File Uploads or Attachments allows you to give users the ability to upload certain kinds of documents on their listings. This might be used to put a pricing guide, a restaurant menu or PO submission procedures for a business to help users when interacting with the business listing itself. File Uploads supports a number of web-safe file types (PDF, TXT and standard image types). The settings for attachments can be site-wide, plan specific, or used in conjunction with Restrictions as well. Listing attachments show up on listings as a series of links like so in the detail view of a listing:
Installation
Follow the installation steps to get started.
Administration
File Uploads/Attachments allows you to set site-wide attachment settings for all listings OR you can specify them per plan or even use Restrictions. Site-wide settings will be used if no other settings are found or changed. This can be configured under Directory → Settings → Listings → Attachments at the very bottom:
The options work as follows:
- Enable Listing Attachments: Turns on the option to allow attachments on listings when checked. Listing attachments must be enabled for any listing to use attachments, so ensure this is checked when the module is installed.
- Attachment Header Text: The Attachment Header text is the label used on a listing as a title above the attachment links. Default is “Listing Attachments”. Change this as desired.
- Enable Icons for Attachments: For the given file types, we have default icons that are available to indicate the type of file graphically. Enabling this will display the icons. If you prefer a tighter display, turn this off.
- Max Attachments Per Listing: The number of attachments your users are allowed to upload by default.
- Max Attachment Size: The largest file you allow to be uploaded as an attachment in kilobytes (KB). Adjust as needed. Helps prevent users from uploading obnoxiously large files and chewing up your disk space.
- Allowed File Types: Allows you to control the kinds of files you allow on your listings. The types are hard coded for PDFs, various image types (PNG, JPG, GIF) as well as basic text files (RTF, TXT)
You can override these settings on Plans if you wish when the Restrictions module is installed. Click on Restrictions and this will take to you to this screen where you can decide which plans have access to Attachments:
Managing Attachments
From the admin-side, you can easily manage attachments on any listing. When you edit the listing, on the lower right side, under the Categories (and possibly Regions, if you have that installed), you will see Listing Attachments in a widget:
Hovering your mouse over the attachment shown, you can Delete it if you wish by clicking on the red Delete link shown. Clicking on the name of the attachment will display it for you in a window. You can also add new ones. Clicking Add Attachment opens this dialog:
Where you can upload the file as well as specify the text used to display on the link when the listing is shown to users.
Submitting a listing allows users to add the attachments at the same step as adding images in the listing:
The display on the right will indicate the settings from your admin tab so the user is aware of any restrictions for attachments–in this case, that only 5 attachments can be uploaded, the max size is 4.88 MB (5000KB) and the extension must be a PDF file.