Description
Product Document Viewer for WooCommerce adds a simple document preview button to your WooCommerce store, allowing customers to view supported documents directly from the product page before making a purchase.
It’s ideal for books, ebooks, digital products, catalogs, brochures, product guides, course materials, sample chapters, and other document-based products.
Instead of asking customers to download a file or leave the product page, you can give them a quick preview of the content and help them make a more informed purchasing decision.
PDFs are previewed using the browser’s own built-in viewer. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files are previewed using Microsoft’s Office Online viewer.
Key Features
- PDF Preview — Let customers preview PDF files directly from your product pages.
- Word Document Preview — Support for Microsoft Word documents.
- Excel Preview — Preview Excel spreadsheets before purchase.
- PowerPoint Preview — Display PowerPoint presentations directly from the product page.
- Multiple Files Per Product — Attach more than one document to a product; customers browse them in a single preview window.
- Preview Button — Add a clear preview button to your WooCommerce products.
- Shortcode Support — Use
[pdvwc_preview_button]to place the preview button anywhere you need. - WooCommerce Integration — Designed specifically for WooCommerce product pages.
- Customizable Styling — Customize the preview button appearance and placement from the plugin settings.
- Simple Setup — Add your document, configure the preview, and let your customers view it.
Perfect For
- Books and ebooks
- Sample chapters
- Digital products
- Product catalogs
- Brochures
- Course materials
- Product documentation
- Reports and guides
- Downloadable resources
How It Works
- Add a supported document to your WooCommerce product.
- Configure the preview settings.
- A preview button is displayed on the product page.
- Customers can preview the document before deciding to purchase.
The preview opens without requiring customers to download the original file first.
Screenshots
Installation
From the WordPress Dashboard
- Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
- Go to Plugins > Add New Plugin.
- Search for Product Document Viewer for WooCommerce.
- Click Install Now.
- Click Activate.
Manual Installation
- Download the plugin ZIP file.
- Go to Plugins > Add New Plugin > Upload Plugin.
- Select the plugin ZIP file.
- Click Install Now.
- Activate the plugin.
Configuration
- Make sure WooCommerce is installed and activated.
- Edit a WooCommerce product.
- Add the document(s) you want customers to preview under the “Document Preview Files” field.
- Open WooCommerce > Document Viewer to configure the preview button, position, and styling.
- Visit the product page and test the preview.
FAQ
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What file types are supported?
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The plugin supports PDF, Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents.
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Yes. You can customize the button styling and position from WooCommerce > Document Viewer.
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Yes. Use the
[pdvwc_preview_button]shortcode to display the preview button anywhere supported by your theme’s layout. You can optionally pass specific attachment IDs:[pdvwc_preview_button media_ids="123,456"]. -
I upgraded from an older version — did my settings and uploaded files carry over?
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Yes. The plugin runs a one-time migration on upgrade that copies your existing button settings and any documents already attached to products into the new format automatically. No action is needed.
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Will it work with my WooCommerce theme?
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The plugin is designed to work with WooCommerce-compatible themes. Most themes should work without additional configuration, although heavily customized themes may require additional styling.
Reviews
Contributors & Developers
“Product Document Viewer for WooCommerce” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “Product Document Viewer for WooCommerce” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.3.0
- Rebranded from “Read a Little” to “Product Document Viewer for WooCommerce” with a consistent
pdvwc_naming scheme throughout. - Added a one-time automatic migration for existing settings and product preview files from the previous naming scheme.
- Fixed: multiple documents attached to one product now open in a single preview window with next/prev navigation, instead of rendering a separate button per file.
- Fixed: unchecking a settings checkbox (e.g. “Hide button”) now actually saves as unchecked.
- Fixed: PDF previews no longer navigate away from the page instead of opening in the lightbox.
- Replaced the unofficial Google Docs Viewer with the browser’s native PDF rendering and Microsoft’s officially supported Office Online viewer for Word/Excel/PowerPoint files.
- Removed a hardcoded third-party fallback file; local/development environments now use a bundled sample file instead.
- Added the
pdvwc_button_font_sizeandpdvwc_button_border_widthsettings fields, which existed in code previously but had no way to be configured.
1.2.2
- Internal maintenance release during rebranding.
1.2.1
- Initial public-facing release as “Document Viewer for WooCommerce”.