Description
4WP Drive connects a Google Drive folder workflow to WordPress: writers drop documents in Drive, editors review them in an admin Inbox, and approved content becomes draft posts—without copy-paste.
A plugin by 4wp.dev.
Perfect for
- Editorial teams that draft in Google Docs but publish in WordPress
- Agencies with a shared Drive
incoming/folder and a review step before publish - Content pipelines that need structured front-matter (title, slug, categories, SEO fields) parsed from the doc header
- Sites that want API credentials stored encrypted and OAuth handled server-side
How it works
- Install and activate 4WP Drive.
- Create Google OAuth credentials and connect Drive in Storage sources.
- Set your Drive root folder ID; the plugin uses
incoming/andpublished/subfolders. - Drop a Google Doc (with optional image) into
incoming/or run Sync. - Open Inbox Preview Import as Draft or Reject.
- On import, files move to
published/in Drive.
Key features
- Google Drive OAuth — connect an admin Google account; tokens stored encrypted
- Folder sync — scan
incoming/for new Google Docs and images - Admin Inbox — preview HTML, import as draft, or reject
- Document template — front-matter lines before a separator (
---or=====) map to post fields; body becomes post content (headings, lists, bold preserved) - Configurable field map — title, slug, categories, tags, author, dates, SEO meta (when supported)
- Featured image — import image from the same Drive subfolder
- REST API + WP-CLI
wp forwp-drive syncfor manual sync - Roadmap sources — GitHub Markdown/MDX and additional storage providers registered for future releases
Privacy
OAuth tokens and Google API credentials are stored in your WordPress database (encrypted). Document content is fetched from Google Drive only when an administrator runs sync or import. No visitor-facing tracking.
4WP is our project brand; the letters “WP” appear only as part of that brand name, not as a reference to WordPress. This plugin is not affiliated with, endorsed, or sponsored by WordPress.
Source code: github.com/4wpdev/4wp-drive
Development
Human-readable PHP source is in the public GitHub repository above. The plugin ZIP includes src/ (PSR-4 autoload via src/Autoload.php when vendor/ is absent). No npm build step — admin scripts ship as plain JS in assets/.
Run tests: composer install && composer test && composer run lint
External services
This plugin connects to Google services when an administrator configures OAuth and syncs or imports documents.
Google OAuth 2.0
Used to authorize access to the connected Google account’s Drive files.
- Authorization URL:
https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/v2/auth - Token URL:
https://oauth2.googleapis.com/token - Scope:
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive
When an administrator clicks Connect Google Drive, the browser is redirected to Google to sign in and grant access. WordPress stores refresh and access tokens encrypted in the site database. Client ID and Client Secret are stored encrypted (or may be defined in wp-config.php).
Google terms: https://policies.google.com/terms
Google privacy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
Google Drive API
Used to list folders, download Google Docs (export as HTML/DOCX), and move files after import.
- API hostname:
https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/(and related export endpoints)
Requests are made server-side only when an administrator runs sync, preview, or import. Document metadata and file content are processed on your server to create WordPress posts.
Google Drive API terms follow Google Cloud / Google API Services terms linked from the Google Cloud Console.
Installation
- Upload the plugin to
/wp-content/plugins/4wp-drive/or install from the Plugins screen. - Activate 4WP Drive.
- Open 4WP Drive Storage sources (or Documentation for the setup guide).
- Paste Client ID and Client Secret from Google Cloud Console Save credentials.
- Click Connect Google Drive, then enter your Drive root folder ID and save subfolders.
- Use Inbox to preview and import documents.
Optional: define FORWP_DRIVE_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID, FORWP_DRIVE_GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET, or FORWP_DRIVE_OAUTH_REDIRECT_URI in wp-config.php.
FAQ
-
Do I need a Google Cloud project?
-
Yes. Create OAuth 2.0 credentials (Web application), enable the Google Drive API, and register the redirect URI shown in the plugin Documentation tab.
-
What document format is supported?
-
Google Docs in
incoming/(single doc or subfolder with doc + image). Front-matter usesLabel: valuelines before a separator paragraph (---or a row of=characters). The rest is post body. -
Are API keys exposed to visitors?
-
No. OAuth and Drive requests run on the server. Only administrators with
manage_optionscan connect Drive and import. -
Can I lock credentials in wp-config.php?
-
Yes. Use
FORWP_DRIVE_GOOGLE_CLIENT_IDandFORWP_DRIVE_GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRETconstants. -
Does it work on local dev (.local / 127.0.0.1)?
-
Yes. Use the OAuth redirect (local) field when Google rejects your site hostname; register the same loopback URI in Google Cloud Console.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“4WP Drive” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
ContributorsTranslate “4WP Drive” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.0.1
- Plugin review: remove unnecessary core file include; load wp-admin image helpers only when generating attachment metadata.
1.0.0
- First WordPress.org release: Google Drive OAuth, folder sync, inbox, draft import, field mapping, WP-CLI sync.
- Plugin Check fixes: i18n translators, redirect URI copy, OAuth error messages, readme External services.
0.1.0
- Internal MVP.
