Track Media Library downloads on Members-only pages

[smdeekster]

I’m really liking this plugin. It give me just the functionality I need.

I have a requirement though to somehow track or keep a log the Media Library files (PDFs mostly) that Members are downloading from secure pages that they have been given access to.

Ideally I’d like to be able to see which users and what files were downloaded.

Would anyone have any ideas as to how I might achieve this?

Thanks in advance!

[mbrsolution]

Hi, how have you set up the downloading of the PDF files? Are you currently using a plugin?

[smdeekster]

Hi, currently they are just plain old links to the documents added via the wysiwyg editor.

[mbrsolution]

Hi, you might like to use a plugin for example Simple Download Monitor to manage the downloads.

[smdeekster]

@mbrsolution

Thanks for your input. I see you have contributed to that plugin you suggested.

I have already tried this one (and lots of others) but this doesn’t tell me which users have downloaded which files. Also it seems to require I use its buttons or shortcodes – something I dont want to do.

Anyway, back to the drawing board…

[mbrsolution]

Hi the Simple Download Monitor plugin does track the users logged in. These are the instructions added in the plugin site. Does that help you?

Capturing the Usernames of the Users

The simple download monitor plugin will automatically capture the usernames of each visitor downloading your files (given the user is logged into the site). You can view the username info from the “Logs” menu of the plugin.

If the above is not what you are looking for then maybe an analytics plugin or external analytics tracking system might do the trick.

[smdeekster]

Hi again @mbrsolution

You’re right – I see that LOGS does have a field for users. I’ll give this plugin another try.

One final query, if you don’t mind..
I already have over 150 PDFs added to my Media Library, and these are linked from my Members-only pages. Do you think I’ll need to re-add them all over again in order for this plugin to see when a PDF is downloaded?

Thanks.

[mbrsolution]

Hi, yes you will need to link the files again using the Simple Download Monitor plugin shortcode method to each page or post. The good thing is that you don’t have to upload them again because you already have them in the Media library. The plugin also has an option to send a URL link via e-mail using the following method.

If you want to share a direct download URL of an item via email then use the following format to create the URL:

http://www.your-site.com/?smd_process_download=1&download_id=X

You could try the method above if you don’t want to use a shortcode. But I am not sure if this would keep track of each download per user. I have not tested this myself.

[smdeekster]

Hi again @mbrsolution

You beat me to it!
I was just typing out something similar after doing a little testing!

I created a new entry for a sample file (already in ML), it gave me a URL as follows
xyz.com/?smd_process_download=1&download_id=13611

This solution is good for me. I’ll take the pain of modifying each of my Members-only pages with updated links.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP. You’re doing good work here.

[mbrsolution]

You are most welcome 🙂

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