Dibyandu Pal

Smart DL Redirect is a lightweight and powerful WordPress plugin that lets you add a timer-based interstitial page before a file download starts.
It’s perfect for: 
– Affiliate marketers 
– Download site owners 
– Resource-sharing blogs 
– Anyone who wants to delay download with ads or messages
Once a visitor clicks a download link, they are redirected to a customizable “preparing download” page, where a timer counts down, shows ads or custom HTML, and then auto-redirects to the actual file.
Important — redirect behavior: This plugin redirects the visitor’s browser to the file URL you provide — the plugin does not download, host, or proxy the file server-side. Authors should only supply links to files they trust.
Ad/snippet sanitization: Any ad/snippet HTML entered in the plugin settings is sanitized using <code>wp_kses_post()</code> before output. Note that <code>wp_kses_post()</code> strips <code><script></code> tags and other potentially dangerous elements — if your ad provider requires inline scripts, follow the provider’s recommended safe-install instructions or use a trusted ad plugin.
<h3>✨ Key Features</h3>
<ul>
<li>⏱️ Countdown Timer – Set the delay (in seconds) before download starts.</li>
<li>🎯 Auto-Redirect – Automatically starts the file download when timer ends.</li>
<li>🧰 Manual Fallback Link – If download fails, users can click a manual download link.</li>
<li>💡 Ad Placement or Custom HTML – Insert ads, promotional banners, or instructions in the waiting area.</li>
<li>🧩 Easy Shortcode Usage – Just add <code>[smart_dl file="https://example.com/file.zip"]</code> to any post or page.</li>
<li>⚙️ Lightweight and Fast – No external dependencies, optimized for performance.</li>
</ul>
<h3>License</h3>
Smart DL Redirect is licensed under the GPLv2 or later. See <a href="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html" rel="nofollow ugc">https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html</a> for details.

Smart DL Redirect

Add a countdown page before file downloads with timer, ads, and fallback link using a simple shortcode.

tonyAndr

Files Download Delay plugin wraps file download links with customizable layout which allows you to show any kind of content. For example, while users are waiting for download, you can show them email subscription form, feedback form, related content or even ads.
Download links can be wrapped automatically based on conditions (file extension, element class) or manually using the shortcode <code>[fddwrap]<a href="path/to/file.pdf">Download</a>[/fddwrap]</code>.
Features which you can easily customize: 
* delay time in seconds before download happens, 
* text fields and html content shown to user during countdown and when timer is finished, 
* content when download is failed (e.g., when file is missing) 
* layout appearance (shadow, curved edges, colors, etc.) 
* auto-wrap options (custom list of file extensions or/and element’s class)
Suitable to wrap any type of content including documents (xlsx, docx, pdf,…), media (wav, mp3, mp4,…) or archives (zip, rar, tar.gz,…) – no limits here.
How to use:
<ol>
<li>Install the plugin and go to the settings</li>
<li>In the section Display settings replace built-in messages to any content you wish to show to your users</li>
<li>Enable auto-wrap toggle in the corresponding section, or enable timer in the Gutenberg editor (see block’s settings for “File” block) or wrap a download link using this shortcode <code>[fddwrap]link here[/fddwrap]</code>. </li>
<li>Open just edited article and click on the file download link</li>
<li>At this point should be able to see a countdown timer under the download link you just clicked</li>
</ol>

Files Download Delay


It is the most underrated plugin. It works perfectly fine.


Great plugin.

When user tries to download a file plugin adds countdown timer with a customizable layout.

Smart DL Redirect vs Files Download Delay