File Block: PDFs are shown as embeds only in the editor on Simple sites

[chad1008]

Steps to reproduce the behavior

1. Go to My Site > Pages and create a new page
2. Insert a file block
3. Add a PDF to the block. You an upload or select from media library, either is fine
4. The PDF link and download button are shown as expected
5. Above those, an embed of the PDF is displayed
6. Publish/update the page and view on fontend
7. No embed, just link and button, as expected

What I expected to happen

The editor should match the front end, displaying only the link and download button

What actually happened

The two views have very different results, which is confusing.

Workarounds

Other methods to inline embed PDFs:

1. Embed a PDF from Google Drive.
2. Embed a PDF from OneDrive.
3. Embed a PDF using Scribd.

Browser / OS version

Chrome 90.0.4430.93

Does this happen on simple or atomic sites or both?

Simple only

Screenshot / Video: If applicable, add screenshots to help explain your problem.

[kosiew]

Not transferring to Gutenberg as this affects Simple sites only.

[kriskarkoski]

21646911-hc

Pasting on its own line allowed it to embed

[sophiegyo]

I encountered this in 30237796-hc - pasting the PDF URL directly into the editor was a suitable workaround.

[mrfoxtalbot]

I suspect this is not so much a bug, but a design gap.

By default, all file blocks will show just as a link and a button. The block was "improved" to show the PDFs "preview" but no option has given to keep it as a simple file link.

Ideally, I would advocate treating the PDF file as any other file and add an option in the block settings to "convert it to an embed".

Would this make sense @chad1008? Thank you!

[mrfoxtalbot]

Actually, I just re-tested this and there block already hast this toggle!

I am marking this as solved. Thank you!

[kriskarkoski]

@mrfoxtalbot I'm reopening this as the issue is not with what's shown in the editor, but rather when the inline embed option is enabled it still shows as a link and button on the front-end rather than how it looks in the editor. Perhaps we should update the title/description to make the issue more clear?

[mrfoxtalbot]

Thank you @kriskarkoski I got that the other way around. 😬

[mrfoxtalbot]

@kriskarkoski, this appears to be a duplicate, right? #52992

[msilbers]

@mrfoxtalbot I closed #52992 since this issue was opened first, but I do see there's a third one at #52743 also opened after. I'll leave these in your hands from here

[mrfoxtalbot]

Thank you @msilbers! Ideally, we will want to get back to our users letting them know the issue is solved. I am adding the full list of related issues here for reference:

#52743
#52992

Also, I am wondering if this might be related to #53595 @taggon, do you think there might be a connection between these two issues? Thank you!

[dcoleonline]

I have another report where the customer expected for the embed to work on the live page, but it does not. It seems like the show inline embed feature only works in the editor but not for the live page. I've suggested the Embed block + the File block as a workaround for now.

#24043773-hc

[goblinartificer]

30262302-hc as well

[Robertght]

Another case in 4238984-zen

[rw-ye]

Another report here: 4673233-zd-woothemes

[abcrsol]

Another here: zd-4679947

[edwinho89]

4686073-zd-woothemes

[Jaccuse]

Another report: 33661080-hc

[Nic-Sevic]

Just surfacing this as it seems like it might be related to how this bug is fixed:
Looks like in the 10.5 Jetpack there's this update
Security: PDF embeds now only display a link, to avoid issues with malicious PDFss that may run arbitrary code.

[syedshaon]

Another report: 4697471-hc

[cuemarie]

Looks like in the 10.5 Jetpack there's this update
Security: PDF embeds now only display a link, to avoid issues with malicious PDFss that may run arbitrary code.

@Nic-Sevic Thanks for sharing this!

For anyone here - does this mean that PDFs not displaying on live sites is now the intended design? I'm not sure if we're expecting a "solution" that allows PDFs to display again, or if this security change means that this features is going away.

[adelineyaw]

Another report: 4710700-zen

I've made a comment to this related p2: p3btAN-1Ab-p2#comment-15424

[dcoleonline]

Reported in 32784736-hc

[csonnek]

Another report: https://wordpress.com/forums/topic/adding-media-adding-buttons-to-home-page/?view=all

[happychait]

Another report in 33878839-hc

[darnelldibbles]

Another report here: https://twitter.com/elevennames/status/1487469354769920009

[rw-ye]

Another report: 4734865-zd-woothemes

[druesome]

Another report: 4732235-zd-woothemes

[daria2303]

4708055-zd-woothemes

[wpshellbelle]

Another report at 4678870-zen

[daria2303]

4742534-zd-woothemes would like to be informed when solved

[formosattic]

4760061-zd-woothemes

[annbingle]

Another report here 29586695-hc .

[formosattic]

As @metabreakr points out, this issue is discussed in p3btAN-1Ab-p2.

Updated initial post with workarounds to inline embed PDFs.

[mxhassani]

33485094-hc would want to be notified once fixed

[csonnek]

User on the forums having this issue and would like to be notified when this is fixed: https://wordpress.com/forums/topic/problem-inserting-pdf-files/?view=all

Did not suggest a workaround as they found their own (uploading to Google Drive instead).

[1dr0]

Closing as this seems to have been fixed as of now.

Tested on themes:

• Non-FSE: Syntax, and Blask
• FSE: Heiwa, and Russell

[Jaccuse]

Might need reopening, @1dr0, I ran across what seems to be another case in 31616736-hc