I’ve been coding WordPress sites for 4 or 5 years now. The more I use it, the more I love it. WordPress is an awesome CMS tool. When I create a site for a client, I want the site to be as easy as possible for a “non” web designer/developer types to maintain. One of my latest clients wanted to be able to create a post and attach a file for download. The client found it a little confusing to attach the file to a post and then include that file as a link. They also wanted to show an icon specific to the document type they had uploaded. With a little code, I was able to automate the process of linking to files attached to a WordPress post and specify the icon based on the files MIME type. There are plenty of articles on the web about WordPress attachments so I’m not going into any detail about that. Here is an article on attachments by Jeff Starr I’ve bookmarked for reference. Digging into WordPress

Here is an example of what we are about to create. I’ve attached several sample files to this post and that’s it. By the way, the zip file listed below is a zip of all the icons for you to download.

2010-01-03-AM.pdf

test.docx

test.doc

Presentation.pptx

Presentation.ppt

Workbook1.xlsx

Workbook1.xls

icons.zip

• Jeopardy Think Music

  Download

First let’s create the function and the shortcode. Go to your themes folder and open functions.php. If you don’t have one, just create a new file named functions.php and save it to your themes folder.

Create a new function with the following code.

function get_attachment_icons($echo = false){
	//PDF Documents
	if ( $files = get_children(array(   //do only if there are attachments of these qualifications
	 'post_parent' => get_the_ID(),
	 'post_type' => 'attachment',
	 'numberposts' => -1,
	 'post_mime_type' => 'application/pdf',  //MIME Type condition
	 ))){
	 foreach( $files as $file ){ //setup array for more than one file attachment
		$file_link = wp_get_attachment_url($file->ID);    //get the url for linkage
		$file_name_array=explode("/",$file_link);
		$file_name=array_reverse($file_name_array);  //creates an array out of the url and grabs the filename
		$sAttachmentString .= "<div class='documentIcons'>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<a href='$file_link'>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<img src='".get_bloginfo('template_directory')."/images/mime/pdf.png'/>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "</a>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<br>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<a href='$file_link'>$file_name[0]</a>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "</div>";
		}
	}

This block is for PDF files. You can tell that by the line that says ‘post_mime_type’ => ‘application/pdf’,. Just change the MIME type for the type of file you are expecting. In the final code, I’ve added a new loop for each MIME type below:

• PDF = application/pdf
• Word Documents = application/msword
• PowerPoint = application/vnd.ms-powerpoint
• Excel = application/vnd.ms-excel
• Zip = application/zip
• Audio files = audio/mpeg

Now at the bottom of the function we will add the hook for the shortcode and we’re done!

add_shortcode('attachment icons', 'get_attachment_icons');

Usage

Just include a shortcode in any post

[attachment icons]

or place one line in your single.php file (or where ever you’d like the document icons to show up)

<?php get_attachment_icons($echo=true); ?>

Final Code

Here is the code altogether for your copying and pasting pleasure. Enjoy!

function get_attachment_icons($echo = false){
	$sAttachmentString = "<div class='documentIconsWrapper'> \n";
	if ( $files = get_children(array(   //do only if there are attachments of these qualifications
	 'post_parent' => get_the_ID(),
	 'post_type' => 'attachment',
	 'numberposts' => -1,
	 'post_mime_type' => 'application/pdf',  //MIME Type condition
	 ))){
	 foreach( $files as $file ){ //setup array for more than one file attachment
		$file_link = wp_get_attachment_url($file->ID);    //get the url for linkage
		$file_name_array=explode("/",$file_link);
		$file_name=array_reverse($file_name_array);  //creates an array out of the url and grabs the filename
		$sAttachmentString .= "<div class='documentIcons'>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<a href='$file_link'>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<img src='".get_bloginfo('template_directory')."/images/mime/pdf.png'/>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "</a>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<br>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<a href='$file_link'>$file_name[0]</a>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "</div>";
		}
	}
	//Word Documents
	if ( $files = get_children(array(   //do only if there are attachments of these qualifications
	 'post_parent' => get_the_ID(),
	 'post_type' => 'attachment',
	 'numberposts' => -1,
	 'post_mime_type' => 'application/msword',  //MIME Type condition
	 ))){
	 foreach( $files as $file ){ //setup array for more than one file attachment
		$file_link = wp_get_attachment_url($file->ID);    //get the url for linkage
		$file_name_array=explode("/",$file_link);
		$file_name=array_reverse($file_name_array);  //creates an array out of the url and grabs the filename
		$sAttachmentString .= "<div class='documentIcons'>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<a href='$file_link'>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<img src='".get_bloginfo('template_directory')."/images/mime/word.png'/>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "</a>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<br>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<a href='$file_link'>$file_name[0]</a>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "</div>";
		}
	}
	//Powerpoint Documents
	if ( $files = get_children(array(   //do only if there are attachments of these qualifications
	 'post_parent' => get_the_ID(),
	 'post_type' => 'attachment',
	 'numberposts' => -1,
	 'post_mime_type' => 'application/vnd.ms-powerpoint',  //MIME Type condition
	 ))){
	 foreach( $files as $file ){ //setup array for more than one file attachment
		$file_link = wp_get_attachment_url($file->ID);    //get the url for linkage
		$file_name_array=explode("/",$file_link);
		$file_name=array_reverse($file_name_array);  //creates an array out of the url and grabs the filename
		$sAttachmentString .= "<div class='documentIcons'>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<a href='$file_link'>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<img src='".get_bloginfo('template_directory')."/images/mime/PowerPoint.png'/>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "</a>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<br>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<a href='$file_link'>$file_name[0]</a>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "</div>";
		}
	}
	//Excel Documents
	if ( $files = get_children(array(   //do only if there are attachments of these qualifications
	 'post_parent' => get_the_ID(),
	 'post_type' => 'attachment',
	 'numberposts' => -1,
	 'post_mime_type' => 'application/vnd.ms-excel',  //MIME Type condition
	 ))){
	 foreach( $files as $file ){ //setup array for more than one file attachment
		$file_link = wp_get_attachment_url($file->ID);    //get the url for linkage
		$file_name_array=explode("/",$file_link);
		$file_name=array_reverse($file_name_array);  //creates an array out of the url and grabs the filename
		$sAttachmentString .= "<div class='documentIcons'>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<a href='$file_link'>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<img src='".get_bloginfo('template_directory')."/images/mime/XLS8.png'/>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "</a>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<br>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<a href='$file_link'>$file_name[0]</a>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "</div>";
		}
	}
	//Zipped Files
	if ( $files = get_children(array(   //do only if there are attachments of these qualifications
	 'post_parent' => get_the_ID(),
	 'post_type' => 'attachment',
	 'numberposts' => -1,
	 'post_mime_type' => 'application/zip',  //MIME Type condition
	 ))){
	 foreach( $files as $file ){ //setup array for more than one file attachment
		$file_link = wp_get_attachment_url($file->ID);    //get the url for linkage
		$file_name_array=explode("/",$file_link);
		$file_name=array_reverse($file_name_array);  //creates an array out of the url and grabs the filename
		$sAttachmentString .= "<div class='documentIcons'>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<a href='$file_link'>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<img src='".get_bloginfo('template_directory')."/images/mime/zip.png'/>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "</a>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<br>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "<a href='$file_link'>$file_name[0]</a>";
		$sAttachmentString .= "</div>";
		}
	}

	//Audio Files
	$mp3s = get_children(array(   //do only if there are attachments of these qualifications
	 'post_parent' => get_the_ID(),
	 'post_type' => 'attachment',
	 'numberposts' => -1,
	 'post_mime_type' => 'audio',  //MIME Type condition
	 ) );

	if (!empty($mp3s)) :
	$sAttachmentString .= "<ul class='audiofiles'>";
		foreach($mp3s as $mp3) :
    		$sAttachmentString .= "<li>";
			if(!empty($mp3->post_title)) : //checking to make sure the post title isn't empty
				$sAttachmentString .= "<h4 class='title'>".$mp3->post_title."</h4>";
			endif;

			if(!empty($mp3->post_content)) : //checking to make sure something exists in post_content (description)
				$sAttachmentString .= "<p class='description'>".$mp3->post_content."</p>";
			endif;

			$sAttachmentString .= "<object width='470' height='24' id='single".$mp3->ID."' name='single".$mp3->ID."'>";
				$sAttachmentString .= "<param name='movie' value='player.swf'>";
				$sAttachmentString .= "<param name='allowfullscreen' value='true'>";
				$sAttachmentString .= "<param name='allowscriptaccess' value='always'>";
				$sAttachmentString .= "<param name='wmode' value='transparent'>";
				$sAttachmentString .= "<param name='flashvars' value='file=".$mp3->guid."'>";
					$sAttachmentString .= "<embed ";
					  $sAttachmentString .= "id='single".$mp3->ID."' ";
					  $sAttachmentString .= "name='single".$mp3->ID."' ";
					  $sAttachmentString .= "src='".get_bloginfo('template_directory')."/jw/player.swf' ";
					  $sAttachmentString .= "width='470' ";
					  $sAttachmentString .= "height='24' ";
					  $sAttachmentString .= "bgcolor='#ffffff' ";
					  $sAttachmentString .= "allowscriptaccess='always' ";
					  $sAttachmentString .= "allowfullscreen='true' ";
					  $sAttachmentString .= "flashvars='file=".$mp3->guid."' ";

					$sAttachmentString .= "/>";
			$sAttachmentString .= "</object>";
                        $sAttachmentString .= "<a href='".$mp3->guid."'>Download</a>";
			$sAttachmentString .= "</li>";
		endforeach;
	$sAttachmentString .= "</ul>";
	endif;
$sAttachmentString .= "</div>";
if($echo){
    echo $sAttachmentString;
  }
  return $sAttachmentString;
}
add_shortcode('attachment icons', 'get_attachment_icons');

When a spam-bot comes in, it hits the file directly and usually does not leave a referrer. This allows for some nifty detection and action direct from the server. If you are not familiar with Apache directives, then write the following in your root directory .htaccess file::

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} POST
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} .wp-comments-post\.php*
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !.*yourdomain.com.* [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^$
RewriteRule (.*) ^http://%{REMOTE_ADDR}/$ [R=301,L]

This will:

Detect when a POST is being made
Check to see if the post is on wp-comments-post.php
Check if the referrer is in your domain or if no referrer
Send the spam-bot BACK to its originating server’s IP address.
NOTE 1: In the 4th line, change yourdomain.com to your domain.xxx without the www or any prefix for that matter.
NOTE 2: There is a slim chance that someone’s browser will not send the referral, but this is extremely rare.

This essentially deflects the spam-bot back on itself.

Taken from WordPress Codex