OpenCms
knowledge base

Inserting PDF or other attachments

Preparing the files

1. You can link to downloads on your site – PDF documents, Word documents, Excel sheets, PowerPoint presentations, and so on. In this example we will cover a PDF map download. The process is the same for other types of downloads.

2. First, give the PDF a descriptive name that will help you identify it later on. This is important for search engine optimisation:

Correct names for files Names to avoid
ABC Company Map.pdf MP_2848.pdf
Product-Spec-Sheet.doc P239020_finalfinal.doc
Finance-Distribution-List.xls Final91900006list.xls

Uploading the files

1. Next, load the PDF to your site. Open the downloads folder (marked with downloads icon download-folders) which is typically a main folder: 

downloads-folderThe downloads folder could be in another folder called files or content.

Hint

a. If your site does not have a downloads folder, create one by going to the main screen and pressing New (new)in the Explorer Menu at the top.

b. From the next screen select Extended folder and press Continue.
Creating extended folder in OpenCms3. Next, select Download gallery and press Continue.
Creating download gallery4. Type the name of the folder in lower case (eg downloads) and press Continue.
Creating downloads folder5. Give the folder a title (eg. PDF and Other Downloads) and press Finish.
Define title for downloads folder6. You can now use this folder to upload PDFs and other documents.   

2. Once in the downloads folder, press Upload (upload) in the Explorer Menu at the top.

3. Drag and drop the prepared file(s) from your hard drive into the upload dialog and press Ok.

Uploading files in OpenCms 84. The document will now be visible. It has a lock (lock) to indicate that the file is locked by you (any other company members logged into the system won’t be able to edit that file until you publish). The flag (flag) helps you identify pages that have been recently created or edited (this is useful once you have a long list of pages within a folder). The flag and lock disappear when you Publish (Publishing changes in OpenCms) changes.

PDF map with lock and flag

 5. Next, link to the document from the relevant page.

Linking to the document

1. Open the page where you would like to create the PDF link. Left click the page icon and select Edit page from the drop down.

Edit page in OpenCms2. Once in the editor, type the text that you would like to associate with the download, eg. For directions to our venue, please download our map.

3. Highlight the text that you would like to convert to the link (eg. download our map) and press the Link button (Link button) at the top.

4. In the pop up that appears, press the folder icon (Folder icons) to open the website navigation structure. Open the downloads folder and click on the file you would like to link to:

Linking to download file in OpenCms

5. By clicking the file name, the link URL updates on the left.

6. Next, use the Target drop down to decide whether the link should open in a New window or in the Same window. It is a good idea to link to downloads in a New window.

Linking to a target in a new window

7. Next to Title, enter a short description for the link as the alt tag (eg. Download ABC Company Map). This appears when mousing over the link (once live) and is useful for search engines.

Setting link title for download in OpenCms

8. When you are done editing, press OK. The download link has now been created. Save and close the page (Save and close button) and test the link in the preview screen.