Description
Are you tired of ugly, date-based WordPress upload URLs like /wp-content/uploads/2024/05/image.png?
Linko Media Path Mapper & Swapper is a powerful URL management suite that gives you complete control over how your media files are served. It is built around 3 core workflows designed for performance, SEO, and ease of use.
🎯 1. Clean & Custom Media Paths
Transform messy upload URLs into beautiful, human-readable paths.
* Change /wp-content/uploads/2024/05/report.pdf /downloads/annual-report.pdf
* Optionally hide or show file extensions (e.g., /images/logo instead of /images/logo.png).
* Smart WebP Mapping: Automatically maps and serves .webp versions for modern browsers without altering your database.
* Deep Integration: Works flawlessly with standard WordPress galleries, ACF (Advanced Custom Fields), and page builders via our dual-layer filtering system.
🔄 2. Smart Media Replacement
Need to update an image or PDF but don’t want to change the URL or lose SEO rankings?
* Replace the actual file on the server directly from the admin panel.
* Keep or Update Dates: Choose to keep the original upload date (for SEO) or update it to the current date (to move it to a new month folder).
* Rename on the Fly: Optionally use the newly uploaded file’s name while automatically updating all custom path mappings.
* Bypasses CDN and cache issues seamlessly with built-in cache-busting.
🔀 3. Advanced Redirection Rules (301, 302, 404)
A lightweight, high-performance redirect manager built right into the plugin.
* Multi-Domain Support: Easily redirect traffic from an old domain (e.g., https://olddomain.com/blog-post) to your new site paths.
* Flexible Rules: Set up 301 (Permanent), 302 (Temporary), or 404 (Not Found) responses.
* Hit Tracking: See how many times a redirect rule has been triggered directly in the admin UI.
* Zero Conflict: Uses smart memory caching to handle thousands of rules without slowing down your website.
🔧 How It Works (Under the Hood)
Unlike basic redirect plugins, Linko Media Path Mapper & Swapper uses a safe “Dual-Layer” architecture:
* Layer 1: Intercepts URLs at the PHP data level (before HTML is generated) for zero performance overhead.
* Layer 2: Uses a highly optimized output buffer with regex extraction to catch hardcoded theme URLs (like WebP <picture> tags) without causing memory exhaustion.
Installation
- Upload the
linko-media-path-mapper-and-swapperfolder to the/wp-content/plugins/directory, or install it directly through the WordPress plugins screen. - Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.
- Navigate to Linko Media Path Mapper & Swapper in your admin sidebar to start creating custom paths.
- Go to Redirect Rules to manage your 301/302 redirects.
FAQ
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Will this break my existing images if I deactivate the plugin?
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No. The plugin does not physically move your files or change WordPress core data. If you deactivate it, your site will simply revert to the default
/wp-content/uploads/...URLs. -
Does it work with page builders like Elementor or Divi?
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Yes. The plugin hooks deep into WordPress core filters (
wp_get_attachment_url,the_content, etc.) and has specific compatibility built-in for ACF image and file fields. -
What happens if I replace a file using the Media Replacer?
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The plugin safely overwrites the physical file on the server. Your custom URL remains exactly the same, so you don’t lose any SEO value or social media shares.
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Can I redirect an entire old domain to my new WordPress paths?
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Yes! In the Redirect Rules tab, simply paste the full old URL (e.g.,
https://olddomain.com/about-us) as the source, and your new path (e.g.,/about) as the target. -
Does this work with caching plugins like WP Rocket?
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Yes. The plugin automatically clears its own internal URL mapping cache whenever a file is replaced or a path is updated. For hard caches, a simple “Purge All” in your caching plugin will reflect the new URLs.
Reviews
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Contributors & Developers
“Linko Media Path Mapper & Swapper” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
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Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.0.0
- Initial release.
- Core Feature: Custom media path mapping with extension control.
- Core Feature: Smart WebP companion auto-mapping.
- Core Feature: Advanced media file replacement (keep date, rename, change date).
- Core Feature: Redirect Rules manager (301, 302, 404) with multi-domain support.
- Performance: Dual-layer URL replacement to prevent memory leaks.
- Security: Full XSS, SQL Injection, and CSRF protection.