Jeff Starr

<p>Simple Download Counter (SDC) provides a simple yet powerful way to count file downloads. Works with any file type that’s supported by WordPress (e.g., JPG, PNG, ZIP, MP4, TXT, and many more).</p>
<p><strong>Important / Please Read</strong></p>
<p>This plugin enables Admin-level users to add download files of any type, from anywhere on the server, or from any remote public location. Only Administrators are allowed to add download files. Please use caution and use responsibly.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>👉 This plugin is not compatible with WordPress Multisite.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>How it works</strong></p>
<p>Visit the plugin settings to add a download file. Then use the shortcode to display a download link on any post or page. The plugin will then count every download and display it in the plugin settings. You can also display the download count on the front end using a shortcode.</p>
<p><strong>Features</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Simple and powerful download counter</li>
<li>Supports local and remote file URLs</li>
<li>Supports any file type supported by WordPress</li>
<li>Lightweight – entire plugin size is < 160 KB</li>
<li>Super fast and built for optimal performance</li>
<li>Clean code tightly integrated with WordPress</li>
<li>No Apache/.htaccess required</li>
</ul>
<p>Check out the screenshots below to get a better idea of the plugin settings and more.</p>
<p><strong>How is this better?</strong></p>
<p>There are numerous “download counter” or “download manager” plugins available, but none of them satisfy all of my specific, stringent requirements:</p>
<ul>
<li>Current with latest WordPress</li>
<li>Clean and simple code using WP APIs</li>
<li>Lightweight with minimal useless features</li>
<li>Supports all local and remote downloads</li>
<li>No automatically created posts or pages</li>
<li>No advertisements or weird admin notifications</li>
<li>No obtuse styling of default WP Admin elements</li>
<li>Download posts are visible only in the Admin Area</li>
<li>Descriptive error handling for upload files</li>
<li>No redundant or sloppy coding practices</li>
<li>No requirement for cookies or sessions</li>
<li>No requirement for Apache/.htaccess</li>
<li>No weird database shenanigans</li>
</ul>
<p>So I decided to build my own. Let me emphasize the utter simplicity of this plugin. It does one thing and does it well: counts the number of downloads for your files. And makes it easy to display download links and download counts anywhere on the front end.</p>
<p><strong>Privacy</strong></p>
<p>This plugin does not collect or store any user data. It does not set any cookies, and it does not connect to any third-party locations. The <em>only</em> thing this plugin does is count the number of times files are downloaded. So 100% privacy friendly for everyone.</p>
<p>Simple Download Counter is developed and maintained by <a href="https://x.com/perishable" rel="nofollow ugc">Jeff Starr</a>, 15-year <a href="https://plugin-planet.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">WordPress developer</a> and <a href="https://books.perishablepress.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">book author</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Support development</strong></p>
<p>I develop and maintain this free plugin with love for the WordPress community. To show support, you can <a href="https://monzillamedia.com/donate.html" rel="nofollow ugc">make a donation</a> or purchase one of my books:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://wp-tao.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">The Tao of WordPress</a></li>
<li><a href="https://digwp.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">Digging into WordPress</a></li>
<li><a href="https://htaccessbook.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">.htaccess made easy</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wp-tao.com/wordpress-themes-book/" rel="nofollow ugc">WordPress Themes In Depth</a></li>
<li><a href="https://books.perishablepress.com/downloads/wizards-collection-sql-recipes-wordpress/" rel="nofollow ugc">Wizard’s SQL Recipes for WordPress</a></li>
</ul>
<p>And/or purchase one of my premium WordPress plugins:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://plugin-planet.com/bbq-pro/" rel="nofollow ugc">BBQ Pro</a> – Blazing fast WordPress firewall</li>
<li><a href="https://plugin-planet.com/blackhole-pro/" rel="nofollow ugc">Blackhole Pro</a> – Automatically block bad bots</li>
<li><a href="https://plugin-planet.com/banhammer-pro/" rel="nofollow ugc">Banhammer Pro</a> – Monitor traffic and ban the bad guys</li>
<li><a href="https://plugin-planet.com/ga-google-analytics-pro/" rel="nofollow ugc">GA Google Analytics Pro</a> – Connect WordPress to Google Analytics</li>
<li><a href="https://plugin-planet.com/head-meta-pro/" rel="nofollow ugc">Head Meta Pro</a> – Ultimate Meta Tags for WordPress</li>
<li><a href="https://plugin-planet.com/simple-ajax-chat-pro/" rel="nofollow ugc">Simple Ajax Chat Pro</a> – Unlimited chat rooms</li>
<li><a href="https://plugin-planet.com/usp-pro/" rel="nofollow ugc">USP Pro</a> – Unlimited front-end forms</li>
</ul>
<p>Links, tweets and likes also appreciated. Thanks! 🙂</p>


Simple Download Counter

Thanks a lot for this great Plugin. 
It does exactly what it is supposed to do, simply count how often a file is downloaded. And the plugin is very lightweight. The additional options in connection with the shortcode leave nothing to be desired.

Simply a great Plugin

Simply counts the number of times your files are downloaded. Display download links and counts using shortcodes.

Freemius

Anssi Laitila

<p>File management plugin featuring frontend file upload form, download manager, statistics and download log.</p>
<h3>The best file sharing plugin for WordPress</h3>
<p>Shared Files is a powerful WordPress plugin that allows you to securely share and manage files, documents and downloads directly from your WordPress site.</p>
<p>With features like user permissions, frontend file upload, and download tracking, it’s the perfect solution for businesses, educational institutions, and anyone needing to share files easily and securely.</p>
<p>Install Shared Files today and enhance your WordPress site’s file management capabilities.</p>
<p>You can also optionally collect new leads by asking for contact info before showing the files.</p>
<p><em>Get the Shared Files plugin and stay neatly organized and managed with your documents and files.</em></p>
<p>Shared Files provides an interface for uploading and managing a large group of documents and files easily with numerous layout options and shortcodes for inserting downloadable files anywhere on the website.</p>
<ul>
<li>Controlled and isolated files from the media library, making it simple to list shared files on the WordPress website</li>
<li>Frontend uploader and file manager functionality to upload files</li>
<li>View supported files in the browser, including photos, movies, and other types of files (including lightbox view)</li>
<li>Search functionality to easily and quickly find uploaded documents</li>
</ul>
<h3>Download Manager</h3>
<ul>
<li>Top 50 most popular files</li>
<li>Collect leads by asking for contact info before showing the file(s)</li>
<li>Download log of all file downloads</li>
<li>Search log of all searches made in the front end</li>
<li>Download counter for all files</li>
<li>Front end search from all files</li>
<li>Add tags to files</li>
<li>Allow visitors to upload files without logging in</li>
<li>Allow only logged in users to upload files</li>
<li>Enable support for any file type</li>
<li>File manager in the WP admin area</li>
</ul>
<p>These are just some of the highlights offered by the Shared Files plugin.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.sharedfilespro.com/shared-files/" rel="nofollow ugc">Shared Files Plugin Demos</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sharedfilespro.com/docs/" rel="nofollow ugc">Documentation</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sharedfilespro.com/blog/" rel="nofollow ugc">Blog</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Getting started with this file management plugin</h3>
<p>Installing and getting started with organizing your files is super simple when you are using Shared Files plugin. Let’s see how!</p>
<p>Start managing your files right inside WordPress admin with 2 steps:</p>
<ol>
<li>Add some files and documents from WP admin > Shared Files > File Manager.</li>
<li>Insert one of these shortcodes to any page or post on your site.
<ul>
<li>[shared_files] (default file list)</li>
<li>[shared_files_simple] (simple file list)</li>
<li>[shared_files file_upload=1] (file list with frontend uploader)</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
<p>That’s it! The files are now listed for downloading.</p>
<h3>File Management</h3>
<p>Shared Files for WordPress has a file manager that allows adding files by the following actions:</p>
<ul>
<li>Adding file name</li>
<li>Choosing the file</li>
<li>Setting the date for the file</li>
<li>Setting the expiration date for the file</li>
<li>Adding file description</li>
<li>And many more</li>
</ul>
<p>The plugin is extremely simple to use while also being scalable for a big number of files all thanks to a bulk of features offered by Shared Files plugin.</p>
<h3>Host local downloads – an alternative solution to Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive</h3>
<p>Use this download manager plugin as an alternative to Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive to list the downloads directly on your WordPress site instead of an external service.</p>
<h3>Media Gallery</h3>
<p>Create a media gallery of images (JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP and AVIF are supported formats) and allow users to upload their own images.</p>
<h3>File Manager</h3>
<p>Use the file manager at WP admin / Shared Files / File manager to add the files. Then use one of the shortcodes listed at WP admin / Shared Files / Shortcodes to list the downloads anywhere on your site.</p>
<h4>Files of any type</h4>
<p>Shared Files is a file sharing solution for WordPress that allows sharing numerous types of files with ease, including</p>
<ul>
<li>PDF</li>
<li>Word</li>
<li>PowerPoint</li>
<li>XLS</li>
<li>Images (JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP and AVIF)</li>
<li>YouTube videos</li>
<li>Any file type can be activated from the plugin settings</li>
<li>File folders – this is particularly important for big teams for effective collaboration</li>
</ul>
<h4>File search</h4>
<p>What is the purpose of a file-sharing plugin if not allowing you to easily and quickly find the exact file you’re looking for. This is what Shared Files plugin offers to it’s users.</p>
<p>Powerful and fast file search functionality based on defined file data, such as file name, description, and more makes it super easy for Shared Files plugin users to track and find the exact file/document they’re looking for.</p>
<h4>Previewing files</h4>
<p>This file managing plugin allows a team to upload files onto the WordPress admin, collaborate with each other, and most importantly administrator and users can preview the files on the browser before going live to ensure the accuracy of the uploaded file.</p>
<h4>Download files</h4>
<p>The files you have listed on your site are available for anyone to download by default. It’s also possible to manage, track and limit downloads by various settings.</p>
<h4>Document / file tags</h4>
<p>The best way to stay organized and seated with a bulk of files is to assign them tags. With a couple of tags, you can instantly categorize and label files for hassle-free searches down the road, and then find all of those files again easily.</p>
<p>Shared Files allows adding tags to files, either using the same tags as posts or a custom taxonomy.</p>
<h4>File management</h4>
<p>If your site is continuously growing there is definitely a need to handle the dozens of files and media you have out there. Luckily if you are using the Shared Files plugin, you don’t need any other add-ons.</p>
<p>File managing solution Shared Files not only helps to upload and organize files, but it also performs the task of the media library and file manager allowing to store and categorize files and images without the need for other third-party solutions.</p>
<h4>Lightbox preview</h4>
<p>Shared Files plugin offers the feature of opening YouTube videos or image files in a lightbox preview. Lightbox previews offer a number of benefits including the ability to customize, add content and update it when necessary, flexibility in location placement, and most importantly high visibility.</p>
<h4>File upload</h4>
<p>An exciting feature of the Shared Files WordPress file-sharing plugin is the ability of users or visitors to upload files. So any of the users having access can upload files right from the front end having their own contribution to a vast depository of website files.</p>
<p>It is critical to allow both visitors and users to upload files/documents, particularly allowing to do it from the frontend as it requires the least effort.</p>
<h4>File sharing</h4>
<p>For a team collaboration or a group of developers working on the same website, it’s crucial to be able to constantly share files and be able to preview the files others have shared.</p>
<p>The Shared Files plugin has thought of it. The plugin allows the quick and easy share of uploaded files with various users with access.</p>
<h4>FTP upload</h4>
<p>Using an FTP server is a common solution for businesses that want to keep their data safe. File manager enables the administrators and users to upload files using File Transfer Protocol (FTP). They can do it using a single-file or multi-file uploader.</p>
<h4>Statistics</h4>
<p>What is more important than having a statistics of your uploads! Shared Files plugin allows you to have constant eye on the uploaded files and documents by providing you with accurate file upload statistics and analysis.</p>
<h3>Shared Files FREE – a simple solution for file management and download tracking</h3>
<ul>
<li>Fast search of all files targeting all visible data on the file card, e.g. name and description</li>
<li>Frontend file upload with tag support for logged-in users</li>
<li>Wait for the Countdown page with a counter and automatic download when the counter reaches zero</li>
<li>Any file type upload (audio, video, image, PDF, Word, file folder, etc)</li>
<li>SVG icons of high quality for 25 various file types, plus individual custom icons for various file types</li>
<li>Browser preview of the uploaded files/documents</li>
<li>Lightbox view for images and videos (, YouTube, mp4, webm, ogg, mov)</li>
<li>Functions as a file explorer, download manager, and file manager</li>
<li>WordPress Multisite compatible</li>
<li>A lead generation tool for WordPress</li>
</ul>
<h3>Shared Files PRO – a full featured download manager and file management plugin</h3>
<ul>
<li>Search filters based on categories, tags, and custom field data</li>
<li>Users and roles with different file-opening permissions</li>
<li>Downloads wait countdown page</li>
<li>More features for the frontend file uploader</li>
<li>Visitors/users can upload and add files to new categories</li>
<li>FTP files can be uploaded and activated with a single click</li>
<li>Upload multiple files</li>
<li>Allow any user role to edit files from the front end</li>
<li>Favorite files for both logged-in and non-logged-in users</li>
<li>Activate Media Library files</li>
<li>Sort files into groups</li>
<li>Alternatively, specify an external URL for the file and track its loads</li>
<li>When a file is downloaded or uploaded, you will receive an email notification</li>
<li>Set a file’s expiration date</li>
<li>Limit the number of downloads for each file</li>
<li>Display files in the site search results</li>
<li>Log downloader’s city and country</li>
<li>City and country also in the search log</li>
</ul>
<p>This product includes GeoLite2 data created by MaxMind, available from <a href="https://www.maxmind.com" rel="nofollow ugc">maxmind.com</a></p>
<h3>Demos</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.sharedfilespro.com/shared-files/simple-list/" rel="nofollow ugc">Simple List</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sharedfilespro.com/shared-files/2-columns/" rel="nofollow ugc">2 columns</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sharedfilespro.com/shared-files/single-file-on-page/" rel="nofollow ugc">Single file on page</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sharedfilespro.com/shared-files/list-files-from-a-category/" rel="nofollow ugc">List files from a category</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sharedfilespro.com/shared-files/search-only/" rel="nofollow ugc">Search only</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sharedfilespro.com/shared-files/list-files-by-category/" rel="nofollow ugc">List files by category</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sharedfilespro.com/shared-files/file-upload-1/" rel="nofollow ugc">File upload 1</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sharedfilespro.com/shared-files/file-upload-2/" rel="nofollow ugc">File upload 2</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sharedfilespro.com/shared-files/accordion/" rel="nofollow ugc">Accordion</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sharedfilespro.com/shared-files/favorites/" rel="nofollow ugc">Favorite files</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.sharedfilespro.com/shared-files/wait-countdown-page/" rel="nofollow ugc">Wait Countdown Page – an isolated download page for all files</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Additional resources</h3>
<p>You can check more info about us on our website: <a href="https://www.sharedfilespro.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">https://www.sharedfilespro.com/</a></p>
<p>For any support queries or feature requests regarding the free version, please contact us at <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/shared-files/" rel="ugc">the support forum</a>.</p>
<p>Follow the <a href="https://www.sharedfilespro.com/blog/" rel="nofollow ugc">Shared Files blog</a> to stay informed about the plugin and its advancements.</p>
<p>Do you want to effectively work with a lot of files by managing them quickly and easily? The solution is one – Shared Files!</p>
<h3>How can I report security bugs?</h3>
<p>Please see the <a href="#how%20can%20i%20report%20security%20bugs%3F" rel="nofollow ugc">first FAQ item</a> below.</p>


Shared Files – Frontend File Upload Form & Secure File Sharing

File management plugin featuring frontend file upload form, download manager, statistics and download log.

Simple Download Counter vs Shared Files – Frontend File Upload Form & Secure File Sharing