Thank you for starting a new topic with your question. Your approach to replacing the PDF thumbnails is very similar to the kind of mla_viewer replacement I am contemplating, and it is also similar to the “cover art” technique that BuddyPress uses for audio and video files. I am also looking at using Imagemagick to generate thumbnails, but I have not had time to investigate further.
In the interim you can accomplish your goal using the hooks built in to the [mla_gallery] shortcode. Here are some earlier topics along similar lines:
Audio Player
Fixed href link or caption text per id?
You can find some custom field code in the /media-library-assistant/examples/mla-image-source-control-example.php.txt example plugin, inspired by this topic:
Friendly Column Names
I hope that gives you some ideas on how to proceed. I will leave this topic unresolved until I hear back from you. Thanks for your interest in the plugin and in this topic.
The current MLA Development Version has a new feature that allows you to assign a “Featured Image” to your PDF documents (or any other Media Library item). The Featured Image will supply a thumbnail for any non-image item in an [mla_gallery].
I will mark this topic resolved when the next MLA version, including the new Featured Image capability, goes out. Thanks for inspiring this new MLA feature.
I have released MLA version 2.10, which contains the mla_viewer and Featured Image support this topic requires. Please note that the new viewer requires Imagick/Imagemagick and Ghostscript to be installed on the site’s server.
I am marking this topic resolved, but please update it if you have any problems or further questions regarding thumbnail generation and Featured Images for PDF documents.
I have uploaded a new MLA Development Version dated 20150625 that includes a new “Thumbnail Generation” capability. The Media/Assistant “Thumbnail” Bulk Action lets you select one or more non-image items and generate new thumbnail image items you can use as the Featured Image for those items. That lets mla_viewer display the thumbnails without re-generating them each time the gallery is composed. You can find step-by-step instructions for using the Development Version in this earlier topic:
MLA errors when using plugin
I am very interested in feedback on this new feature. If you get a chance to try the Development Version please let me know how it works for you. Thanks for your interest in the plugin.
