Latest Google Drive File is a back-end plugin that was developed for WordPress websites. It may work on other hosting site, but not guaranteed. This allows you to serve the most recent file from a Google Drive folder at a stable URL. Perfect for always showing the latest PDF, image, or other file in viewers like PDF Embedder, img, or video.

Latest Google Drive File

Contributors: Ken Thompson

Tags: google drive, pdf, media, embed, api, files, newsletter

Requires at least: 5.0

Tested up to: 6.7

Requires PHP: 7.4

Stable tag: 5.0.0

License: GPLv2 or later

License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

Serve the most recent file from a Google Drive folder at a stable URL. Perfect for always showing the latest newsletter PDF, image, or other file in viewers like PDF Embedder, img, or video.

Description

Latest Google Drive File lets you define up to 10 Google Drive folders and exposes a simple endpoint that always returns the most recently modified file from each folder.

Common use cases:

• Always embed the latest PDF newsletter using PDF Embedder
• Always show the latest flyer or image from a Drive folder
• Serve the newest MP4 from a Drive folder into a video player
• Keep a "Latest XXX" download link in sync without editing pages

You configure:

• A Google Drive API key (restricted to your site and the Drive API)
• A root domain for example URL generation (optional)
• Up to 10 folder slots, each with:
  • Folder key (short identifier)
  • Drive Folder ID
  • Optional MIME type filter
  • Cache duration in minutes
  • Custom public error message

The plugin then gives you for each folder:

• An example URL that always streams the latest file
• An example PDF Embedder shortcode that uses that URL

You can drop the URL into any embed system that accepts URLs:

• PDF Embedder
• Standard HTML tags like img, video, or a
• Your own shortcodes or custom templates

How it works

The plugin registers an endpoint on your site:

https://your-site.com/?latest_newsletter=1&folder_key=yourkey

When called, the plugin:

1. Resolves the folder configuration based on folder_key (or folder_id if passed directly).
2. Calls the Google Drive API (v3) using your API key.
3. Runs a query such as
   With MIME filter:
   'FOLDER_ID' in parents and mimeType = 'application/pdf' and trashed = false
   Without MIME filter:
   'FOLDER_ID' in parents and trashed = false
4. Orders results by modifiedTime desc and takes the first file.
5. Downloads the file bytes via files.get?alt=media.
6. Streams it back to the browser with correct Content-Type and Content-Disposition: inline.

A per folder cache stores the selected file ID for a configurable number of minutes to reduce API calls.

Requirements

• WordPress 5.0 or higher
• PHP 7.4 or higher
• A Google Cloud project with the Google Drive API enabled
• A Google Drive API key restricted to:
  • Your site domain (HTTP referrer restriction)
  • Google Drive API only (API restriction)
• Drive folders shared as:
  • General access: Anyone with the link
  • Permission: Viewer

Installation

1. Download the plugin and place it in wp-content/plugins/latest-google-drive-file

2. Ensure the folder structure looks like:

   latest-google-drive-file/
├── latest-google-drive-file.php
├── includes/
│ ├── helpers.php
│ ├── admin-settings.php
│ └── serve-file.php
└── assets/
├── css/admin.css
└── js/admin.js

3. Activate the plugin from Plugins in the WordPress admin.

4. Go to Settings → Latest Google Drive File.

5. Under Global Settings:

   • Enter your Google API Key (see next section).
   • Optionally enter your Root domain (for example https://alp166sc.com) so example URLs use that domain.
   • Choose how many Folder slots to show.

6. Under Google Drive Folders, configure one or more folders:

   • Folder key
     A short identifier like newsletter, events, flyer. This is used in folder_key in the URL.
   • Label
     Human friendly description such as "Main Newsletter".
   • Folder ID
     The string after /folders/ in your Google Drive folder URL.
   • MIME type
     Choose a specific MIME type (for example application/pdf) or "Any type".
   • Cache (minutes)
     How long to cache the latest file ID for this folder.
   • Error message
     Public message shown to visitors when no file is found or an error occurs.

7. Click Save Changes.

Each configured folder card will show an example URL and an example shortcode you can use.

Setting up the Google Drive API key

1. Visit the Google Cloud Console and create or select a project.
2. Go to APIs and Services → Library and search for Google Drive API.
3. Enable the Google Drive API for your project.
4. Go to APIs and Services → Credentials.
5. Click Create credentials → API key.
6. Edit the new API key:
   • Under Application restrictions, choose HTTP referrers (web sites) and add your site for example:
     https://example.com/*
   • Under API restrictions, select Restrict key and choose Google Drive API.
7. Save, then copy the key and paste it into Google API Key on the plugin settings page.

Sharing your Google Drive folder

1. Go to Google Drive and locate the folder you will use.
2. Right click the folder and choose Share.
3. Under General access, set it to Anyone with the link.
4. Set the role to Viewer.
5. Click Copy link.
6. In the copied URL, find the part after /folders/ and before any ? query. That is your Folder ID.
7. Paste that value into the Folder ID field on the plugin settings page.

Any file placed in that folder will inherit the sharing and can be accessed by the plugin.

Usage

Basic usage with folder key

1. Configure a folder with:

   • Folder key: newsletter
   • MIME type: application/pdf
   • Folder ID: your Drive folder ID

2. After saving, the folder card shows example values like:

   Example URL
   https://example.com/?latest_newsletter=1&folder_key=newsletter

   Example shortcode (for PDF Embedder)
   [pdf-embedder url="https://example.com/?latest_newsletter=1&folder_key=newsletter"]

3. Insert that shortcode into a page or post.
   PDF Embedder will fetch from the plugin endpoint. The endpoint always serves the newest PDF in that folder.

Using different viewers

The endpoint streams the raw file bytes, so you can embed it anywhere a URL is accepted.

Image example:

<img src="https://example.com/?latest_newsletter=1&folder_key=flyer" alt="Latest flyer">