Troy Chaplin

Ever updated a PDF and realized half your site links to the old version? Or replaced a hero image and watched your carefully-tuned page layout collapse? Smart Media Replacement solves both problems — and adds a safety net you’ll wish you had earlier.
Replace the file, keep the URL. When you swap an attachment with this plugin, the file’s URL never changes. Every existing link, every email that points to it, every page that embeds it, every SEO ranking — all of it keeps working. No 404s, no broken references, no scrambling to update old content.
Full revision history, one-click restore. Every replacement automatically snapshots the previous version. Made a mistake? Roll back instantly. Want to see what the file looked like three months ago? Download it. Each revision is timestamped, attributed to the user who made it, and can carry an optional note describing what changed.
Works where you work. Replace from the Media Library, or from inside any block’s Replace toolbar in the block editor — image, cover, video, audio, file, gallery, and more. The editor refreshes in place, no page reload, no lost work.
Safe by default. The plugin validates filenames, file types, and image dimensions to keep your URLs intact and your layouts unbroken. WordPress’s auto-scaled images are handled transparently. Revisions land in a database table that’s self-healing on every admin load, and the plugin’s settings page gives you control over how many revisions to keep, how long to retain them, and which file types are tracked.
<h4>Use cases</h4>
<ul>
<li>Monthly reports and newsletters — Update PDFs linked from past emails without breaking any of those links.</li>
<li>Brand refreshes — Replace logos, headers, and brand imagery once; everywhere they’re used updates automatically.</li>
<li>Legal documents — Keep current versions of terms of service, privacy policy, and contracts live, with older versions preserved as revisions for compliance.</li>
<li>Image updates — Refresh product photos, blog hero images, and marketing assets without breaking responsive sizes or SEO.</li>
<li>Typo fixes in published assets — Fix errors in infographics, downloadable guides, or e-books without scrambling to update references across your site.</li>
<li>Versioned downloads — White papers, e-books, technical docs that need to stay at a stable URL while preserving older versions on demand.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Features</h4>
Replacement and URL preservation
<ul>
<li>Replace any media file while keeping its URL, ID, and metadata intact</li>
<li>Existing internal and external links keep working — no 404s, no SEO impact</li>
<li>Automatic regeneration of image size variants (thumbnails, medium, large, etc.)</li>
<li>Transparent handling of WordPress’s <code>-scaled</code> large images</li>
</ul>
Revision history
<ul>
<li>Every replacement automatically snapshots the previous file</li>
<li>Major/minor version numbering (e.g. v1.0 → v1.1 → v2.0)</li>
<li>Optional replacement note per revision, attributed to the user</li>
<li>One-click restore of any past version</li>
<li>Download individual revisions, or download a ZIP archive of an attachment’s full history</li>
<li>Configurable: maximum revisions per file, age-based retention with daily cleanup, per-file-type opt-in</li>
</ul>
Block editor integration
<ul>
<li>“Update existing file” in every block’s Replace toolbar dropdown (image, cover, video, audio, file, gallery, media-text, post-featured-image)</li>
<li>In-place editor refresh after replacement — no page reload, no lost work</li>
<li>Accessibility-friendly notifications via WordPress’s native screen reader announcements</li>
</ul>
Validation safeguards
<ul>
<li>Filename matching to keep URLs stable</li>
<li>Image dimension matching to prevent layout breakage</li>
<li>MIME-type matching to prevent file corruption</li>
<li>Clear, actionable error messages when something doesn’t match</li>
</ul>
Built-in admin
<ul>
<li>Settings page at Media → Replacement Settings</li>
<li>Storage stats: total revisions, total disk usage, database table status</li>
<li>Optional deactivation cleanup (files and/or database)</li>
</ul>
Multisite-ready
<ul>
<li>Network-activate only on multisite — one consistent configuration across every site</li>
<li>Settings live at Network Admin → Settings → Media Replacement and apply network-wide</li>
<li>Revisions are stored per-site under each site’s uploads directory; metadata lives in a single shared network table</li>
<li>Daily retention cleanup runs across every site in the network</li>
<li>Automatic row and file cleanup when a site is deleted</li>
<li>Single-site installs work exactly as before — settings and storage stay per-site, no network behavior involved</li>
</ul>
WP-CLI
<ul>
<li><code>wp smr db check</code> — verify the revisions table exists (non-zero exit code if missing, safe for CI pipelines)</li>
<li><code>wp smr db repair</code> — recreate the table if missing; idempotent, safe to run when the table already exists</li>
<li><code>wp smr db status</code> — revision counts and storage usage; <code>--network</code> for a per-site breakdown on multisite</li>
<li><code>wp smr db cleanup</code> — delete expired revisions immediately, with <code>--dry-run</code> to preview and <code>--network</code> for all sites</li>
</ul>
Other
<ul>
<li>Self-healing database table via configurable scheduled check (hourly, daily, weekly, or disabled); use <code>wp smr db repair</code> for on-demand recovery</li>
<li>Developer hooks throughout for custom integrations</li>
</ul>
<h4>Privacy</h4>
This plugin is fully self-contained and respects your privacy:
<ul>
<li>Does not collect or transmit any user data</li>
<li>Does not use cookies or third-party tracking</li>
<li>Only processes files locally on your server</li>
<li>Does not communicate with external services or APIs</li>
</ul>
<h3>Usage</h3>
<h4>From the Media Library</h4>
<ol>
<li>Navigate to the WordPress Media Library</li>
<li>Open the file you want to replace (click on it, or use the row actions in list view)</li>
<li>Click Replace File</li>
<li>Choose your new file — if revisions are enabled, you’ll be prompted for an optional note and version type (minor/major)</li>
<li>The replacement happens immediately, preserving the file’s URL</li>
</ol>
<h4>From the block editor</h4>
<ol>
<li>Click on any media block (image, cover, video, audio, file, gallery, etc.)</li>
<li>Open the Replace toolbar dropdown</li>
<li>Choose Update existing file</li>
<li>Pick your new file — the editor refreshes in place</li>
</ol>
<h4>Viewing and managing revisions</h4>
<ul>
<li>In the Media Library list view, the Revisions row action opens the full revision history for that file</li>
<li>On the attachment edit screen, the View Revisions button opens the same panel</li>
<li>From either, you can download any past version individually or as a ZIP, and restore any revision with one click</li>
</ul>

Smart Media Replacement

Replace media files in place — same URL, new content, no broken links. Includes versioned revision history with one-click rollback.

Michael Sablone

Optimize your website’s performance and streamline your editing workflow with the Time-based Revision Cleanup plugin for WordPress. Our plugin offers a sophisticated solution to the limitations of the default number-based revision system, which can quickly become inadequate for active sites. Instead of restricting revisions to a set count, our plugin allows you to specify a timeframe for keeping revisions, such as 30, 60, or 365 days, ensuring that your database retains only what’s necessary without losing the essential edit history of your posts.
In addition, our plugin enhances the admin dashboard with an analytics feature to generate visual representations of revision history data.
<h3>Key Features:</h3>
<ul>
<li>Intelligent Age-Based Management: Preserve your site’s history by automatically deleting revisions past a certain age, keeping only the recent and relevant changes.</li>
<li>Seamless On-Save Cleanup: The plugin intuitively removes outdated revisions upon saving posts, based on the age criteria you’ve set, without disrupting the creative process.</li>
<li>Optional Automated Cleanup: Enable the optional CRON job to perform regular, site-wide revision cleanups at intervals you control, maintaining optimal database health with no manual effort.</li>
<li>Dashboard Analytics: Visualize your site’s revision cleanup activity with an integrated chart, powered by Google’s Chart API.</li>
<li>Fully Customizable: Configure the plugin’s settings to fit the unique demands of your site, including save timeout, CRON frequency, and the maximum number of revisions to process.</li>
</ul>
By focusing on time rather than revision count, our plugin addresses the core flaw in the default system, ensuring that a busy day of editing won’t result in the loss of important historical data. With the optional CRON job for hands-free maintenance, adjustable settings for precision control, and insightful analytics, the Time-based Revision Cleanup plugin is an essential tool for maintaining a healthy, efficient WordPress site.

Time-based Revision Cleanup


I installed the Time-Based Revision Cleanup plugin on my site and and it really is a nifty plugin. You can tell the developer knows what he's doing. Really love the chart visualization and the fact that it does the work of keeping my db clean and up-to-date. Thanks for the cool plugin!


Well-designed with the user in mind

Maximize WordPress efficiency with Time-based Revision Cleanup: manage post histories by age, not count, with optional auto-cleanups.

Smart Media Replacement vs Time-based Revision Cleanup