January 27, 2024

Blighty Explorer Plugin

Allows the complete file structure of a folder in Dropbox to be shared and navigated within a Wordpress page or post. It also allows for file uploads.

This plugin allows the complete file structure of a folder in Dropbox to be shared within a WordPress page or post. The folder can then be navigated via the WordPress site and files selected and downloaded. Changes in the Dropbox folder, such as the addition or deletion of files, are reflected through to the WordPress site.

Features

Shows a folder/file navigator that mirrors a folder in your dropbox account.
Optionally display file size and file date in the folder display.
Allows for file uploads, either to a dedicated hidden folder, or to the currently displayed dropbox folder.
Allows access rights to be set on each top-level subfolder.
Compatible with most lightbox-type image plugins.

Installation

Connect this plugin to your Dropbox account.
This will create a subfolder called Blighty Explorer in your Apps folder within Dropbox.
Place your folders and files you wish to share with the WordPress installation inside the Apps/Blighty Explorer subfolder.
Use the shortcode [bex_folder] in your post or page to display a folder structure / file navigator.
Use the shortcode [bex_upload] in your post or page to display a file upload dialog.

Screenshots

Admin screen to connect to your Dropbox account and set plugin options (prior to v2.0.0).
Example folder navigation.
Example file upload.

FAQ

Are they any attributes for the shortcodes?

For [bex_folder] you can specify a root folder: e.g. [bex_folder root="\demo2"] This would set the starting point to the demo2 subfolder under Dropbox\Apps\Blighty Explorer.
You can also specify a default sort direction for the filenames: e.g. [bex_folder sortdir="D"] (Use A for Ascending, D for Descending.)
Both of these override any equivalent settings you may have in the plugin’s Admin Settings.

Can I use share two different folders from the same Dropbox account on two different installations?

Yes. Structure your Apps/Blighty Explorer folder in Dropbox to have two subfolders. Change the root folder in the settings page on each installation to the subfolder you want to share.

Something seems to have gone wrong and/or the plugin is not connected to Dropbox. What can I do?

On the admin settings page for the plugin, add the &bex_reset=1 parameter to the URL. This will reset the plugin by disconnecting it from Dropbox. Attempt to reconnect it again using the link provided.

I like the icons in the file explorer. Can I use them in my software?

With version 1.3.0, I implemented several icons from the wonderful Silk Icon set by famfamfam. They are used under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Can I use both `[bex_folder]` and `[bex_upload]` on the same page?

Absolutely! The plugin is smart enough to tie the two together. For best results, place the shortcodes side by side: [bex_folder][bex_upload]

I want to only allow logged-in WordPress users or users with certain roles access to using the plugin. How do I do that?

Use a plugin such as User Specific Content in conjunction with this one in order to protect the page.

Changelog

Version 2.3.0 – Jan 27th, 2024

Bug fixes and compatability with PHP 8.*

Version 2.2.3 – Apr 7th, 2019

Bug fix to resolve uploads duplicating contents.

Version 2.2.2 – Feb 20th, 2019

Bug fix to resolve problem with apostrophes in path name.

Version 2.2.1 – Oct 5th, 2018

Bug fix to access control defaults.

Version 2.2.0 – Oct 1st, 2018

Improve access control.
Change default folder access to be “Administrator” role instead of anonymous (if access control being used).

Version 2.1.8 – May 24th, 2018

Bug fix in detecting whether cURL function is enabled.

Version 2.1.7 – May 22nd, 2018

Added GDPR notices.
Implemented a less-confusing root folder icon.
Shows max filesize for file uploads in the plugin options.
Added ISO 8601 as a date format for display.

Version 2.1.6 – May 21st, 2018

Added functionality to allow folders to be sorted inline with files.

Version 2.1.5 – October 7th, 2017

Bug fix: Improved error detection for firewall issues connecting to Dropbox.

Version 2.1.4 – September 26th, 2017

Bug fix: Undefined variable when file has no extension

Version 2.1.3 – August 27th, 2017

Bug fix: Folder names weren’t displaying correctly in navigation

Version 2.1.2 – August 3rd, 2017

Bug fixes: Uploads to a subfolder were failing.

Version 2.1.1 – June 25th, 2017

Bug fixes: Minor improvements and enhancements.

Version 2.1.0 – June 23rd, 2017

Added options to select format for file date/time.
Bug fix: Failed to show settings under certain conditions.

Version 2.0.2 – June 14th, 2017

Update: Improve efficiency of folder information refresh from Dropbox

Version 2.0.1 – June 10th, 2017

Bug fix: Bad settings link from Installed Plugins page to admin page.

Version 2.0.0 – June 8th, 2017

Major upgrade to ensure compatibility with Dropbox API v2 before v1 became obsolete.
New look Admin UI

Version 1.16.3 – January 14th, 2017

Important maintenance notice

Version 1.16.2 – December 14th, 2016

Bug fix: Resolved potential PHP warning message

Version 1.16.1 – November 3rd, 2016

Bug fix: Fix to bug introduced with v1.16

Version 1.16 – November 2nd, 2016

Added full support for root= and sortdir= shortcode attributes.

Version 1.15.3.1 – October 29th, 2016

Performance and reliability improvements.

Version 1.15.3 – October 22nd, 2016

Allow plugin to be called using do_shortcode()

Version 1.15.2 – June 17th, 2016

Added language support for Dutch.

Version 1.15.1 – June 16th, 2016

Further localization support.

Version 1.15.0 – June 16th, 2016

Begin localization support.
Fix bug in folder selection in admin.

Version 1.14.0 – June 15th, 2016

Certain security levels weren’t always allowing access to folders.

Version 1.13.0 – May 30th, 2016

Add feature to include/exclude uploads of specific file types.

Version 1.12.0 – May 20th, 2016

Tidied up some code that wasn’t checking if index was set under certain circumstances.
Added option to subscribe to Blighty emails.

Version 1.11.1 – April 9th, 2016

Added an additional built-in stylesheet that provides formatting, but not colours/fonts.

Version 1.11.0 – April 8th, 2016

Allow built-in stylesheet to be suppressed for more flexibility.
Added additional style hooks for complete style customisation.

Version 1.10.0 – March 12th, 2016

Optionally allow file extensions to be suppressed.
Add option to cause files to be opened in new browser tab.
Allow file sorting by date.
Add option to replace “Home” directory with actual folder name of “Root” folder.

Version 1.9.8.1 – February 17th, 2016

Resolved potential stylesheet conflict with certain themes and/or plugins.

Version 1.9.8 – February 1st, 2016

Added functionality to display PDFs in the browser, instead of downloading them (in line with the Download Files setting).
Improved Dropbox setup in certain cases where it would otherwise fail.

Version 1.9.7 – December 30th, 2015

Bug fix: Fixed initial set-up problem with Dropbox when using on a WordPress installation with SSL admin.
Bug fix: Problems sorting by filename in a subfolder with a + in it!

Version 1.9.6 – December 26th, 2015

Added ability to use natural sort order (so numbers are sorted numerically).

Version 1.9.5 – December 18th, 2015

Added ability to select root folder when subfolders present.

Version 1.9.4 – December 8th, 2015

Bug fix. Allow + character in filenames.

Version 1.9.3 – November 15th, 2015

Bug fix. “Allow Uploads” setting not reflecting status correctly in admin options.

Version 1.9.2 – October 27th, 2015

Minor fix to stylesheet for bex-wrapper selector.

Version 1.9.1 – September 10th, 2015

Added support for root folder override on both [bex_folder] and [bex_upload] shortcodes.
Added the folder to the upload email.

Version 1.9.0 – September 9th, 2015

Added functionality to allow uploads into “current” folder.

Version 1.8.0 – August 12th, 2015

Added support for lightbox-type plugins.
Improved handling of file downloads and presentation.
Improved handling of failed Dropbox authentication on setup.

Version 1.7.2 – August 8th, 2015

Fixed a bug when there is an & in the Dropbox folder name.

Version 1.7.1 – August 8th, 2015

Fixed a bug with column header formatting introduced with 1.7.0.

Version 1.7.0 – August 7th, 2015

Allow for directional sorting by filename
Added option to download files when selected instead of presenting them in the browser.

Version 1.6.0 – August 4th, 2015

Added WordPress Role support.
Improved selection of root folder.

Version 1.5.2 – June 25th, 2015

More improvements to file downloads.

Version 1.5.1 – June 25th, 2015

Moved the options menu in the admin to under the settings link.
Improved the way files are downloaded. Some pop-up blockers were preventing this before.

Version 1.5.0 – June 18th, 2015

Added caching to reduce hits to Dropbox API
Added direct link to settings from WordPress’ Installed Plugins page.
Added option to allow uploads for a user that’s not logged in.
Cleaned up some code that could have caused conflicts with other plugins.

Version 1.4.1 – June 9th, 2015

Bug fix. Removed erroneous space from utilities.php.

Version 1.4.0 – June 8th, 2015

Added upload functionality.
Optional email sent to admin when a file is uploaded.
Allows files to be uploaded to a dedicated folder for review (not visible in the folder view).
Show Dropbox account information in the admin options.

Version 1.3.2 – May 20th, 2015

Fixed a bug that caused problems with the folder/file navigation with the default path setting of blank or /.
Tidied up some HTML in the admin page.

Version 1.3.1 – May 18th, 2015

Fixed a bug that caused problems with the folder/file navigation when WordPress permalinks were left to their default setting.

Version 1.3.0 – May 9th, 2015

Replaced the need for the WP SVG Icons plugin.
Added new Silk icon set from famfamfam.
Show unique icons by file type.
Only show notices on all plugins and Blighty Explorer pages in the admin.
Tidied up the formatting of the Dropbox explorer / folder hierarchy.

Version 1.2.0 – April 30th, 2015

Added stylesheet support for improved formatting.
Added support to optionally display file modification date and filesize in the folder/file list.
Sorted folders to always display above files in the folder/file list.
Added a link in the Admin to the WordPress Support Forums for this plugin.
Tidied up some of the code.

Version 1.1.1 – April 19th, 2015

Improved root foldername validation.

Version 1.1.0 – April 18th, 2015

Added admin settings to specify an optional starting (or root) subfolder.
Added Frequently Asked Questions.

Version 1.0.0 – April 14th, 2015

Initial release.