Shifter Media CDN

What is Shifter Media CDN?

Shifter Media CDN extends the WordPress Media Library functionality by storing media on a dedicated CDN. Once media is offloaded, all media files are https://cdn.getshifter.co/{Unique-ID}/.

Note: This feature is available only on Tier 1 and higher plans.

Benefits of Using
Shifter Media CDN:

  • You can upload large media files.
  • Since all media files are offloaded to a dedicated MediaCDN, managing media files in the WordPress library becomes easier.
  • You won’t experience broken media links.
  • Offloading media to the MediaCDN improves the response time of the WordPress editor page.
  • It reduces artifact generation time.
  • It reduces the size of artifacts and backup files.

How to Use Shifter Media CDN:

Shifter Static

Step 1. Enable it in the Shifter dashboard.
Go to [Settings] for your site, and you’ll see the Media CDN section.

This shows the feature is disabled

This shows the feature is enabled

Step 2.
Shifter will begin uploading your media.

After the initial setup, Shifter will convert your media and upload the files to the Shifter Media CDN in the background.

Step 3. Please wait a moment.

This backend processing may take some time. Please keep your WordPress dashboard open until all thumbnails appear on the Media Library page.

Step 4. You can now create or edit posts.

During this process, you can use WordPress as usual (such as creating or editing posts), except for uploading, editing, or performing other actions on media files.

Step 5.
Create a new deployment, publish it, and apply it.

Once the process is complete, all media will be deleted from your local WordPress directory ( /wp-content/uploads/). To apply these changes to a new deployment, please create a new deployment.

Note:

  • This feature uploads all files in /wp-content/uploads/ to the Media CDN. Please ensure that your plugins do not place identifier files or specific files in the /wp-content/uploads/ directory.
  • After the initial startup, Shifter will convert the media and upload the files to the Shifter Media CDN in the background.
  • If WordPress stops before the conversion process is complete, the process will resume the next time WordPress starts.
  • You can use WordPress as usual (such as creating or editing posts) except when uploading, editing, or performing other operations on media files.
  • Do not generate artifacts before the media file conversion is complete.
  • If media does not appear in posts or pages after enabling the Media CDN, remove the media from the post or page and reinsert it.
  • The Media CDN changes the permalinks to media resources on your site. This change may cause all visitors to re-fetch the media resources.
  • A few days after enabling the Media CDN feature, you may experience a sudden spike in data transfer volume, but the fluctuations will stabilize.

Limitations:

  • You can manage media as usual from the Media Library page in the WordPress dashboard.
  • If you wish to stop using this feature, please contact us. Be sure to download all your media files before we make the configuration changes.
  • You can easily export some of your media files using plugins such as the Export Media Library plugin.
  • Media is served via the domain path https://cdn.getshifter.co/{Unique-ID}/{path-to-media}. Example: https://cdn.getshifter.co/sample-unique-id/wp-content/uploads/sample-image.jpg
  • Enabling this feature will exclude all media files from backups.
  • Once the artifact is deployed, the Media CDN cache will be flushed.

Image Editor Plugin Compatibility:

Some media management and editor plugins do not work with Shifter Media CDN. This is because the Media CDN cannot edit files located on other servers or hosts. Plugins that retrieve media files using the WordPress API may work, but this has not been tested yet. Be sure to export your media before editing files with this type of plugin.

Media File Management:

Editing, deleting, or overwriting media files directly using the Media CDN will directly affect the media files on your live site. Deploying artifacts and deploying media files via the Media CDN do not work in tandem. To synchronize them, upload the same file but use a different filename.

Handling Duplicate Files:

If you roll back your site from a backup after switching to Media CDN, the rolled-back media files may differ from those using Media CDN. For example, some media files may become available via Media CDN but disappear from the WordPress Media Library page.If a media file is available only via the Media CDN, the Media Sync plugin can detect it and add it back to the WordPress Media Library. This Media
Sync plugin lists identical files that exist in both the Media Library and the Media CDN.We recommend that you do not delete duplicate files (doing so will remove the duplicate files from both the WordPress Media Library and the Media CDN). If you need to delete a duplicate file, upload the same file under a different name. Then, delete the available duplicate file. Alternatively, you can upload the same file with the same filename to overwrite the existing duplicate file.

Related Pages:

  • Shifter Media CDN and WebP Support
  • Moving Offloaded Media to Shifter CDN