Nothing is more annoying than having a super interesting website project but no more free storage space in your own hosting. How the "External files in the media library" plugin can help with this is described here.

Nothing is more annoying than having a super interesting website project but no more free storage space in your own hosting. With the WordPress plugin External files in the media library, you can free up space and store large files elsewhere, for example. Preliminary remarks Distributing files to other storage locations may seem attractive at first, but there are various aspects that need to be taken into account: When outsourcing images, you must bear in mind that they may no longer be optimized for output in the frontend. Plugins such as EWWW Image Optimizer cannot access them. Be sure to observe the guidelines applicable in your country for integrating external sources into websites (such as the GDPR in Germany). You may have to deliver these files via the proxy contained in the proxy, which in turn requires storage space in your hosting. However, this is not possible with all file types. My recommendation would therefore only be to use this option for really large files, e.g: PDF files with an enormous size PowerPoint presentations ZIP files Prerequisites To outsource files, you only need to have the "External files in the media library" plugin installed and activated. At the same time, of course, you also need access data to the external storage space where you want to store the files. Setup Activate export in the plugin Go to Settings > External files in the media library > Export. Check the box here to activate the export functions. Set up external source To save files elsewhere, you first need an external source. You must configure this for the export. If you have not yet set up an external source, proceed as follows: Go to Media library > Add external files. Select the source where you want to save files. Enter the access data for this source in the form that then appears. As soon as the connection has been established, click on "Save the directory in your external sources" above. You will receive a confirmation as soon as it has been saved. Then go to Media library > Your external sources. Here you will find the external directory you just created. Click on "To" in the "Export" column. You have now activated this source for the export. Usage As soon as the external source for the export has been activated as described above, you have the following options. Upload new files Every file uploaded to the media library will be exported to the external source and then stored as an external file in the media library. Export existing files individually You can use the "Export file" option for each file already in the media library. This will export it to the external source and convert it into an external file in the media library. Exporting multiple files Go to Media library and view the list as a table. Check the box on the left to select which files you want to export. Then select the "Export files" action above and confirm the change. This exports the selected files to the external source and converts them into external files in the media library. FAQ Can I also use several external sources for the export? Yes, you can. The advantage of this is that the files can automatically be stored in several external sources. However, you will only be able to use one of them as the external source for the file in the media library. The plugin automatically sets the first activated external source as the default for this. You can change the setting at any time in 2 places: Media library > Your external sources > Configure export > Check the box for main source. Or. Settings > External files in the media library > Export > set the external source as the main source. What happens if I deactivate the export? The files remain in the media library and on your website. They are still stored in the external source. Only the export of new files is no longer possible. What happens if I delete the external source that I use as the export destination? The same as when you deactivate the export: the files remain in the media library and website.

External files in the media library

WordPress plugin

free of charge

media library

Add one or more files, including their URLs, under „Media → Add New Media File.“ This allows you to use external files anywhere the media library is available.

Plugin page:

https://de.wordpress.org/plugins/external-files-in-media-library/

Support forum: https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/external-files-in-media-library/

GitHub repository: https://github.com/threadi/external-files-in-media-library

Articles

Free up storage space and move files to external storage
Nothing is more annoying than having a super interesting website project but no more storage space available on your own hosting. How the plugin „External Files in the Media Library“ can help with this is described here. Read more
use case
Create an image gallery from an FTP directory
With the „External Files for the Media Library“ plugin, it is possible to access external directories in order to use the files contained therein in image galleries. Read more
use case
Can I restrict other users from storing external files?
Yes, the External Files plugin in the media library comes with a wealth of permissions. Here you can find a description of what is possible. Read more
Frequently Asked Questions
I get timeouts when loading the FTP directory.
What solutions are available for timeouts when loading directories and files via FTP? Read more
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a size limit for files in the media library?
WordPress itself does not impose any size restrictions on files in the media library. Read here to find out what limits do exist and how you can get around them. Read more
Frequently Asked Questions
Installation of „External files in the media library“
The ways to install the „External files in the media library“ plugin are described here. Read more
Installation
I can't upload ZIP files!
Uploading ZIP files is disabled by default in the „External files in the media library“ plugin. However, you can change this as follows: Read more
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use the plugin to bypass my hosting's upload size limit?
Yes, absolutely. With the „External Files in the Media Library“ plugin, you store files on an external host rather than locally. This means that the limits on your hosting do not apply. Read more
Frequently Asked Questions, feature
Unpacking files in the media library
The plugin offers several ways to open ZIP files, both individually and completely. Read more
feature
Unzip ZIP files in media library
The plugin „External Files in the Media Library“ also allows ZIP files to be unpacked into the media library. The files from the ZIP file are inserted into the media library as normal files. Read more
feature