WordPress Media Plugins
Use these WordPress media plugins to make managing media files on your website easier.
This section provides examples of various WordPress media plugins you can use to manage files in your content and on your site, like:
- Images
- Videos
- Audio Files
- Documents
- Embedded Content
- Downloadable Content
- Media Stored Remotely
Refer to the WordPress User Manual if you need help installing, activating, updating, or deleting plugins in WordPress, and ALWAYS make a full backup of your website’s files and database before making any changes to your site.
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Media Library Plugins
Media files used in WordPress are typically uploaded to the WordPress Media Library if files are saved on your web server (as opposed to being stored in a cloud service like Amazon S3).
Plugins can extend the functionality of your WordPress media library.
Media Library Folders
Media Library Folders enhances the functionality of the WordPress Media Library by allowing you to add and build new folders and subfolders to label and organize your media folders and perform operations on these folders and their contents.
The plugin provides an effective way to manage image and video folders when creating WordPress image galleries and albums.
The paid version of the plugin offers enhanced functionality like the ability to organize media using categories, add images to WooCommerce product galleries, offload Media Library items to external cloud storage services like Amazon S3 or DigitalOcean Spaces, and more.
The video below provides an overview of the plugin:
More Info: Media Library Folders
For a step-by-step tutorial on using the WordPress Media Library and additional Media Library plugins, go here: How To Use The WordPress Media Library
Content Embedding Plugins
WordPress plugins can make embedding media files into your content easier.
EmbedPress
EmbedPress lets you easily embed media-rich content like documents, videos, PDFs, audio files, maps, charts, and slides into your WordPress site.
The plugin connects to over 100 services and media platforms and lets you embed content from these services by simply pasting in their URL. It also includes blocks for the WordPress Block Editor.
The premium version of the plugin gives you additional features like enabling lazy loading for loading embedded images on your website faster and adding custom-branded logos for all your video embeds.
Watch the video below for an overview of the plugin:
More info: EmbedPress Free | EmbedPress Premium
For a step-by-step tutorial on using the blocks to embed content into WordPress, go here: WordPress Embed Block
File Download Plugins
WordPress lets you manage your download files right out of the box but it doesn’t have advanced management features like:
- Download password protection
- Tracking file revisions
- Monitoring/restricting the number of downloads
- Preventing unregistered users from accessing your files
- Managing and selling digital downloads
- etc.
You can easily add these features using file management and download management plugins like the plugin below:
Easy Media Download
Easy Media Download is a free plugin that makes it easy for users to download digital media files from your website (music, videos, images, etc.). The plugin supports downloadable files in all formats. It creates buttons that begin downloading files immediately when clicked on. Shortcodes allow you to place download buttons anywhere in your content.
Check out the video below to see the plugin in action:
More info: Easy Media Download
For a step-by-step tutorial on how to add, edit, and manage downloadable files in WordPress and more WordPress download plugins, go here: How To Add Downloadable Files In WordPress
Image Plugins
There are many great WordPress plugins you can use to manage images on your site more effectively, compress and optimize images to make your pages load faster for visitors, add visual effects, styled borders, or frames to images, display images in galleries and slides, etc.
Smush – Image Optimization
Images can take up a lot of storage space on your server and slow down your site.
Smush is a free image compression and image optimization plugin that saves storage space, helps your site load faster and reduces image file size without reducing the quality of your images.
You can compress and optimize images automatically, manually, or in bulk. You can also Super Smush your images, which compress these even further without losing image quality.
This plugin is highly recommended for all WordPress sites, and especially for sites that use loads of high-quality images (e.g. photography, design, portfolio sites, etc.)
See this tutorial to learn how to use Smush: How To Get The Most Out Of Smush Image Optimization or watch the video below:
More info: Smush
Photo Gallery
Photo Gallery is a user-friendly and feature-rich plugin that lets you add responsive image galleries and albums to your website.
The plugin lets you add image descriptions and tags to gallery images and makes renaming, uploading, removing, and copying images in the galleries you create easier.
The plugin also lets you add videos and audios to your galleries, customize gallery layouts, create unlimited responsive gallery and album views, set up and manage multiple widgets, add image watermarking and right-click protection, and more.
The Photo Gallery plugin also provides additional extensions to take its functionality further, making this a great choice for image-heavy websites like photography websites, portfolios, blogs, and any sites that want to feature professional-looking image galleries with easy user navigation.
With the Photo Gallery Premium version of the plugin installed, you can add commenting capabilities with Captcha protection, add a dynamic tag cloud widget with an image tag cloud and text tag cloud options, and set role permission capabilities (i.e. specify who can edit galleries, albums, and images).
The video below provides more information about the plugin:
More info: Photo Gallery (Free) | Photo Gallery (Premium)
For a step-by-step tutorial on how to add, edit, and manage images in WordPress and more WordPress image plugins and image tools, go here: Using Images In WordPress
Video Plugins
WordPress lets you easily integrate videos into your content. You can add videos to your posts, pages, custom post types…even your sidebar menu using plugins.
Video Player
Video Player is a WordPress plugin that lets you manage the entire video player using a friendly interface. You can customize the player look & feel, playlist, and CSS file.
The plugin comes in two versions: Right Side playlist and Bottom Playlist.
Some of the plugin features include:
- Support for any type of video file that Flash Player supports: FLV/H.264 encoded video: MP4, M4V, M4A, MOV, Mp4v, F4V, YouTube, RTMP (using FMS or RED5), and RTMP live streaming.
- Ability to play audio MP3 files.
- Support for Google Analytics
- You can set this player to any size you want, changing the player width, the player height, and the playlist width.
- Ability to integrate with your posts and pages using a shortcode
For more details, go here: Video Player
For a step-by-step tutorial on how to add videos to WordPress and more WordPress video plugins, go here:
Audio Plugins
Just like videos, WordPress also lets you easily integrate audio files into your content.
HTML5 Audio Player
HTML5 Audio Player is a compact and responsive audio plugin for WordPress that supports .mp3 and .ogg file formats and works on all browsers and devices.
You can add audio files and audio previews to your WordPress posts and pages using a shortcode.
For more info, go here: HTML5 Audio Player
For a step-by-step tutorial on how to add audio files in WordPress and more WordPress audio plugins, go here: How To Add Audio Files In WordPress
Plugins For Managing Media Stored Remotely
In addition to plugins that will help you better manage media files on your WordPress site, you can also install plugins that integrate 3rd-party media services and platforms with your site and allow you to manage media stored in remote locations (e.g. cloud services like Amazon S3, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.).
S3 Media Maestro
S3 Media Maestro lets you display videos hosted on Amazon S3 on your site, protects your files from unauthorized sharing, and lets you easily manage and deliver media or download files securely using Amazon’s S3 web storage services.
You can easily configure default media player settings for video and audio players like player type, skins, splash images, volume, size, metadata, etc.
You can use this plugin to set up online learning and video membership sites. S3Media Maestro prevents paying customers from sharing links to your content with others by creating unique expiring links that will only work for your customers. Anyone else who tries to use the same link to your content will be denied access.
More info: S3 Maestro
Google Drive Embedder
Google Drive Embedder lets you add files stored on Google Drive to your content and supports many files.
Use this plugin to:
- Locate files more easily
- Centralize your organization’s documents in Google Drive
- Host post and page file attachments, backed by Google Drive
- Control employee access (allow non-Google users to view Google Drive files and folders or restrict access by WordPress user roles)
- Allow drag-and-drop of files into embedded Google Drive folders, and explore folders without leaving WordPress.
- Display files through embedded viewers, or links to open or download.
More info: Google Drive Embedder
Dropr
Dropr lets you easily access files from your Dropbox account and add them to your WordPress website.
The plugin essentially turns your Dropbox account into a secondary WordPress Media Library. You can access your Dropbox files from the WordPress text editor screen, then drop files into your content without having to upload them to WordPress, saving you server bandwidth.
The plugin also includes its own block for the WordPress Block Editor.
More info: Dropr
Summary
There are many plugins available for managing media files on your WordPress site.
We recommend installing some of the plugins listed above and reading the additional tutorials on how to use media in WordPress.
The above is just a small sample of WordPress plugins you can use to make managing media easier on your WordPress CMS.
For more plugin tutorials, go here: WordPress Media Plugins
If you need help using WordPress, see the resources below:
- WordPress Training Manual – A detailed and comprehensive step-by-step WordPress user manual for non-technical website users (non-coders).
- WPMU DEV Blog – Hundreds of WordPress tutorials for advanced WordPress users.
Make sure to subscribe to our updates to receive our free email course on managing your content effectively, which includes useful information and practical tips on using media with WordPress.
Return to the main WordPress Plugins section.
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