Simple PDF Exporter

plugin banner

Export a single PDF with all posts, or custom post types. Requires at least 512MB of free RAM on this server.

Author:Shambix (profile at wordpress.org)
WordPress version required:
WordPress version tested:5.3.12
Plugin version:1.9.1
Added to WordPress repository:06-03-2016
Last updated:13-01-2023
Rating, %:60
Rated by:3
Plugin URI:https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-pdf-expo...
Total downloads:9 403
Active installs:300+
plugin download
Click to start download

Export a single PDF with all posts, or custom post types.
You can also export a single post, or the exact number you need.

IMPORTANT This plugin requires at least 512MB of free RAM available, or it will timeout / return an error.

This plugin is NOT recommended for people with no tech knowledge.
The PDF layout/design is VERY basic and will require html/css/php technical knowledge to customize.
Read more about this below.

The Basics

The plugin checks if a pdf already exists with the same date (ddMonyear), if yes, the existing pdf will be served, otherwise a new will be generated. Since the PDF generation uses up a lot of resources, this will prevent too many runs of the plugin and the crashing of your server.
Check the example below or the FAQ for ways to force the PDF generation anyway.

Depending on how many posts you have, it might take from a few seconds to several minutes for a new PDF to be generated.

If no PDF is generated you probably don’t have enough server resources. This can’t be fixed, as PDF libraries are very resource-hungry.
Ask your hosting to check how many resources you would need to run the plugin and if there is anything you can do, within your hosting limits, to make sure the plugin has enough or appropriate RAM/PHP settings.

If you don’t use a custom url, hence you don’t add the post_type parameter to the url, the default post type exported will always be WP default post.

The PDF Template

Currently, the template and design for the exported pdf, is very basic (and posts are rendered as a table, since floating doesn’t play nicely with the DOMPDF library).

You can copy the plugin’s basic structure from wp-content/plugins/simple-pdf-exporter/assets/pdf_layout.php inside your current theme and edit it.
Your layout must be echoed in php, eg. echo '<div>the content goes here</div>'; or it won’t show up in the PDF.

You can copy the plugin’s basic CSS from wp-content/plugins/simple-pdf-exporter/assets/pdf_export.css inside your current theme and edit it.

Do not edit directly the plugin’s files pdf_layout.php and pdf_export.css, they will be overwritten with the next update.

Questions?

Check the FAQ before opening new threads in the forum!

Contact me if you want a custom version of the plugin, for a fee (email on shambix.com).

Libraries & Credits


FAQ
ChangeLog