Creating a FlipBook

Every FlipBook is a regular WordPress post stored under a custom post type called flipbook, so editing one feels familiar if you've used WordPress before. To create a new one, go to FlipBooks → Add New in your WordPress admin.

This article is a map of the FlipBook editor: every tab, what it does, and where the deep-dive article lives. Use it as a starting point — then jump into the specific articles for each tab.

Anatomy of the FlipBook editor

When you open a FlipBook for editing, you'll see:

• Title field at the top — sets the title and URL slug.
• Wizard / metabox below — a tabbed area with 9 tabs covering content, display, toolbar, protection, and more.
• Standard WordPress publish sidebar on the right — Publish button, Featured Image, Categories, etc.
• Shortcode generator at the bottom — copy-and-paste shortcodes for embedding.

The 9 tabs

Tab

What you configure

Content

Source PDF, multi-PDF chapters, or image gallery

General

Default view mode, page mode, zoom, language, deep linking

Display

Color scheme, brand color, theme, Page Flip effect, FlipBook style, paper, camera/lighting

Toolbar

Which toolbar buttons appear, where the toolbar sits

Protection

Watermark, copy/download/print prevention, dev tools detection, PDF password

SEO

Search engine title, meta description, social sharing image

Read Aloud

Pre-generate text-to-speech audio per FlipBook

Advanced

Page videos, hotspots, custom TOC, analytics override, custom CSS

WooCommerce

Gate the FlipBook behind a WooCommerce product purchase

Each tab has a per-FlipBook Override Global switch for most fields. By default, fields use the values you set in FlipBooks → Settings (global defaults), and you only override for one-off cases. This keeps your site's branding consistent without re-entering it on every FlipBook.

Tab 1 — Content

This is where you point the FlipBook at your source material. Three options:

• Single PDF — upload one PDF and every page becomes a FlipBook page. The most common workflow. Deep dive: PDF Source.
• Multiple PDFs — combine several PDFs into one bound book with chapter names. Deep dive: Multi-PDF Source.
• Image Gallery — feed in images instead of a PDF (good for photo books, comics, scanned albums). Deep dive: Image Gallery Source.

Pick a source-type card to switch. The plugin keeps your data for other source types in case you switch back, but only the selected source type is used for the published FlipBook.

Tab 2 — General

Operational defaults that don't affect look:

• Default View Mode — FlipBook (3D), Single Page, Vertical scroll, or Horizontal scroll.
• Page Mode — Cover First (page 1 is solo, then spreads) or Spreads First (every spread is two pages).
• Mobile Single Page — force single-page mode on phones (recommended on by default).
• Default Zoom — Auto, Page Fit, Page Width, or a specific percentage.
• Language — viewer UI language (194+ choices).
• Deep Linking — adds the current page number to the URL hash so visitors can share links to specific pages.
• Link Target — when readers click PDF links inside the document, open in the same tab or a new tab.
• PDF Link Overlay — render embedded PDF links and annotations (defaults on).

These mostly match the global General settings. Per-FlipBook overrides let you customize one FlipBook without changing site-wide defaults.

Tab 3 — Display

How your FlipBook looks. This is where most customization happens:

• Color Scheme (Chrome) — pick a surface palette (Slate, Paper, Midnight, Ocean, Forest, Glass, Sepia).
• Brand Color — accent color used for buttons, active icons, focus rings.
• Hardcover Color — for FlipBooks with the Hardcover style, sets the cover wrap color.
• Default Theme — Auto, Dark, or Light.
• Page Flip Effect — Realistic, Hard Cover, Slide, or Fade.
• FlipBook Style — Default, Hardcover, or Spiral.

Plus advanced controls under accordion sections: animation timing, rendering, paper material, camera angle, and lighting. Deep dive: Display and Appearance.

Tab 4 — Toolbar

Choose exactly which buttons appear in the toolbar. The buttons are grouped into four sections — Navigation, Content Tools, Actions, Interface — each with its own override toggle. Deep dive: Toolbar Customization.

Tab 5 — Protection

DRM and copy-protection features:

• PDF Password — if your source PDF is password-protected, paste the password here so the plugin can render it.
• Watermark — text or image watermark overlaid on every page. Burn into downloads or prints.
• Copy Prevention — disable right-click, keyboard shortcuts, image drag, text selection, and download.
• Dev Tools Detection — warn, blur, or hide content when browser dev tools open.
• Print Protection — block the browser print dialog.
• Screenshot Deterrent — overlay text when screenshot keys are detected.

Deep dive: Protection and DRM.

Tab 6 — SEO

Search engine and social-sharing metadata:

• SEO Title — what appears in Google results (defaults to FlipBook title).
• Meta Description — the snippet under the title in search results.
• Search Visibility — Index or Noindex (Noindex hides from search engines).
• Canonical URL — if the same FlipBook is published on multiple URLs, point them all here.
• Social Image — the image shown when the FlipBook URL is shared on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

For full text extraction, structured data, llms.txt, and AI search optimization, install the SEO Addon.

Tab 7 — Read Aloud

Text-to-speech audio for the FlipBook. Two options:

• Browser TTS (free, always available) — uses the reader's device voice.
• Cloud TTS (Pro, pre-generated) — generate studio-quality audio from Google, ElevenLabs, Azure, Amazon Polly, or OpenAI.

Configure providers globally in FlipBooks → Settings → Integrations, then generate per-FlipBook audio on this tab. Deep dive: Read Aloud.

Tab 8 — Advanced

Per-FlipBook additions that don't fit elsewhere:

• Page Videos — embed videos on specific pages. Deep dive: Page Videos.
• Hotspots — clickable areas on pages. Deep dive: Hotspots.
• Custom Table of Contents — override the auto-generated TOC with your own titles and page numbers.
• Analytics — per-FlipBook Google Analytics 4 Measurement ID override.
• Custom CSS — CSS that loads only for this FlipBook (appended to the global CSS).

Tab 9 — WooCommerce

Gate the FlipBook behind a WooCommerce product purchase. Customers who buy the linked product get access; others see a configurable purchase prompt. Deep dive: WooCommerce Integration.

The publish sidebar

On the right side of the editor, the standard WordPress publish panel includes:

• Status & Visibility — Public, Private, or Password-protected.
• Publish button — saves and publishes.
• Featured Image — used by the FlipBook 3D Image Link block/shortcode when cover is true. Also shown on social shares if no Social Image is set in SEO tab.
• Categories and Tags — optional WordPress taxonomies. Some addons (BookShelf, others) filter FlipBooks by category.

Below the publish panel, a Shortcode metabox renders the live shortcode for the current FlipBook with copy-to-clipboard buttons for each variant (embed, link, image link).

Save and preview

• Save Draft — saves without publishing.
• Preview — opens the front-end view in a new tab. Works for drafts and published FlipBooks.
• Publish / Update — makes the FlipBook live (or saves edits to a published FlipBook).

Where the FlipBook appears on your site

Once published, your FlipBook has its own URL: yoursite.com/flipbook/your-flipbook-slug/. You can:

• Link to that URL directly.
• Embed it inside any page/post using a block, shortcode, or page-builder element.
• Display it via the BookShelf Addon as part of a library collection.

Editing an existing FlipBook

To edit later:

1. Go to FlipBooks → All FlipBooks.
2. Click the title of the FlipBook (or hover and click Edit).
3. Make your changes.
4. Click Update.

Your changes appear live immediately. No cache rebuilds, no re-renders — the new settings take effect on the next page load.

Bulk operations on the All FlipBooks screen

The All FlipBooks list (under FlipBooks → All FlipBooks) supports:

• Sort and filter by status, search by title, paginate.
• Quick Edit to change title, slug, status without opening the editor.
• Bulk Actions — Trash, Export (selected) as JSON.
• Row actions — Edit, Quick Edit, Trash, View, Export, Duplicate (Pro).

The Export option produces a JSON file you can import on another site — see Export and Import.

Next steps

• PDF Source — most common workflow
• Multi-PDF Source — combine several PDFs
• Image Gallery Source — for image-based books
• Hotspots — add interactivity
• Page Videos — embed videos on pages