Options overview
All settings for the add-on live on a single options page at AdminCP > Setup > Options > [MC] Downloads Manager. The page is split into nine tabs across the top.
The tabs
| Tab | What it covers | Page |
|---|---|---|
| General | Listing defaults, branding, icons, changelog length. | General, file policy, preview |
| File policy | Upload size caps, allowed extensions, external URL behaviour. | General, file policy, preview |
| File preview | In-browser preview size caps for text, image, audio, video, PDF, archive. | General, file policy, preview |
| Protection | Hotlink protection, CAPTCHA, password window. | Protection and Throttling |
| Comments | Comment length, edit grace, attachment caps. | Comments, Reviews, Discussion |
| Reviews | Review length, voting, Bayesian rating. | Comments, Reviews, Discussion |
| Discussion | Auto-thread title and post template, behaviour on download deletion. | Comments, Reviews, Discussion |
| Audit and privacy | Audit log retention, IP anonymisation, soft-delete retention. | Audit and privacy |
| Throttling | Default per-stream bandwidth cap, default per-hour rate limits. | Protection and Throttling |
Per-category overrides
Many of these settings are global defaults. Categories can override several of them with their own values. Where a setting has a per-category override, the explanation under the setting on the AdminCP page says so.
The settings that categories can override are:
- File policy: maximum file size, maximum version size, maximum total upload size, allowed extensions.
- Throttling: guest and member rate limits and burst allowances.
- Discussion: thread title format, first-post template.
- Reviews: review voting.
- External URLs: mode and allowed sources.
A per-category value of zero or empty usually means "fall back to the global default". Where the meaning differs, the setting's explanation says so.
Defaults are safe
Every shipped default is sane out of the box. You do not have to change anything to start using the add-on. The defaults err toward permissive (no rate limit, no hotlink protection, CAPTCHA disabled) so categories can opt in to stricter rules.
If you are running a public site, tighten in this order:
- Turn on Hotlink protection under the Protection tab.
- Set Guest download rate limit to a sensible cap.
- Pick a CAPTCHA challenge for guests mode.
- Set External URL uploads to "Disabled" if you do not want authors pointing at external hosts.
Quick lookup
The all options reference lists every setting alphabetically.