Sillybean

Other File Types

For all other kinds of files, you can use the fourth icon, the one shaped like a starburst. For these files, you’ll have just a few attributes: title, caption, description, and link URL. As with audio and video files, inserting another file type will result in a simple link to the original file.

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to list all the files attached to a post, unless they’re images. The [gallery] shortcode doesn’t work with Word documents or PDFs. You can use the List Child Attachments plugin, which provides both a template tag and a shortcode to list all attached files.

File Sizes and Upload Permissions

If you are working with other users, occasionally your content authors might get an error message when uploading unusual file types. While the error might mention the file size as a potential problem, more likely the real issue is the unfiltered upload capability in WordPress user roles. You’ll quickly find, for example, that only administrators can upload Flash videos (.flv). To get around the problem, you can use Role Manager or Members to allow unfiltered uploads for other user roles, or you can use a plugin (like PJW Mime Config) that allows you to specify individual MIME types that will be allowed.

Of course, it’s possible that the file size really is the problem. If you have access to your server’s php.ini file, increase the file_uploads, upload_max_filesize, and post_max_size values. If you can’t modify php.ini, check with your server administrator.

The Media Library

You can see and edit the details for all the media files currently on the site (Figure 4-38) by choosing the Media Library option in the main navigation menu. You can add files to the library directly. They won’t be associated with any posts or pages and won’t be included in galleries, but individually they can be inserted into posts and pages from the Media Library tab in the upload dialog box.

Figure 4-38. All media types are shown in the Media Library.