google doc embedder   a plugin for wordpress

Updated 13 Nov 2009

There is a limitation to Google’s viewer (which this plug-in embeds) that can cause the embedded file not to load properly in Internet Explorer 7 or 8 in its default settings. You are affected with this issue if you find that the plug-in loads correctly in other browsers (Firefox, Chrome, etc.) but in IE the viewer may appear something like the following:

possible viewer appearance in IE7+

Obviously, this is not the desired behavior, but unfortunately this appears to be a “bug” between Google’s viewer and IE’s default cookie handling. This problem occurs sporadically for all users of Google’s viewer in IE7+, and is not limited to WordPress or this plug-in, so I cannot address it directly. Hopefully, the error will be fixed soon and this information will become irrelevant.

Here is the relevant thread on Google Docs Help Forum confirming the issue.

There are several workarounds, but unfortunately all require your web site viewer to change settings in IE’s Internet Options. If this is happening on your site, the viewer will work properly in IE if automatic cookie handling is turned off in the browser settings. Alternatively you can add google.com to the allowed cookies list this way:

• Go to “Tools” menu
• Select “Internet Options”
• Click on the “Privacy” tab
• Click the “Sites” button
• Type google.com in the “Address of website” field and click “Allow”
• Close the settings and refresh the page in your browser

In order for your web site visitors to view the file, they will have to do the same. I know this is frustrating, but it’s beyond my control! The best that I can offer at this point is the option to “Show Help Message to IE8 Users” on the GDE Settings page under “Advanced Options”). This will insert a sentence describing how to view the document to IE8 users ONLY. (Other browsers will not display this message, even if this option is checked.) If you wish to re-word the text of this help message, enter your changes in ie-warn.txt from the Plugins Editor in your admin section.

The message will appear in the same position as you have selected for the “Link Position” setting (above or below the viewer window), and if this option is checked, it will appear even if you have opted not to display the download link.

The error text can be styled using CSS using the gde-iewarn class. You may wish to use this to italicize or bold the text, to draw a line around it, etc. If you need help with this function, please use the support form.

Again my sincere hope is that this is a temporary measure and that the issue in either Google’s viewer or IE itself will be repaired shortly. If you have further information about when this error occurs, or other ideas about how to bypass it, please share in the comments below.