Don’t know, how to add a PDF Viewer to WordPress site? You have come to the right place for the answer.
Many websites have PDF files in them, but these files have to be displayed in a proper layout. That is where a PDF Viewer comes in to the picture.
In this article, you will learn, how to add a PDF Viewer to your WordPress website. But let’s understand why we need a PDF reader in the first place.
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Why Do We Need PDF Viewer In A WordPress Site
A PDF file needs to be in proper layout so that the audience can view the file on any device, may it be a computer, smartphone or a tablet.
If the PDF is not in a proper layout, the audience won’t find it appealing enough to stay longer on your website. This will result in loss of traffic for your website, which will in turn result in loss of sales.
To avoid this, you need to have a proper PDF Viewer for you WordPress website.
How To Add A PDF Viewer To WordPress Site
There are two different ways to add a PDF Viewer to your WordPress website. We will take a look at both the ways.
Adding Default PDF Viewer
With the latest updates, WordPress has added a default PDF Viewer to its functionality.
Go to the block editor on your post or page & click on the File block.
Now, if you already have the PDF file stored in your Media Library select it from there or click on the Upload button to select it from your computer,
Select the PDF file that you want to upload to your WordPress website & click on Open button.
WordPress has the functionality to add the file in a PDF layout. This file will be shown in the WordPress website’s default PDF Viewer. Check out the image below,
You can also simply drag & drop the PDF file on to your post or page to add it to your WordPress website. The WordPress website will still show the file in a PDF Layout with the help of its default PDF Viewer.
Having said that, some people prefer to use a WordPress plugin to add a PDF Viewer to the website. So, we will also take a look at a WordPress plugin that can be used to view a PDF file in a proper layout on your website.
Adding PDF Embedder
For this article, we will be using the PDF Embedder WordPress plugin to view a PDF file in the proper layout.
First & foremost, you will have to install & activate the PDF Embedder WordPress plugin.
Go to Plugins => Add New => search for PDF Embedder => Install & Activate.
In case you don’t know how to install & activate a WordPress plugin, check out our detailed post on how to install & activate a WordPress plugin.
Anyway, upon installation & activation of PDF Embedder go to Settings => PDF Embedder.
You can leave the default settings just like that, as it is enough for most of the websites & you will get an option to choose whether you want to display the toolbar at the top or bottom of the viewer.
You can also select whether to make the toolbar visible only when the user hovers the mouse over the document.
The premium version of this plugin will give you an option of a download button, continuous page scrolling & clickable links.
After you are done with setting up the plugin, don’t forget to click on the Save Changes before you exit.
Once you are done saving the changes, all you have to do is add the PDF Embedder from the Block Editor.
Once you have added the PDF Embedder Block to your post or page, you can upload any PDF by clicking on Click here to Open Media Library to select PDF.
You will be taken to Media Library. You can either select a PDF file from there or upload the pdf file from your computer.
The PDF file is added to your post or page. Check our the image below,
Conclusion
WordPress & it’s repository of plugins makes it easy & effortless for anyone to add the desired functionality to their website, in this case a PDF Viewer.
WordPress gives you a default PDF reader but in case you want to use a plugin to add a PDF file then you can use PDF Embedder WordPress plugin to view a PDF file in the proper layout.