EXMAGE – WordPress Image Links

Required

1. WordPress 5.0+
2. PHP 7.0+
3. WooCommerce 7.0+

Download Plugin

Get the plugin installation package from your account download page and save it to your desktop.

Install & Active plugin

Go to Plugins/ Add New/ Upload Plugin/ Choose file/ Select exmage-wordpress-image-links.zip / click “Install Now“/ click “Active plugin”.

You can learn how to install and use EXMAGE – WordPress Image Links through this video guide.

EXMAGE – WordPress Image Links helps you save storage by using external image URLs. These images are shown in Media library like normal images so that you can choose them for post/product featured image, WooCommerce product gallery… or everywhere that images are chosen from Media library.

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

• This plugin only supports real image URLs that have correct image mime type. It does not support image URLs from an image hosting service(such as Flickr, Imgur, Photobucket …) or a file storage service(such as GooGle drive)
• External images added by this plugin will no longer work if the plugin is not active

FEATURES

• Add a single external image URL directly from the Upload Files tab in the Media Library.
• Bulk add multiple external image URLs in one go from the Upload New Media page, below the file upload section.
• External image identification: External images are marked with a unique icon to distinguish them from locally stored attachments.
• Full compatibility with WooCommerce and WordPress media features: External images are assigned an attachment ID, allowing you to use them anywhere in WordPress that supports Media Library images, including:
  • Post and product featured images
  • Product galleries
  • Variation images
  • Product category images
• Filter external images in the Media Dashboard with three filtering options:
  • All External Images: View all externally hosted images.
  • Downloaded: See external images that have already been saved to your server.
  • Undownloaded: Identify external images still hosted externally and not yet downloaded.
• Download external images: Convert external images into local files to improve site performance and ensure long-term availability.
• Bulk download external images: Select multiple external images or use Select All to download them at once, automatically updating image paths.

Add an image URL from Media library such as Post/Product featured image, product gallery images, variation image, product category image…

For example:

• Product featured image:

• Product gallery:

Add URLs on the Media Library: You can add multiple image URLs at once on below the File upload on Upload New Media page

Convert external images into locally hosted files and you’ll be able to edit them:

• Locate the external image you want to download in the Media Dashboard, switch to List view.
• Click the download button as per the image below.
• The image will be fetched and stored in your WordPress media library, replacing the external URL.

* Important note: You can not edit external images until you convert them to normal attachments.

You can distinguish between external images and normal attachments by the icon.

• In Grid view

• In list view

On the Media dashboard, you can:

• Filter external images
• Download external images to your server
• Bulk download images

Filtering External Images

Easily identify and manage images that are hosted externally:

• Navigate to Media dashboard in your WordPress admin panel, switch it to List view
• Use the External Images Filter to display
  • All external images: Displays every external image used on your site, whether downloaded or still hosted externally
  • Downloaded: Shows external images that have already been saved to your server, replacing their external URLs with local file paths. These images are now part of your WordPress media library
  • Undownloaded: Lists external images that are still hosted externally and have not yet been downloaded to your site. This helps you identify which images need to be fetched
• Search and sort external images based on file name, source URL, or usage in product/pages.

Bulk Downloading External Images

You can use this feature after filtering images. It saves time by downloading multiple external images at once:

In the Media Dashboard, select multiple external images or use the Select All option.

Integration

if(class_exists( 'EXMAGE_WP_IMAGE_LINKS' )){
$add_image = EXMAGE_WP_IMAGE_LINKS::add_image( $url, $image_id, $post_parent );
}

-$url: URL of the image you want to process
-$image_id: Passed by reference
-$post_parent: ID of the post that you want the image to be attached to. If empty, the image will not be attached to any post

This plugin is tested compatibility some plugins:

WooCommerce By Automattic

ALD – Aliexpress Dropshipping and Fulfillment for WooCommerce By VillaTheme.

When activating both plugins, the option “Use external links for image” will appear in the Product tab of the ALD plugin to let you choose. If you enable it, the original AliExpress image URL is saved on that external storage plugin, which helps to save your website storage space.

Thank you for your attention!

If you have any question, please create a topic at our FORUM, we will support within 24 hours.