Smart Media Replacement

Yes — that's the whole point. The replacement keeps the file's URL and ID unchanged, so every existing link, embed, share, and SEO reference continues to work normally.

Yes. As long as revisions are enabled for the file type, every replacement preserves the previous version. Open the file's revision history and click Restore on any past version. The current file is also snapshotted before the restore, so nothing is lost.

Yes. Every block that has a Replace toolbar — image, cover, video, audio, file, gallery, media-text, post-featured-image — gets an Update existing file option in the Replace dropdown. The editor refreshes in place after replacement, so you don't lose unsaved work.

WordPress regenerates all configured image sizes (thumbnail, medium, large, etc.) automatically. Their URLs stay stable too, so responsive images and srcset attributes continue working.

Yes. Each revision has its own Download button. You can also download a ZIP archive containing every revision for a file at once.

That's how WordPress serves files — the URL contains the filename. Matching the original filename is what keeps your existing links intact. The plugin shows you the exact filename to use if there's a mismatch.

Different dimensions can break responsive layouts, hero image sizing, and carefully-tuned cropping across your site. Enforcing identical dimensions protects against unexpected layout shifts. Developers can disable this per-attachment with the smart_media_replacement_enforce_dimensions filter if needed.

No. The replacement file must be the same MIME type as the original. Mixing file types can break image processing, browser display, and SEO. If you need to change formats, upload as a new image.

If WordPress automatically created a -scaled variant (typical for uploads over 2560px), upload your replacement with the original filename — without the -scaled suffix. The plugin handles the scaling and regenerates all variants automatically. If you upload with the wrong filename, the error message will tell you exactly what name to use.

Revisions are created on replacement, not on the original upload — so a brand-new attachment shows no history until you've replaced it at least once. Also check Media → Replacement Settings: the "Enable Revisions For" option lets you scope revisions to documents only, images only, or all file types. If your attachment's type isn't covered, no revisions will be tracked.

Yes. The plugin ships with wp smr db check, wp smr db repair, wp smr db status, and wp smr db cleanup. These are useful in deployment pipelines, after database restores, and on large multisite networks where you want to run retention cleanup on a real system cron instead of relying on WP-Cron. All commands support --network and --site-id=<id> on multisite; wp smr db cleanup also accepts --dry-run and --yes.

Yes — you need the edit_post capability for the specific attachment. This matches WordPress's standard media editing permission model.