Pro status and private media

Advanced Media Offloader Pro is the planned premium edition of Advanced Media Offloader. Private media files with secure, authenticated access are planned for Pro. The current add-on serves publicly accessible files and does not yet provide private media access controls. Pro is coming soon.

How the cloud process works

Advanced Media Offloader moves WordPress Media Library files to cloud storage and serves them from there. It supports Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, DigitalOcean Spaces, Backblaze B2, Wasabi, and MinIO. The MinIO option connects to other S3-compatible services through a custom endpoint.

New uploads can be offloaded automatically. Existing files stay on the server until an administrator starts a bulk offload from Media Overview or runs wp advmo offload with WP-CLI. Automatic URL rewriting covers original files, generated thumbnail sizes, and srcset references, so posts, pages, and product images keep their media relationships.

Local copies and file management

The existing plugin offers three retention policies: Retain Local Files keeps local copies, Smart Local Cleanup frees storage while retaining originals as backup, and Full Cloud Migration removes local copies. Administrators can check cloud badges and filter by offload status in the Media Library, then use per-file Offload Now or Retry Offload actions. Mirror Delete can remove corresponding cloud files when media is deleted in WordPress.

A custom path prefix controls where files are stored in the bucket. File versioning adds unique timestamps to media paths to help prevent stale CDN caches. The plugin also supports thumbnail regeneration through WP-CLI and the Regenerate Thumbnails plugin; regenerated thumbnails are offloaded automatically.

Storage delivery and integrations

Serving media from cloud storage can take file delivery work away from the WordPress server. Pairing a bucket with a CDN can serve files from locations closer to users. The plugin supports WooCommerce product images, common page builders such as Elementor and Beaver Builder, and image optimizer plugins including Imagify and EWWW Image Optimizer. Optimized WebP and AVIF files are offloaded alongside originals.

For bulk work, the browser-based process handles up to 50 files and 150 MB per batch. WP-CLI supports scriptable migrations without that batch limit. On WordPress 6.9 and later, the plugin also exposes media and offload actions through the WordPress Abilities API for administrator use by compatible assistants and automation tools. These base-plugin capabilities are separate from the planned private media capability for Pro.

Setup

Install and activate Advanced Media Offloader, open Media Offloader in the WordPress administration area, pick a storage provider, and enter its credentials. Select Save & Test Connection to save and verify them. New uploads can then be offloaded automatically; existing files remain untouched until a bulk offload is started. Standard setup requires no code, while WP-CLI and developer hooks are available for scripted migrations and custom offloading rules.