Written by Admin on 2025-05-06

A Guide to Creating Download Links with WordPress Download Manager and PHP

If you're running a website that offers files or other downloads, you'll want to make it as easy as possible for your visitors to download those files. WordPress Download Manager is a powerful plugin that can help you manage your downloads easily, but you'll need to know how to create download links in order to take advantage of its features. In this article, we'll show you how to create download links with WordPress Download Manager and PHP.

Step 1: Install WordPress Download Manager

The first thing you'll need to do is install the WordPress Download Manager plugin. You can do this by going to the Plugins section of your WordPress dashboard and clicking the "Add New" button. From there, search for "WordPress Download Manager" and click the "Install Now" button next to the plugin.

Step 2: Upload Your Files

Once you've installed the WordPress Download Manager plugin, you can start uploading your files. To do this, go to the Downloads section of your WordPress dashboard and click the "Add New" button. From there, you can upload your files and fill in any necessary information about them, such as the file name, description, and category.

Step 3: Create a Shortcode

Once you've uploaded your files, you'll need to create a shortcode to display the download link on your website. To do this, go to the Shortcodes section of your WordPress dashboard and click the "Add New" button. From there, fill in the necessary information, such as the shortcode name and the file ID of the file you want to link to.

Step 4: Embed the Shortcode

Now that you've created your shortcode, you can embed it anywhere on your website where you want the download link to appear. To do this, simply copy the shortcode and paste it into the appropriate place on your website. You can also customize the appearance of the link using CSS.

Step 5: Customize the Download Link URL

If you want to customize the URL of the download link, you can do so using PHP. To do this, simply add the following code to your functions.php file:

add_filter('wpdm_download_link', function($link, $id){ return “https://example.com/custom-url”; }, 10, 2);

Replace "https://example.com/custom-url" with the URL you want to use.

Conclusion

WordPress Download Manager is a great tool for managing your downloads and making them easily accessible to your visitors. By following these steps, you can create download links that are easy to use and customize to fit your needs. Whether you're offering free downloads or selling digital products, WordPress Download Manager can help you streamline the process and improve the user experience for your visitors.