Finding a way to embed a PDF in your WordPress content like what you’re doing for images and videos? You’re in the right place. PDF viewers allow your visitors to read the PDF, scroll up and down, and download it without having to open it in a new window.
In this article, we’ll demonstrate 2 methods to display PDF files on your pages and posts: with and without the help of plugins. While the former best supports non-techies, the latter frees you from installing more plugins to your site but you may play with some code.
Before we start, let’s briefly discuss who particularly needs PDF viewers and reasons for using them.
Who Needs a PDF Viewer?
Do you work as an online course provider? Are you designing PDF graphics and share them with clients? Or do you plan to sell home furniture and you want to add product catalogs to your website? No matter what your case is, you definitely need to embed PDF files in your WordPress posts or pages.
Unfortunately, you’re not able to display PDF files in your WordPress content in the same way as images, audio, or videos. All you can do is placing the filename and insert its hyperlink there.
Users have no other way than clicking on the link to open and view the file. This forces them to leave the current page even somehow they don’t want to. Consequently, you’re indirectly increasing the bounce rate and bring down the time on site.
What’s more, embedded PDFs give visitors a better browsing experience on your site. They can easily view and download files. Some viewers also impress users by letting them flip PDFs pages like they’re reading real books and magazines.
For these reasons, embedding PDF files to WordPress content becomes a must to attract user interest.
Embed PDF in Content Using Watermark WordPress Files Plugin
True to its name, this feature-rich plugin indicates just one major function – adding a watermark to your PDFs. Besides, it also permits you to place the full PDF on your WordPress pages and posts.
The following simple guide shows you how to get started with the plugin. Firstly, you need to install the plugin on your WordPress site.
- Download the Watermark WordPress Files plugin via a zip file format
- Log into your WordPress dashboard and open Plugins → Add New
- Click Upload Plugin and choose the file you’ve just downloaded
- Activate the plugin
- Head to the Posts/Pages section in the navigation menu
- Edit your desired page/post
- Click the PDF viewer icon on the post toolbar then select the PDF file you want to embed
- Preview and update your content
There is much more you can do with this powerful plugin. You’re selling online courses? It’s a perfect solution to protect your training materials from unwelcomed students. You can integrate it with the PDA Gold plugin to block students from downloading your files.
Out of the box, Watermark WordPress Files lends you a helping hand in converting pages and posts into PDF files. In other words, you can gather related posts as a series, export them to a PDF file, and send them to subscribers for weekly updates.
The plugin capabilities shouldn’t just stop there. Watermark WordPress Files plugin amazes you how it disables right-click to prevent content theft as well. Once turning this feature on, all visitors can’t right-click or copy content and images on your site.
How to Embed a PDF in WordPress without a Plugin
The long list of installed plugins discourages you from adding any new ones. If not really necessary, it’s recommended not to add more plugins since they can slow down your site. More importantly, unreliable plugins will create vulnerability holes for malware to attack your site.
Take these 2 steps to successfully embed a PDF file in a WordPress page or post:
- Step 1: Get your PDF file URL
In your desired page edit screen, you need to click on the Add Media button under the page title.
After that, choose the PDF you want to display on the content. If the file isn’t available yet, you should upload them from your computer.
Then, you must get the file URL in the ATTACHMENT DETAILS area. Now, close the window and go back to the post’s edit screen.
- Step 2: Place a shortcode in the content
You have to move the cursor to the area that needs to add the PDF viewer. It’s time for you to visit the “Text” tab at the top-right corner of the screen and place this code inside the text editor:
<embed src="https://ww.example.com/demo.pdf" type="application/pdf" width="774" height="774"></embed>
You must replace the example link in the code above with your own PDF file’s URL. The PDF viewer’s size is customizable which means you can edit the width and height in the code. Now you can preview the page and see how your PDF viewer looks.
Make Use of WordPress PDF Viewer
Inserting PDFs into your WordPress pages and posts makes it easy for users to view your file and creates a better browsing experience. They don’t have to leave your site to read and download the file.
There are 2 different paths you can take to embed a PDF in your site, either using a PDF viewer plugin or doing it manually. If installing a new plugin is not preferable, simply insert a small code into the content. In case you’re not familiar with coding, the PDF viewer Watermark WordPress Files helps you handle your job within seconds.
Install the Watermark WordPress Files plugin to create a PDF viewer for your content now!
