Gravity PDF 3.6 makes a big change to the underlying file structure that runs the plugin. We’re moving the PDF_EXTENDED_TEMPLATES folder, which has traditionally been located in your active theme folder, to your uploads directory.
Why the change?
The reasons for this is three-fold:
- Prevent theme upgrade issues. Every time a theme is upgraded it removes the entire theme folder directory before installing the new release. If you aren’t using a child theme when you do this then you’ll automatically lose your custom PDF templates and configuration file.
- Less permission issues when installing. There are a lot of hosts out there whose file permissions are locked down which can make installing our software more difficult than it needs to be. The uploads directory is usually writeable by the web server on most hosts.
- Better Multisite Compatibility. Previously if to multisite websites were sharing the same theme the PDF configuration would also be shared. Site owners were forced to create child themes and assign them to each individual Multsite installation to fix the issue.
This change will make it easier for users to install our software on more security-restricted hosting, and make it more reliable under all circumstances – which we think is awesome!
What this means for you?
Not much… Once the one-time migration process is complete you shouldn’t notice any difference to your current PDF configuration of templates.
How does the Multisite migration work?
If you are logged in as a network super admin it will automatically migrate all sites in your network. Otherwise each individual site administrator will be prompted to migrate.
If I want to modify my existing PDF templates where do I look?
Instead of looking for the PDF_EXTENDED_TEMPLATES folder in your active theme directory – usually /wp-content/themes/ActiveTheme/ – you’ll now find it in your uploads directory – usually /app/uploads/. Inside you’ll find another directory named after your website. And inside that folder is all your templates.
For example:
/app/uploads/PDF_EXTENDED_TEMPLATES/gravitypdf_com/example-template.php
