If you use WordPress, you may have noticed there are some file types which are not recognised. This poses a problem if you would like to upload them as media files. I discovered this when trying to upload a macro-enabled workbook with an .xlsm ending to a blog post. My intention was to store the file on my WordPress blog and make it downloadable from there.

If you are struggling to upload a file, you can upload it somewhere else and make it accessible from that location. I decided to upload the file to my Google Drive:

Drag and drop the file into your Google Drive and right click to Get link:

Change the visibility to Anyone with the link:

Select Viewer. This will prevent anyone from commenting on or editing your file:

Click Copy link:

Write the name of the file you want to make accessible in your WordPress Editor and highlight the text:

Press CTRL K on your keyboard to open the linking dialogue box:

Paste the shareable link you copied into the linking dialogue box and press enter on your keyboard:

When you publish your post, the file will become a blue clickable link:

Anyone who clicks the link will be taken to your Google Drive where they can download the file:

For a live example, see this blog post: Board game generator: Virtual teaching (world capital cities)

Although this is a workaround to the problem of not being able to upload certain files to WordPress, it would be better if the clickable link downloads the file directly without being taken directly to Google Drive. Fortunately, there is a way to do this. Once you have your Shareable link from your Google Drive, use this website to create a direct link: https://sites.google.com/site/gdocs2direct

Enter your sharable link:

Click Create Direct Link and copy the Output link:

Now go to your WordPress Editor and paste it into the linking dialogue box as described above. Once your post has been published, the link will bypass your Google Drive, allowing the recipient to download your file directly.

If you are interested in other office tool, you may find some of these useful: Office tools