Add From Server

Add From Server

Dion Hulse

This plugin offers limited support. Please do not expect new features or too many bugfixes. Features may be removed at any time.

Add From Server is designed to help ease the pain of bad web hosts, allowing you to upload files via FTP or SSH and later import them into WordPress.

This plugin is NOT designed to..
* Be used as a replacement for the file uploader
* Be used for migration of websites
* Re-import your files after moving webhosting
* Batch import media

This plugins IS designed to..
* Import files which are larger than your hosting allows to be uploaded.
* Import files which are too large for your internet connections upload speed.

WordPress does a better job of file uploads than this plugin, so please consider your needs before you use it.

You may also want to look at using WP-CLI for media import purposes:
https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/media/import/

How can I import files from other folders?

In 3.4, the plugin changed to limit the directories you can import files from.
If you wish to import files from other folders, you need to add the ADD_FROM_SERVER constant to your wp-config.php file.
For example:
define( ‘ADD_FROM_SERVER’, ‘/www/’ );

Why does the file I want to import have a red background?

WordPress only allows the importing/uploading of certain file types to improve your security.
If you wish to add extra file types, you can use a plugin such as: https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/pjw-mime-config/ You can also enable “Unfiltered uploads” globally for WordPress if you’d like to override this security function. Please see the WordPress support forum for details.

Where are the files saved?

If you import a file which is outside your standard upload directory (usually wp-content/uploads/) then it will be copied to your current upload directory setting as normal.
If you however import a file which is already within the uploads directory (for example, wp-content/uploads/2011/02/superplugin.zip) then the file will not be copied, and will be used as-is.

I have a a bug report

You can report bugs on GitHub and get support in the WordPress.org Support Forums.

Still working

By Sara Die Webmacherin (LarvaFashion) on September 4, 2024

That "outdated 11 year old plugin that over 100k people still insist on using" (description from Github) still works perfectly fine and I haven't found a good alternative.

I would love to see a version update to make it available for installing directly from Wordpress again.

What an amazing Plugin

By creativeartworks on April 9, 2024

Well, first of all, that plugin is amazing.

Saved me for sure from unwanted hassle while importing/updating every day WooCommerce products.
Daily about 1500-2000 products adding or updating, with average 12 images per product, and also about 6-8 technical documents per product (mostly pdf files), no importer was able to complete a single run.

Having your plugin importing the images into the media library and then matching images, just did the job. All under 10 minutes !

As i said, that's an amazing plugin, and it works fine on a well standing server (I'm on Lite Speed Server, MariaDB, PHP 8.4)

Does not import Folder Structure to Media Library

By Kissington on February 23, 2024

What's the use of importing files from the server if you can't import the folder structure they are in for organization? I expected the plugin to import files and auto-create a virtual folder in the library which is named after the original folder from the server. As it is, the files are imported into the media library and mixed with other files which makes it hard to locate and manage. You will need to re-organize them manually using a folder plugin like FileBird, which takes a lot of time. Not worth it. The first requirement for a plugin is automating tasks to eliminate manual work, otherwise its pointless....

Very helpful

By Martin Sauter (martin.sauter) on December 7, 2023

This plugin is not only helpful when you need a workaround for files which are too big for your upload limit, but also if you need to restore a website after something went wrong.

The only feature I miss is a filter that allows to show only the original images (and not all the different sizes WordPress generates from each image you upload).

Great FTP

By nicolasvsedeco on June 18, 2023

Great FTP for those not having FTP login access

I Think

By Anonymous User 20884609 (anonymized_20884609) on January 30, 2023

it is good plugin (Y)

Did what I wanted

By Parapet on January 14, 2023

I wanted Wordpress to recognize audio files I uploaded via FTP. This plugin did exactly that with no issues whatsoever.

Fantastic for record label uploads

By neotrope on June 5, 2022

This is awesome. Even with dedicated server and correct PHP upload size limits set, post limit size set, etc., WordPress media uploader could not handle a 380MB zip archive of music recording download. FTP no problem, but WooCommerce and media uploader just failed with unknown error. This worked first time, and did exactly what it said it would do. Wow. Talk about solving a problem! One of those stupid issues with WP and WooCommerce with large media files that is not a simple fix via wp-config. THANK YOU! :)

Great tool for those big media files you can only ftp to the server

By Uwe Jacobs (uwejacobs) on March 28, 2022

Whenever I need to upload media files that are too big to upload directly to WordPress, I FTP them to the server and use this plugin to add them.

Worked for files not folders

By Jeff-Design-Dev on February 24, 2022

I was able to import files into Media using WordPress 5.9. I could not do this with folders, which made things a bit tedious. But overall a good plugin.

3.4.5

  • Fix a fatal error when WordPress or PHP requirements are not met.

3.4.4

  • Simplify the date handling

3.4.3

  • Better handling for / as the root path
  • Better compatibility with certain WordPress docker images
  • Better handling for some empty folders

3.4.2

  • Restore case insensitive alphabetical sorting

3.4.1

  • Plugin now requires WordPress 5.4+

3.4

  • The plugin now requires WordPress 5.1+ and PHP 7.0+. No reason other than why not.
  • Bumps the version to stop the invalid vulnerability warnings.
  • Cleans up code.
  • Removes the User Access Control. Any user with File Upload ability can now use the plugin.
  • Removes the Root Directory Control. The root directory is now assumed. You can use the ADD_FROM_SERVER constant to change it.
  • Removes the Quick Jump functionality.
  • Removes the ability to be able to select the date for imported media. It’s always today. Or, the 1st of the month if it’s stored in a dated folder.
  • Removed Media Manager integration, as it’s no longer shown with the WordPress Block Editor. Classic Editor is not supported by this plugin.

Reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars

  • Version: 3.4.5
  • Last updated: 3 years ago
  • Active installations: 90K
  • WordPress version: 5.4
  • Tested up to: 5.5.15
  • PHP version: 7.0