I was about to post a similar question – I think I’m having the same, or a similar, problem. The mla_viewer seems to be malfunctioning on my site and will no longer display thumbnails for my pdfs. The code was working last week and I do not think anything on the site has changed since.
Thanks for your reports. I just ran a test and confirmed that the Google File Viewer no longer works for any document.
That is, it no longer returns a thumbnail image that can be displayed in an <IMG> tag. It looks like Google has changed the File Viewer to open up a new browser window with a fully interactive file viewer.
I will have to see if I can change the query arguments to restore the old behavior. This is a Google change; nothing in MLA has changed.
I will do my best to resolve this issue, but this feature relies on Google and they may have taken it away. I regret the inconvenience.
I regret to report I have been unable to find any way to restore the “thumbail image” function of the Google File Viewer.
To minimize the damage to existing users I will release an MLA update that substitutes the PDF icon for the broken image links.
I will also look for an alternative that I can add to a future MLA version. I welcome any suggestions for substitutes!
I hope you understand this is beyond my control.
Hello David,
Thank you for looking into this! I really appreciate the support that you provide for this plugin. I suspected that maybe Google had removed that functionality, which is unfortunate but obviously beyond your control.
Thanks for your prompt follow up. Too bad about Google pulling the rug out from under the viewer functionality. Hopefully there are other API’s out there that offer similar functionality…
Thanks for your understanding and for the good words. Media Library Assistant isn’t the only plugin affected:
Google Doc Embedder Home Page Notice
I am still looking for a way to fix the problem but I am not hopeful.
I have just updated the MLA Development Version to disable the mla_viewer=true parameter and substitute size=icon, so existing [mla_gallery] galleries will display something more graceful than a broken image link.
If you need any assistance getting the Development Version to your site, let me know. Tonight I will release a new official MLA version that also contains this fix.
I have released MLA v2.01, which disables the Google File Viewer and the mla_viewer parameter. When mla_viewer=true it is replaced by size-icon and the broken image links are replaced by the file’s icon.
I am marking this topic resolved because there is nothing else MLA can do in the short run. I will look for alternatives to restore this feature in a future MLA version. I regret that Google no longer offers this service.
There may be an unexpected side-effect to this workaround. Please see ww.wp.xz.cn/support/topic/mla_galery-thumbnails-are-too-small. Thanks
Thanks for posting the reference to the new topic you’ve started!
I have run some experiments with an mla_viewer replacement that uses Imagemagick and Ghostscript to produce PDF thumbnails on the local server. It works, but performance is uneven. Small PDF documents are processed in a few seconds, but larger documents are impractical (as they were with the earlier Google implementation). One of my test documents is 32MB and requires 107 seconds (1.78 minutes) to process. It appears that the entire document is generated even though the thumbnail comes from page 1.
If you want to play with this experimental version, let me know. I will work on a version that generates the thumbnails ahead of time and supports some sort of “cover art” feature along the lines BuddyPress uses for audio and video files.
I have just uploaded a new MLA Development Version that includes a new “thumbnail substitution” replacement for the Google File Viewer. The “Thumbnail Substitution Support” section of the Settings/Media Library Assistant Documentation tab has all the details.
You can find step-by-step instructions for using the Development Version in this earlier topic:
MLA errors when using plugin
If you get a chance to try the Development Version, let me know if it meets your needs. Thanks for your interest in the plugin.
I have released MLA version 2.10, which contains the mla_viewer 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 leaving this topic resolved, but please update it if you have any problems or further questions regarding thumbnail generation 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.
