enabled and an OAuth credential of the web application type, which gives you the Client ID and the Client Secret.

Can I show just one folder?

Yes, by giving its name or its ID in the shortcode. You can also grant several folders by separating the IDs with commas.

Can I keep a specific user out?

Yes, by adding their user ID to the shortcode. Remember that user and role restrictions apply with the administrator shortcode.