Installation

This guide will walk you through installing Virtual Files on your WordPress site.

System Requirements

Minimum Requirements

• WordPress: 5.0 or higher
• PHP: 7.4 or higher
• Memory: 64MB or higher
• Database: MySQL 5.6+ or MariaDB 10.0+

Recommended Requirements

• WordPress: 6.0 or higher
• PHP: 8.0 or higher
• Memory: 128MB or higher
• PHP Extensions:
  • mbstring (for UTF-8 support)
  • curl (for API calls)
  • json (for JSON handling)

Installation Methods

Method 1: WordPress Admin (Recommended)

1. Download Plugin

   • Download Virtual Files from WordPress.org (Free version)
   • Purchase Pro version from Freemius Checkout
   • Download the plugin ZIP file

2. Install via WordPress

   • Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard
   • Navigate to Plugins → Add New
   • Click Upload Plugin
   • Choose the downloaded ZIP file
   • Click Install Now

3. Activate Plugin

   • After installation, click Activate Plugin
   • Virtual Files will be ready to use

Method 2: Manual Installation

1. Download Plugin

   # Download the latest version
   wget https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/virtual-files.latest-stable.zip

2. Extract Files

   unzip virtual-files.latest-stable.zip

3. Upload to Server

   # Upload to wp-content/plugins/
   cp -r virtual-files /path/to/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/

4. Set Permissions

   # Set proper permissions
   chmod -R 755 /path/to/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/virtual-files

5. Activate in WordPress

   • Log in to WordPress admin
   • Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins
   • Find "Virtual Files" and click Activate

Post-Installation Setup

1. Verify Installation

After activation, you should see:

• Virtual Files menu item in WordPress admin
• Virtual File post type in the left menu
• Settings page under Virtual Files menu

2. Configure Basic Settings

1. Navigate to Virtual Files → Settings
2. Review the following settings:
   • Enable Virtual Files: Ensure this is checked
   • Allowed Extensions: Choose which file types to enable
   • File Limits: Configure limits based on your plan

3. Test Virtual Files

Create a test virtual file:

1. Navigate to Virtual Files → Add New
2. Enter a filename (e.g., test.txt)
3. Add some content
4. Click Publish
5. Visit yourdomain.com/test.txt to verify it works

4. Flush Rewrite Rules

If virtual files don't work:

1. Navigate to Virtual Files → Settings
2. Click Flush Rewrite Rules
3. Or visit Settings → Permalinks and click Save Changes

Server Configuration

Apache (.htaccess)

Virtual Files automatically configures rewrite rules. Ensure your .htaccess is writable:

# Virtual Files will add rules like:
RewriteRule ^robots\.txt$ index.php?virtual_file=1&file_id=123 [L]
RewriteRule ^sitemap\.xml$ index.php?virtual_file=1&file_id=124 [L]

Nginx

For Nginx servers, add this to your server configuration:

location / {
    try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
}

# Handle virtual files
location ~* \.(txt|xml|json|md|csv|yml|yaml|log|rss)$ {
    try_files $uri /index.php?$args;
}

Caching Plugins

If you use caching plugins, exclude virtual file URLs:

• W3 Total Cache: Add virtual file patterns to "Never cache the following pages"
• WP Super Cache: Exclude virtual file URLs from cache
• Cloudflare: Create page rules to bypass cache for virtual files

Troubleshooting Installation

Common Issues

Plugin Won't Activate

Symptoms: White screen or activation error Solutions:

1. Check PHP version (requires 7.4+)
2. Increase memory limit to 128MB+
3. Check for plugin conflicts
4. Enable debug mode: define('WP_DEBUG', true);

Virtual Files Return 404

Symptoms: Virtual file URLs show 404 errors Solutions:

1. Flush rewrite rules: Virtual Files → Settings → Flush Rewrite Rules
2. Check file permissions
3. Verify server configuration
4. Check if "Enable Virtual Files" is checked in settings

Admin Pages Not Loading

Symptoms: Virtual Files admin pages are blank or show errors Solutions:

1. Check browser console for JavaScript errors
2. Disable other plugins temporarily
3. Clear browser cache
4. Check WordPress debug log

Performance Issues

Symptoms: Slow virtual file loading Solutions:

1. Enable caching (Pro feature)
2. Optimize database
3. Check server response times
4. Consider upgrading to Pro for advanced caching

Debug Mode

Enable WordPress debug mode to troubleshoot:

// Add to wp-config.php
define('WP_DEBUG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true);
define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false);

Check debug log: /wp-content/debug.log

Getting Help

If you encounter issues:

1. Check Documentation: Review our Troubleshooting Guide
2. Visit Support: Contact our support team
3. Community: Join our WordPress.org support forums
4. Report Bugs: Report issues on GitHub

Next Steps

After successful installation:

1. Read the Quick Start Guide
2. Explore Features
3. Check User Guide
4. Review Settings

Congratulations! You now have Virtual Files installed and ready to create virtual files on your WordPress site.