Initial Configuration Checklist

After installing and activating ToolDocs™, walk through these steps to get everything configured.

Step 1: Verify Required Pages

ToolDocs™ automatically creates three WordPress pages on activation:

• Login Page — contains [td_document_login]
• Registration Page — contains [td_document_registration]
• Whitelist Registration Page — contains [td_whitelist_registration] (optional, for categories requiring admin approval)

Verify these pages exist under Pages in WordPress admin. You can move the shortcodes to different pages if you prefer — just update the page assignments in the next step.

Step 2: Review Page Assignments

Go to ToolDocs → Settings → General. The default page paths are already set based on the pages created in Step 1. You only need to update these if you moved the shortcodes to different pages or renamed the default page slugs.

Step 3: Choose Authentication Method

Go to ToolDocs → Settings → Authentication and choose between:

• Cookie (Email-Only) — Users register with name and email only. No password required. Lower friction, great for lead capture.
• WordPress — Users register as WordPress subscribers with a password. Better if you want users to manage their own accounts.

See Authentication Methods for a detailed comparison.

Step 4: Configure Email Settings

Go to ToolDocs → Emails → Settings and set your “From Name” and “From Email” for outgoing emails. Then configure admin notification recipients and toggle which email notifications are active.

Step 5: Set Up Bot Verification

Go to ToolDocs → Forms → Settings and choose a verification provider: reCAPTCHA (v2 or v3), Cloudflare Turnstile, or None. Honeypot protection is enabled by default alongside any primary provider.

Step 6: Upload Your First Document

Go to ToolDocs → Dashboard, drag and drop a file into the upload field (or click “Add External Link” for a URL). The plugin generates two unique hashes — one for ungated access, one for gated access.

# Deny direct access to ToolDocs uploads
Order deny,allow
Deny from all

For Nginx servers, add an equivalent rule in your server block:

location ~* /wp-content/uploads/tooldocs/ {
    deny all;
    return 403;
}

This does not affect ToolDocs™ functionality — the plugin serves files through its own download handler, not via direct file URLs.

Step 7: Create Categories

Go to ToolDocs → Categories and create categories to organize your documents. Categories can optionally require whitelist approval before granting access.

Step 8: Place Documents on Your Pages

Use shortcodes to display download links on any page or post:

See Complete Shortcode Reference to view all shortcode details.

[td_file id="1"]
[td_file id="1" gate_link="false"]
[td_category_files category_id="3"]