I recently setup a shop with wordpress. I am selling downloadable PDFs. However, once I uploaded several hundred PDFs to the media folder I noticed my site seemed to slow down, I assume it was the PDFs. If this is the case then is there a way to still sell these PDFs without slowing the website down? do I need to have them stored in a seperate database?
the existence of pdf files in your media folder shouldn't affect other pages on your site unless you have approach a disk capacity limitation on your server.
tangor
3:47 am on Jun 29, 2020 (gmt 0)
PDF in and of itself is not a problem.
Meanwhile, run your database utilities on WP to optimize the site and make sure you do not h ave multiple iterations/revisions of the same file(s). Sometimes ordinary housekeeping can make a big difference
Glad to have you join Webmasterworld!
not2easy
4:31 am on Jun 29, 2020 (gmt 0)
I hope that you did not just upload them to the WordPress media library as each item in the library should be labeled and named when it is added. I have never tried to catalog .pdf files as media, not sure if/how that would work. I know that a few years ago Google offered a WP plugin to manage pdf files. I'm not saying it is impossible, I've just never seen it done. If you simply created a folder and named it /media/ that would be different and should have no effect on your WP performance. I would look at your error logs for hints.
waynepat58
5:11 am on Jun 29, 2020 (gmt 0)
Yes I just did a bulk upload to the media section. And just went with what ever file name was attached to the file. But as others have sad in this thread PDf files should not affect performance. I will re-upload them to see if I can get any errors and run the database utilities. Thanks for all the replies.
not2easy
8:48 pm on Jun 29, 2020 (gmt 0)
In the past there have been numerous problems with storing .pdf files as media files in the WP Media Library. Check to be sure that WP has not created numerous images for each .pdf file. Download one of your .pdf files using a link the same as a buyer would use, just as a test to ensure they can be read. It is not an 'always' thing, but it is a documented possibility - better safe than sorry.
waynepat58
6:56 am on Jun 30, 2020 (gmt 0)
So if there are problems with storing PDF files in media library where else can I store them? Can I create a seperate database for them?
Koray Tugberk Gubur
11:48 am on Jun 30, 2020 (gmt 0)
You can upload them to library but you should just link them, if you put them into the web page, browser will try to download them too and this will make your site slower.
not2easy
12:14 pm on Jun 30, 2020 (gmt 0)
So if there are problems with storing PDF files in media library where else can I store them?
The word is "IF". First check your folders to see how those files are stored and handled, create a test post or page. Because various themes and environments handle them differently and because you noticed a slowdown, look to see what is in your folders. You can view them using ftp or your hosting CPanel. You can see them through your WP Admin when you go to create a link. Take your choice of how to look for them, but before you decide to change, make sure that it is a problem. There are various plugins used to manage pdf files, especially for the commercial handling of them.
Think about how you are planning to limit access to them in order to sell them. You need to have a process in place before trying to sell them and in the media library they are as freely available as your images are.
