Document Library Pro: WordPress plugin or cloud version?
We make and support both versions of Document Library Pro. Each version gives you a searchable, filterable library for documents. What changes is the place where the library is hosted.
The WordPress plugin runs inside your existing WordPress website. WordPress stores the documents, file records and categories, and you place the library on pages with either a block or a shortcode.
The cloud version runs on our hosted platform. You add and manage documents from your own dashboard, then either embed the library on any website or use the separate library site that we provide. We take care of hosting, updates and maintenance.
How to choose the right version
Choose the WordPress plugin if:
- Your website is built with WordPress, and the library belongs on that site
- Each document should have a dedicated page within your website
- You need document access to depend on WordPress users or roles
- Your library should automatically use the fonts and colors from your theme
- You plan to customize the library using extra plugins, template overrides, code snippets or custom fields
Choose the cloud version if:
- Your website uses something other than WordPress. Squarespace, Wix, Webflow, a Shopify store, HubSpot, a GoDaddy site, Google Sites, a Framer site, a custom build, anything
- The same library needs to be shown on multiple sites or platforms
- You prefer not to install, update or look after anything yourself
- You need a document library with its own web address, even if you do not have a website
- You want a folder in Google Drive or Dropbox to update the library for you
The cloud version also works on WordPress websites. Some customers choose it for WordPress because there is no installation and no ongoing updating. You use a Custom HTML block for the embed.
Features both versions include
- Table and grid views with matching design templates
- Live search, filters and columns that visitors can sort
- Document previews, with support for every file type
- Category, tag and author organization
- Folders
- Downloads for multiple selected documents
- Tracking for downloads
- Document submission forms on the front end
- Version control, documents that expire automatically and lead capture, available on the Advanced plan
- On the Advanced plan, bulk uploads and CSV imports
Where the cloud version behaves differently
These are the differences that tend to stand out when someone changes version.
Documents do not have separate pages. With the plugin, you can give each document a dedicated page containing previews, social sharing and a complete description. In the cloud version, individual documents do not get their own pages. When someone selects a document, they open or download the file itself.
Categories and tags do not create archive pages. With the plugin, each category can have a page that lists its documents. In the cloud version, visitors narrow the current library by selecting a category or tag.
Access control uses a different method. The plugin can protect a whole library, a category or a single document, and it supports restrictions by password, a WordPress user, a user role, or the document owner. In the cloud version, protection uses passwords only: You can use one password for the full library site, or give an individual library its own password. Advanced includes this. Technical limits cause this difference. More detailed restrictions need cookies, and browsers block those cookies inside embeds on other domains, which means those restrictions would not be reliable.
Styling is configured in your account instead of coming from a theme. The plugin uses your WordPress theme's colors and fonts, and you can use custom CSS through that theme. The cloud version has no theme to copy styling from. Instead, use Settings > Branding to set your logo and brand color, plus the library name and font. Use Settings > Library Design to control grid templates, table templates and the separate parts of your document lists. These settings apply throughout your account. If those controls do not cover something you need, contact us and we can apply custom CSS to the library.
Custom fields and custom taxonomies are not available. The plugin supports table columns for custom fields and custom taxonomies. The cloud version is based on categories, tags and authors.
Code-level changes are not supported. In the cloud version, you cannot add extra plugins, use widgets or shortcodes, override templates, or work with hooks and filters. You manage everything from the dashboard.
Search engines treat each version differently. A published standalone library site can be crawled and indexed by search engines, and public files can be indexed directly. An embedded library is displayed inside a frame, so the library content is not added to the search result for the page where it appears. You can read more in can search engines crawl and index a hosted document library?
Extra benefits in the cloud version
- Any-platform support. Embed it on a website, or publish it as its own site
- A custom domain puts the document library on a domain you control
- Team members let you invite colleagues to add and edit documents, while billing and account settings stay out of reach
- Folder sync for Google Drive and Dropbox, which creates a document category from a folder and keeps that category current. Advanced includes this, and the WordPress plugin does not have it yet
- Nothing for you to maintain. We handle hosting, updates, backups and setup
Switching from the WordPress plugin to cloud hosting
Begin with the free trial
Create your 14-day free trial. Build the library there before changing your live setup. Your current WordPress library stays active during the trial, so visitors do not see a gap and there is nothing to reverse if the cloud version is not the right choice.
Content you need to rebuild
Because each version is a separate product on its own system, nothing is migrated automatically. You recreate the library in the new dashboard. In practice, this is usually faster than it first sounds.
- Documents. You add the documents again. With Advanced, you can bulk upload files by drag and drop, or import a spreadsheet with document titles, descriptions, file URLs, category data, tags, authors and featured images. With Essentials, documents are added one at a time
- Files. Files are not transferred automatically. Upload the files again, or keep them in their current location and link to each one using its URL. Link-based files do not use your storage allowance
- Categories and tags. These are not copied across automatically, but during a spreadsheet import, any missing category or tag is created for you, including nested categories like Reports > 2026
- Settings and styling. Set these up again through Settings > Branding plus Settings > Library Design. Plugin settings are not transferred, and styling from your theme no longer applies
- Access control. Set up password protection again if you used it before. If your plugin setup restricted documents based on WordPress users or roles, you will need another method, so contact us before you move
- Your existing links. URLs from your WordPress site are different from the URLs in the new library. Plan to add redirects or update those links
Making the new library public
There are two ways to publish it, and you can use them together.
Embed the library. Open the Publish Library screen, copy the embed code and add it to a page on your website. On most platforms, you do this with a custom HTML block or an embed block. We have separate guides for Squarespace, for Wix, for Webflow, for Shopify, for Google Sites, for GoDaddy, for Framer, for WordPress and for any other platform.
Publish the standalone site. After you enable the standalone page, the library receives a public web address of its own that you can share from anywhere. You can also connect your own domain to it.
Handling the changeover
When the trial library is ready, contact us and we will arrange the changeover. If there is unused time remaining on your plugin license, let us know and we will review a prorated refund for that remaining period. We have already helped other customers move to the cloud version this way, and we are happy to help.
Keep your plugin license active until you are ready. Leave it running until the replacement library is live.
Switching from cloud hosting to the WordPress plugin
This happens less often, but the process works the same way in reverse. First, build the library inside your WordPress site. After that, contact us about switching over. Moving from the cloud version gives you separate document pages, category pages, access control based on WordPress and full code-level customization. It also means you manage hosting and updates yourself.
Need help choosing?
Contact us with your website platform and what the library must do. We will tell you plainly which version fits, including cases where neither option is right.