Articles in this section

See more
Deprecated article

The information in this article may be out of date. If you have Javascript enabled, you should be redirected to a new article shortly.

Media Cloud (3rd party WordPress plugin)

2020-04-13 22:41:24 UTC

Overview

Developed by the ILAB team, Media Cloud is a 3rd party WordPress plugin that allows you to upload images to various S3 sources directly from WordPress. It also supports automatically serving WordPress images through imgix.

*Disclaimer: Media Cloud is a plugin built by a 3rd party and is not built by imgix. If you need support for this plugin, please contact the developer or file an issue through github below:
https://github.com/interfacelab/ilab-media-tools/

Installation

You can add this plugin directly from the WP admin plugin dashboard or head over to the plugin page here:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/ilab-media-tools/

Configuration

Once installed, you will need to set up both your S3 and imgix credentials.

Storage setup

Access the storage settings in the sidebar:

mceclip1.png

Here, select your S3 source and configure the settings to whatever your preference is.

We've included notes for more important options below:

  • Delete Uploaded Files: This deletes uploaded files from the WordPress folder after they've been successfully uploaded. If you wish to save on bandwidth, this is a useful feature to enable.

    If you have this enabled, note that using the batch import feature in Media Cloud will cause WordPress images to be deleted from the folder after they've been uploaded.

imgix setup

Access the imgix settings on the left sidebar:

mceclip2.png

Simply enter your imgix domain (ex: subdomain.imgix.net) in the imgix Domains field and check off the options you need.

mceclip0.png

Below are some notes for the more important options:

Use HTTPS: This is important to enable if your site is using HTTPS, otherwise your images may not render.

Keep WordPress Thumbnails: Turning this feature off can save you space, as imgix generates several sizes for you using parameters. However, if you ever plan on turning off imgix, keeping this feature turned on can allow you to switch back to WordPress images easily.

Enable GIFs: As this is a premium feature, you should contact the sales team before enabling this option.

Storage importer

The Storage Importer tool allows Media Cloud to import all your WordPress images into your S3 bucket.

Before doing this, we recommend turning off the Delete Uploaded Files feature in the storage settings, as uploading the images will cause images to be deleted with this setting turned on.

Once you've confirmed that the files have been uploaded correctly into the correct folders, you can delete the images manually from your WordPress folder.

 

 

mceclip0.png

FAQ

Using imgix URLs for previous images

Media Cloud only serves images through imgix for images post installation. For images that were previously being served via WordPress, they will continue to use WordPress image links.

If you wish to change all your WordPress image links to use imgix URLs, you can do this by editing the WordPress database. General instructions below:

*NOTE: Before proceeding, please make a backup of your WordPress site and your database.*

  1. Install the Media Cloud plugin and edit the configurations
  2. After connecting the Media Cloud plugin to your S3 bucket, upload a few images and make note of the folder structure in S3
  3. Upload the rest of your WordPress images to your S3 bucket, making sure to clone the folder structure in your S3
  4. Do a find and replace in your WP database (instructions vary on how to do this - you can try exporting the database ---> edit it with a code editor ---> import it back)
    • Make sure to make a backup of your database before doing any find and replace operations
  5. Look for old image BASE paths (ex: www.wordpresssite.com/wp-content/uploads/)
  6. Replace with your new imgix path (subdomain.imgix.net/)
  7. Save and apply
  8. This should update all your old image URLs with your new imgix URLs. Any new URLs being used will use imgix as per your Media Cloud settings.

Note that these are the general instructions for converting WordPress image URLs to imgix. Depending on your WordPress setup, you may need to do more than just edit the database values.

Can I set automatic parameters in Media cloud?

Media Cloud allows for automatically applying the parameters auto=format,compress for all imgix images in your WordPress site.

If you need to set other parameters on a global level, you can do so by setting up the default parameters in your Source:
https://docs.imgix.com/setup/creating-sources/advanced-settings

How to use srcsets with Media Cloud?

As of WordPress 4.4, srcsets are automatically generated using the different sizes that are generated in WordPress.

It's recommended to edit the WordPress template files to ensure that the sizes attribute is set to display the images at the correct dimensions on your site.

Related articles