Google Drive WordPress plugin
Drive Workflows plugin features
…everything the plugin does, from the first upload to the last step of a workflow.
Clients log in to their private space on your website and upload their documents. Every file lands in their own folder of your company Google Drive.
- Uploads go to your Google DriveYour hosting space and your WordPress media library stay untouched.
- One private folder per clientCreated automatically, named the way you choose.
- Workflows you designApprovals, team steps, filing, e-mails: in the order your business needs.
No more documents lost in e-mails
Everything your clients send you, in one place they already know: your website.
By e-mail and shared links
- Attachments too heavy to send
- Versions pile up, nobody knows which file is right
- One shared link per client to create, send and close
- Every request starts another e-mail thread
With Drive Workflows
- Each document lands in the right folder of your Drive
- Each client sees only their own folders
- Each request shows where it stands
- All of it on your own WordPress site
What Drive Workflows does for your business
Free: in the free version on WordPress.org · Pro: in every paid plan
Folders and files
Your clients upload on your site, the files arrive in your Drive
- A private folder for each clientFreeEach client gets their own folder in your Google Drive, created the first time they log in. You decide how it's named, with a rule built from their e-mail, login, name, ID or any field of their account, for example "Clients/the client's e-mail". Each client only ever sees their own folder.
- Uploads straight to your DriveProClients upload from your website, and each file goes straight into their folder in your company Google Drive. It passes through your site for a moment and is never kept there: not on your hosting, not in the WordPress media library. Big files travel to Drive in pieces, so a hiccup on the way doesn't mean starting over.
- Browse, preview and downloadFreeClients see their folders in a clear grid, preview and download what you put there, and search inside their own folders. A file you add in Google Drive shows in their space within about a minute.
- The team works in Google DriveThe client folders are ordinary Google Drive folders. Share one with a colleague or a freelancer the usual way in Google Drive: they work on the files with no WordPress account.
Workflows
Requests that follow your own steps
- Workflows you designProA workflow is a type of request you set up once, for example "Approve this quote", "Send for bookkeeping" or "Forward this letter". You create as many as you need, name them and choose their steps. Each time a client sends one, it becomes a request that follows those steps.
- Started with a right-clickProThe client selects files or a folder, right-clicks and picks the workflow. A short form opens with the questions you chose, such as a reference, a date or a comment: the built-in form, or your Contact Form 7, WPForms, Ninja Forms or Formidable Forms form.
- Approvals by e-mailProThe approver can be a colleague, everyone with a given role in the team, or the client. They get an e-mail with a link to approve or decline, or decide from the Activity screen in WordPress. Add a reminder and an end date: a document approval workflow with no chasing.
- Team steps and "My requests"ProAdd steps with your own names, such as "Documents checked" or "Letter posted". The team ticks them off in WordPress, and the client follows every step of each request in "My requests" on your site.
- Automatic filingProWhen the work is done, the request's files move, or are copied, to the folder you chose, for example "Clients/the client's e-mail/Approved". The folder is created if it doesn't exist yet. Nobody drags files around by hand.
And also
A paid client space, a mobile app, privacy tools
- The Cloud Docs Pro appProYour clients get their space on their phone: they see their documents, upload files from the phone, send requests and follow them, with a notification when something arrives. Coming soon to the App Store and Google Play.
- A paid client space with WooCommerceProTurn your client space into a paid service: sell access once, or as a subscription with WooCommerce Subscriptions. If a subscription stops, nothing is deleted, and you choose whether open requests carry on or wait.
- GDPR toolsFreeExport or erase a client's data, set how long documents are kept, and keep a log of what was deleted.
- Ready for any languageFreeEnglish and French are included. Any other language is added with a translation file, and the client space follows your site's language.
How a document workflow works
You build each workflow from these steps. They always run in this order; the closing e-mail is always there, and you switch on the others as you need them.
- The client sends the request Right-click on files, then your short form.
- Approval Optional By a colleague, a role or the client, from an e-mail link.
- Team steps Optional As many as you need, named your way, shown to the client.
- Filing Optional The files move or copy to the folder you chose.
- Closing e-mail To the client, an address or a role.
What your client sees, what the team sees
Your client
A private space on your website
- Their folders, in a clear grid
- Upload, preview and download
- "My requests": where each request stands
- On their phone with Cloud Docs Pro (coming soon)
The team
WordPress and Google Drive, as usual
- Every request on the Activity screen, with its answers and files
- Tick team steps off, approve or decline
- Files waiting in the right Drive folders
- Folder rule and workflows set in DriveWorkflows → Settings
Integrations
Works with the tools you already use
A WordPress Google Drive integration you connect once. Then plug in the tools your site already runs.
No form plugin? A simple built-in form covers the basics (Pro). Drive Workflows works with Google Drive; it is not made or approved by Google.
- Google DriveFree Your company Drive, connected once for the whole site.
- WooCommercePro Sell access to the client space, once or by subscription.
- WooCommerce
- WooCommerce Subscriptions
- Form pluginsPro Your form asks the request's questions; the answers travel with the request and its files.
- Contact Form 7
- WPForms
- Ninja Forms
- Formidable Forms
- Gravity Forms
- Google FormsPro Your Google Form's answers join the request through a webhook.
Made for many fields
Detailed examples, and many more trades on the use cases page.
Accountants and bookkeepers
Receipts and invoices in, finished documents back.
See howReal estate agencies
Owners' documents and tenants' application files.
See howVirtual offices
Mail scans in each client's space, forwarding in one click.
See howWeb agencies
Logos, photos and texts from your clients, straight into your Drive.
See howSecurity and privacy
Your clients' documents are stored in your own Google Drive
Security and privacy in detail- In your company DriveEvery document is stored there, under your control, with Google's security.
- On your own websiteClient accounts and requests stay on your WordPress site, at your host.
- Your connection, your keysYour Drive is connected through your own Google Cloud project, and the connection is stored encrypted.
Up and running in four steps
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Step 1: Install the plugin
Like any WordPress plugin.
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Step 2: Connect your Drive
Once, for the whole site.
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Step 3: Set the folder rule
Each client lands in their own folder.
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Step 4: Create your workflows (Pro)
The steps your business needs.
The Help tutorials show every click. Rather have it done for you? We set it up on a free estimate.
Before you start
Questions
How do I connect Google Drive to WordPress?
Install Drive Workflows, create a Google Cloud project with the Google Drive API turned on, and paste its keys into DriveWorkflows → Settings. Then click "Connect company Google Drive" and sign in with your company account. You do this once for the whole site; your clients never need to connect anything. The Help tutorial walks you through each screen.
How do my clients get an account?
Your clients use an ordinary WordPress account on your site. You create it yourself in WordPress, or clients sign up on your site if you open registration, or the account is created when they buy access with WooCommerce. They never need a Google account.
Is Drive Workflows a file upload plugin for WordPress?
Yes, and more. Clients upload files in their private space on your site, large files included, and each file goes straight into their folder in your Google Drive, never into your media library. Then workflows take over: document workflow automation with approvals, team steps and filing, and client file sharing in both directions.
Can a WordPress form upload files to Google Drive?
Yes, through the client space. The client uploads files in their private space on your site, and they go straight into their folder in your Google Drive. When they send a request, your form from Contact Form 7, WPForms, Ninja Forms or Formidable Forms asks its questions, and the answers travel with the request and its files. Uploading needs an account on your site, so each file reaches the right client's folder.
How is it different from other Google Drive plugins?
Most Google Drive plugins for WordPress show and share Drive files on your pages. Drive Workflows builds a client portal on top: a private folder per client, uploads straight to your Drive, and requests that go through approval and team steps. The comparison page lists the facts side by side. Google Drive plugins compared
Which form plugins does it work with?
Contact Form 7, WPForms, Ninja Forms and Formidable Forms are tested on live sites. Gravity Forms is supported too. Google Forms can send its answers to your site through a webhook, set up step by step in Help. Without a form plugin, a simple built-in form covers short requests.
How do approvals by e-mail work?
Approvals are part of requests, in every paid plan. When a request reaches an approval step, the approver gets an e-mail with a link. The link opens a page where they confirm "approve" or "refuse", so a mail scanner opening the link can't decide on its own. You can add reminders and an end date, and ask approvers to sign in to the site before they decide.
Can I charge for access to the client space?
Yes, with WooCommerce and a paid plan. Access can be free for every client account, or paid, once or by subscription with WooCommerce Subscriptions. If a payment stops, nothing is deleted: folders, documents and requests are kept, and you choose whether open requests carry on or pause until access comes back.
What happens to a client's data when I delete their account?
You choose. Erasing a client through WordPress's privacy tools anonymises their requests, unlinks their phones and removes their name from the activity log. Their Drive folder is kept or moved to the Drive trash, as you choose for each request. The Security and privacy page lists every GDPR tool. Security and privacy