Basic pdf list with pdf icons

BTW – page in question can be viewed here

Thanks for your kind words and for your detailed questions.

The [mla_gallery] shortcode default styles and markup are modeled on those found in the WordPress [gallery] shortcode. The approach is to divide the width of the page evenly among the items on a row and fill the entire width of the page. That works great for images and for rows with many items, but looks less attractive in applications like yours. It might look quite a bit better when you add document titles to the gallery display.

You wrote “there is no caption/title visible.” The default upload logic does not assign any value to the Caption field for non-image items. You could add a mapping rule to the Settings/Media Library Assistant IPTC/EXIF tab to create one. You can also change the value using the mla_caption parameter of the shortcode. For example, you could display the document Title with something like this:

[mla_gallery mla_caption="{+post_title+}" ...

With mla_caption you can compose a caption from multiple fields, use IPTC/EXIF data, etc. to get the information you want.

You wrote “the layout/spacing of the pdf icons is very far apart and looks cascaded …” The spacing is a result of the default handling of columns=2, and it will look better with document Titles as a caption. I had a look at the “page in question” and I can see that your theme is adding about two hundred lines off CSS styles and script to the top of the page. Many of the styles are affecting the gallery display; it’s hard to tell exactly how without a detailed knowledge of your theme.

You do have the option of using MLA’s custom style and markup templates to get complete control over the CSS styles and HTML markup of your [mla_gallery] output. You can also use some [mla_gallery] parameters for simpler changes; have a look at the “Gallery Display Style” section of the Settings/Media Library Assistant Documentation tab.

You wrote “I’d like to update the icon …” I agree; the “modern” flat, grey icons leave something to be desired. You can use more traditional icons supplied by MLA. Go to the Settings/Media Library Assistant Uploads tab and scroll to the bottom of the page. Check the box before “Enable MLA File Type Icons Support”, the click “Save Changes” to record the new setting. Click the “Uploads” tab after the first page refresh and you will see the new icons. They will be used in the admin screens and in the size=icon display for [mla_gallery].

You can also experiment with the mla_viewer parameter to replace the icon with a page from your PDF documents. Read the “Thumbnail Substitution Support, mla_viewer” section of the Documentation tab for more details on that alternative.

I hope that gets you started on the changes you’d like to make. I am marking this topic resolved, but please update it if you have problems or further questions regarding the above suggestions. Thanks for your interest in the plugin.

Hi David, Im not having any success with your instructions Im afraid! I’ll work on just one at a time to avoid any confusion (at my end!)…

Updating the pdf icon – I tried your suggestion but still have the flat grey icon. I can see the correct ‘traditional’ pdf icon in the Uploads tab page, and it says it is ‘active’, but the grey icon still shows on the front end page?

I also have the grey icons now. Enable MLA File Type Icons Support is checked. Worked before. I’m assuming a wordpress 4.4 issue?

@rpmd – keep updating this topic with your problems or questions regarding the PDF gallery. I want to make sure everything is working for you.

Thanks to both of you for your reports of the “grey icon” issue. WordPress 4.4 is blameless; you have uncovered an MLA defect I introduced when I re-structured the code to reduce memory requirements on the front end.

I have uploaded a new Development Version dated 20151217 that contains a fix for the MLA bug in [mla_gallery]. To get the Development Version, follow the instructions in this earlier topic:

Shortcode not working in (special) widget

It would be great if you can try the Development Version and let me know if the fix works for you. Thanks for your help with this issue.

Dev version did not work for me. I’m not using mla_gallery though. My attachments aren’t being displayed through an mla_gallery though. I usually make use of the icon feature for my search results. I have attachments indexed in my search results (via relevanssi) and had always had icons for the attachments until now.

@matt,

Thanks for clarifying how your application works. To save memory I only loaded the icon support when an MLA shortcode is processed.

However, I can make a change to load it unconditionally, which should fix your problem. I will post an update when a new Development Version is uploaded. Thanks for your patience.

@matt,

I have updated the Development Version to make icon support unconditional. I did not change the date; it is still 20151217.

Let me know if this latest update resolves your “grey icons” issue. Thanks!

Hi David,

I only just got chance to try the dev version – it worked! Pdf icons looking as I wished. Thank you.

Next issue…adding document titles…

I tried adding mla_caption=”{+post_title+}” into my existing short code and got an error message on the live page.

I next tried adding a mapping rule to the Settings/Media Library Assistant IPTC/EXIF tab, and the ‘Standard Field Mapping’ section, based on an earlier thread and the
Field Title =Title
EXIF/Template Value = template:([+pdf:Title+])
Priority = EXIF
Existing Text = replace

and the same for…
Field Title = Caption
EXIF/Template Value = template:([+pdf:Subject+])

No joy.

Where am I going wrong?

Scrap that, I have captions! I hadn’t actually included any caption info with the pdfs in the main media library.

MLA seems to be pulling the ‘caption’ now ??

Next issue to follow (after Ive played a round a little further).

I should say, for the benefit of others, that I didn’t need to add the {+post_title+}” into my shorcode, nor use any of the IPTC/EXIF mapping above.

The caption seems to be visible by default. All good.

Ok, so my next question/s…

Im trying to align the captions to the right of the icons, and bring the entire list closer together to reduce the white space on the page. How do I do this?

I also want to change the default font to my theme (google) font of ‘Oswald’. Is this possible?

Hope you can help.

https://www.aquaticav.com/wp2016rpmd/support/manuals-downloads/

btw, just got to trying the development version as well. Icons are now working on my search results. thanks

@matt – Thanks for your update with the good news!

@rpmd –

Thanks for your updates with the progress you’ve been making. You asked:

I’m trying to align the captions to the right of the icons, and bring the entire list closer together to reduce the white space on the page. How do I do this?

As I wrote in an earlier post, you can control every aspect of your gallery display by creating a custom markup template. A custom template can also help avoid the styles your theme is applying to the gallery display, which may be part of the problem.

For your application I believe you can start with the default style template and create a custom markup template that looks something like this:

Open part:

<table id='[+selector+]' class='gallery galleryid-[+id+] gallery-columns-[+columns+] gallery-size-[+size_class+]'>

Row Open part:

<tr class='gallery-row'>

Item part:

<td class='gallery-icon'>
    [+link+]
  </td>
  <td class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption'>
     <strong>[+title+]</strong><br />
    [+caption+]
  </td>

Row Close part:

</tr>

Close part:

</table>

That will give you a table with two columns, one for the icon and one for the information. To define the custom markup template:

1. Navigate to the Settings/Media Library Assistant MLA Gallery tab.
2. Scroll down to the bottom of the “Markup Templates” section where you can see a blank “Name:” text box. Give your template a name, such as “pdf-table”.
3. Copy the template parts from the above example and paste them into the corresponding part text boxes.
4. Review the content to make sure all the HTML and CSS markup is valid and not corrupted by the copy process.
5. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Save Changes” to save your new markup template.

Once you have defined and saved your custom templates you can change your shortcode to use the templates:

[mla_gallery ... columns=1 mla_markup=pdf-table]

It’s a bit of work, but you only have to do it once. You may have to define some custom styles to get the formatting you want; that depends on your theme.

You also asked “I also want to change the default font to my theme (google) font of ‘Oswald’. Is this possible?” That is a question that depends on your theme and I do not have advice to give you. You can take that up with the theme’s author/vendor.

I hope the above suggestions get you started on using a custom template to get your gallery display looking the way you imagine. If you have any problems or further questions, let me know.

Hi David,

Regrettably Im going to have to put this on hold, as its taking me too much time (and is perhaps a little above my current skill set). Im against a deadline and have another (short term) solution. I’ll be back to this when I get some more time on it for sure! Thanks for all your help it is greatly appreciated.