The library builder Free

The library builder is where you design a document library by clicking rather than typing shortcode attributes. Every change redraws a preview of the library on your own site, in your theme’s fonts and colours, so what you see is what visitors get. It is part of the free plugin.

Open it at Documents → Library builder, or from the Document Library block with Open the library builder.

To try it before installing, the library builder on getfiledeck.com runs the same controls over sample documents; Open in my site carries the design into your own site’s builder.

What you can set

The controls on the left are grouped the way you think about a library:

• Layout — table, grid, gallery or folders; the columns in order; cards per row; a section per category; documents per page and paging; an optional fixed height.
• Which documents — only some categories or tags, the sort order, recent documents only, a single year, or a maximum number.
• Search and filters — filters above the library or in the column headings, the year filter, the date-added filter, and whether clicking a category filters the library.
• Links and downloads — the download link style and text, what clicking a title or filename does, new tabs, the preview button, and whether documents a visitor cannot open are listed with a lock or left out.
• Appearance — the style preset, colour scheme and colours.
• Messages — what the library says when it is empty or a search has no results, with an optional link.

The builder hides options that have no effect on the current design: cards per row appears for grid and gallery, "Start with folders open" for folders, and paging options disappear when the library is split into a section per category. Pro options are labelled Pro, and on a free site they are shown but switched off.

The preview

The preview loads your site’s front end with the library in it, using your theme’s styles. Two switches sit above it:

• Desktop / Phone — the phone width shows how the library reflows on a small screen.
• A visitor / Me — "A visitor" shows the library to someone who is not logged in, which is how most of your visitors see it. "Me" shows your own view as a logged-in editor, so documents restricted to particular people can look different between the two.

Search, filters and paging work inside the preview, so you can try the library as well as look at it.

Using your design

• Create a page with this library — type a title and click Create the page. FileDeck creates a draft page holding the library and opens it in the editor, so you can add an introduction and publish when it is ready.
• Copy the shortcode — the box under the preview holds the [filedeck] shortcode for the current design. Paste it into any page, post, widget area or page builder shortcode element.
• Apply to this block — when you opened the builder from the Document Library block, this saves the design to the block.

The shortcode only lists what differs from your site-wide defaults in Documents → Settings, so it stays short, and a library you leave on the defaults follows them when you change them later.

Changing an existing library

Under the builder, Change an existing library takes a [filedeck] shortcode: paste it, click Load it, and the builder opens with that design. If any setting cannot come across as it was — a category this site does not have, an option that needs Pro, a number outside what an option allows — the builder lists it, so you know what changed.

The design also stays in the page address while you work, so reloading the page or bookmarking it keeps your place.

FAQ

Is the library builder free?

Yes. The builder and all four layouts come with the free plugin on wordpress.org. Pro options appear in it, labelled, and switch on with a Pro licence.

Who can use it?

Anyone who can edit posts can open the builder and copy a shortcode. Creating a page needs permission to edit pages.

Does the preview change my site?

No. The preview is a temporary view that only editors can load. Your site changes only when you create a page, apply the design to a block, or paste the shortcode somewhere yourself.