Google Docs Shortcode Tutorial

Tutorials | By Paul Maloney | 15 November 2010 | Comments 18

Shortcodes are handy WordPress functions, they allow you to quickly call information or to add a specific function in posts and pages.

Today I’m going to show you how to take advantage of the excellent Google Docs and allow users to read PDF, DOC and PPT files directly from your site without having to download to their machines.

All the following snippets take place within the trusty old functions.php file, so backup before you start!

PDF Files

Add to functions.php

function pdf_short($attr, $content) {
return '<a href="http://docs.google.com/viewer?url=' . $attr['href'] . '">'.

$content.'</a>';
}
add_shortcode('pdf', 'pdf_short');

In a post or page you would use shortcode like this:

[pdf href="http://domain.com/link/to/file.pdf"]PDF Link Here[/pdf]

DOC Files

Add to functions.php

function doc_short($attr, $content) {
return '<a href="http://docs.google.com/viewer?url=' . $attr['href'] . '">'.

$content.'</a>';
}
add_shortcode('doc', 'doc_short');

In a post or page you would use shortcode like this:

[doc href="http://domain.com/link/to/file.doc"]DOC Link Here[/doc]

PPT Files

Add to functions.php

function ppt_short($attr, $content) {
return '<a href="http://docs.google.com/viewer?url=' . $attr['href'] . '">'.

$content.'</a>';
}
add_shortcode('ppt', 'ppt_short');

In a post or page you would use shortcode like this:

[ppt href="http://domain.com/link/to/file.ppt"]PPT Link Here[/ppt]

Other File Types

Google Docs supports a few other filetypes so by altering the code you can use these shortcodes for even more filetypes if you need to.

Paul Maloney

Paul Maloney is a UK based web designer/developer and runs the design agency Tropica. He particularly enjoys using and working with WordPress and has a keen interest in typography. You can also follow Paul on Twitter.

Visit Paul Maloney's website

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18 Comments

  • November 15, 2010
    designi1 says:

    Really great tip buddy!! :D

    Reply
    • November 15, 2010
      Paul Maloney says:

      thanks mate, glad you enjoyed :)

  • November 15, 2010
    david says:

    Why not create a filetype dependent function?

    function gdocs_view($attr, $content) {
    return ‘‘.

    $content.’‘;
    }
    add_shortcode(‘gdocs-view’, ‘gdocs_view’);

    Reply
    • November 15, 2010
      Paul Maloney says:

      I initially though of doing that, but I thought by breaking it down it might provide further insight to the usage of shortcodes.

      Cheers mate :)

  • November 15, 2010
    Alex says:

    Would this require a login to google to view the documents?

    Reply
    • November 15, 2010
      Paul Maloney says:

      Nope! No need to even have a Google account, just fires right up :)

  • November 16, 2010
    Mars says:

    right on time, i am working with google docs now for manuals for the clients

    Reply
  • November 17, 2010
    neo says:

    really useful tip bro

    Reply
    • December 9, 2010
      Paul Maloney says:

      no worries, glad you enjoyed :)

  • December 9, 2010
    Robert says:

    A great post Paul which also highlights how to create shortcodes in WordPress it goes beyond a tutorial for displaying documents in Google Docs :-)

    Reply
  • December 15, 2010
    Brady Nord says:

    Very cool! I am yet to see this shortcode. Good work Paul.

    Reply
  • December 15, 2010
    Paul Maloney says:

    Thanks Robert and Brady, glad you both found it useful :)

    Reply
  • January 18, 2011
    litmus says:

    no login require :) that’s great, thanks Robert & Brady. Let me immediate implement this.

    Reply

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