Quick Start

You can publish your first FlipBook in about a minute. You don't need to change any settings — the defaults are designed to look great out of the box. This guide takes you through the entire flow with screenshots-worth-of-detail.

Before you start

Make sure:

• The plugin is installed and activated (Installation and Activation).
• You have a PDF or a set of images on your computer that you want to turn into a FlipBook.
• For PDFs, anything under 50 MB works smoothly. Larger PDFs work too, but loading may be noticeably slower.

The 5 steps

1. Open the new FlipBook editor

In your WordPress admin sidebar, click FlipBooks → Add New. The FlipBook editor opens with a step-by-step wizard at the top.

2. Give your FlipBook a title

Click into the Add title field at the top and type a short, descriptive title. Examples:

• 2024 Product Catalog
• Spring Magazine — March Issue
• Annual Report 2023

The title becomes the page title visitors see, and it appears in the FlipBook's web address (e.g. yoursite.com/flipbook/spring-magazine-march-issue/).

3. Upload your content

Scroll down to the Content tab — it's the first tab in the metabox below the title.

You'll see three source-type cards:

• Single PDF — for a single PDF file (the most common choice).
• Multiple PDFs — for stitching several PDFs into one bound book.
• Image Gallery — for a set of images instead of a PDF.

Leave Single PDF selected for now.

Click Select PDF (or drag and drop a PDF onto the dropzone). The WordPress media library opens. Pick the PDF you want, or upload a new one. The thumbnail of the first page appears once it's selected.

If your PDF has more than 50 pages, the plugin processes them in the background — page 1 loads immediately, the rest fill in as the FlipBook renders.

4. Publish

Click the blue Publish button in the top-right corner.

That's it — your FlipBook is now live on your site.

5. View it

Click the View FlipBook link in the notice that appears, or open FlipBooks → All FlipBooks and click the View link for your FlipBook.

A new tab opens with the FlipBook in full-page mode. Click and drag the corner of a page to turn it. Notice the toolbar at the bottom — that's where readers find search, zoom, fullscreen, share, download, and more.

Congratulations — you've published your first FlipBook.

What you just got, with no extra setup

Out of the box, your FlipBook already has:

• Realistic page-turn animation with sound.
• A full toolbar (page navigation, search, zoom, share, fullscreen, theme toggle, read aloud, and more).
• A dark theme that matches the plugin's default branding.
• Mobile responsiveness — readers can read on phones and tablets.
• Keyboard navigation for accessibility.
• 194-language viewer translation (defaults to English).

You can change any of this later. But for a quick start, the defaults are intentional.

How to embed it on a page

You probably want the FlipBook to appear on a specific page (not just at its own URL). To do that, you embed it.

The quickest way: a Gutenberg block

1. Edit any page or post.
2. Click + Add block and search for FlipBook.
3. Pick TNC FlipBook 3D Embed (to show it inline) or TNC FlipBook 3D Link (to create a button that opens it in a popup).
4. In the block sidebar on the right, select your FlipBook from the dropdown.
5. Update the page.

Or use a shortcode

If you prefer shortcodes, your FlipBook ID is visible in FlipBooks → All FlipBooks under the ID column. Paste this into any post or page:

[tnc-flipbook-3d-embed id="123"]

Replace 123 with your actual ID.

Full embedding details are in Embedding with Gutenberg Blocks, Embedding with Shortcodes, and Embedding with Page Builders.

What to do next

You've published a FlipBook with default settings. From here, you can:

• Customize the look — colors, theme, Page Flip effect, FlipBook style (hardcover/spiral). See Display and Appearance.
• Tune the toolbar — choose exactly which buttons appear. See Toolbar Customization.
• Add hotspots — clickable areas on pages that link out, open videos, or jump to another page. See Hotspots.
• Embed videos on FlipBook pages. See Page Videos.
• Enable Read Aloud — let visitors listen instead of read. See Read Aloud.
• Set global defaults so every new FlipBook uses your branding automatically. See Settings Overview.

Troubleshooting

The PDF doesn't show — the page is blank. Confirm the PDF was actually uploaded (refresh FlipBooks → All FlipBooks and click your FlipBook to verify the PDF is set). If it's there but still blank on the front end, check your browser console for JavaScript errors. Some caching or script-optimization plugins break the FlipBook on first load — try disabling them temporarily.

The FlipBook loads but pages turn awkwardly. Some older devices struggle with 3D rendering. Try switching Render Mode to 2D in the FlipBook's Display tab — pages will use a flat slide/fade animation instead of full 3D, much faster on older hardware.

The PDF is too large and takes a long time. Two options. First, compress the PDF — many free tools (Smallpdf, ILovePDF, Adobe Acrobat) can reduce file size by 60–80% with minimal quality loss. Second, in FlipBooks → Settings → Display, lower the Render Scale from 2 to 1.5 or 1 — pages render faster but are slightly less crisp at high zoom.

The shortcode shows on the front end as plain text. Either the plugin is deactivated, or your page builder is treating the shortcode as literal text. Confirm the plugin is active, and if you're in a page builder, look for a "Shortcode" or "Text" element rather than a code element.

Next steps

• Creating a FlipBook — Overview — full editor walkthrough
• Embedding with Gutenberg Blocks — how to put it on a page
• Display and Appearance — color, theme, animation customization
• Settings Overview — set global defaults