Introducing Next3 External Media Offload: Offload Non-WordPress Files to Cloud

If you have a lot of large files on your site, like videos, PDFs, or other uploads that aren’t part of WordPress, they can slow things down and take up a lot of server space. That’s a common problem, especially for sites that handle large amounts of content or run custom applications alongside WordPress.

That’s why we added a new feature called Next3 External Media Offload. It allows you to move those non-WordPress files to cloud storage, rather than keeping them on your server. So your site stays fast, and you don’t have to worry about running out of space.

You can upload and manage these files right from your WordPress dashboard. No extra tools or complicated setup. Just a simple way to offload files and keep everything running smoothly.

In this blog, we’ll introduce Next3 External Media offload WordPress addon that offloads non-WordPress files to the cloud. We’ll explore the benefits, the ways of offloading, features, etc, to help you understand the amazing functions of this addon.

What is External Media Offloading?

External media offloading means moving your website’s media files, like videos, PDFs, or other large assets, to a cloud storage service instead of storing them on your web server. This helps reduce the load on your hosting and keeps your site running faster and smoother.

It’s useful for non-WordPress files that don’t go through the standard Media Library. By offloading these files, you save server space, improve performance, and make it easier to manage and deliver large amounts of content from the cloud.

Why Should You Offload External or Non-WordPress Files?

Offloading external or non-WordPress files helps keep your server clean and your site running smoothly. When large files are stored on your hosting, they can slow down performance and use up storage quickly. Moving them to the cloud keeps your WordPress site lightweight and fast.

It also gives you more flexibility and control. Cloud storage is created for large files, so delivery is faster and more reliable. It’s easier to organize and manage your content outside of WordPress.

Here are some reasons why you should offload these files:

It reduces server load and improves site speed.
You save hosting space by storing large files elsewhere.
Files load faster when delivered through cloud storage.
It keeps your WordPress installation clean and organized.
You can manage and update files without affecting your website.

What Makes This Feature Unique?

What makes this feature special is that you can choose exactly which folders to offload. You don’t have to move everything, just pick the folders with the files you want. This helps you stay organized and avoid offloading files you don’t need.

It also finds media files that were added outside of WordPress. These could be from plugins or files you uploaded manually. The tool scans your selected folders, finds those files, and gets them ready for offloading to the cloud.

After offloading, you can still use the files easily in your content. With special Gutenberg blocks, you can add offloaded images and galleries right into your posts or pages. Everything works smoothly, just like using regular WordPress media.

Benefits of Using This Feature?

Using the External Offload Media feature gives you better control over large or unmanaged files on your server. If you use third-party plugins or upload files manually, those media files usually don’t appear in the WordPress Media Library. This feature helps you find those files and offload them easily to the cloud.

It also helps improve your website’s performance. By moving large files off your server, your site becomes faster and more stable. You also reduce the risk of running out of hosting space, especially on busy or media-heavy websites.

This feature is also useful for content creation. You can insert offloaded images or galleries directly into your posts using Gutenberg blocks. It keeps your workflow smooth while still using cloud-hosted media.

Here are some benefits of using this feature:

You can offload media files added by third-party plugins.
You can move manually uploaded files to the cloud.
It helps reduce server load and improves site speed.
You can manage external files from inside WordPress.
It works with Gutenberg, so you can add offloaded images to posts easily.

What You Can Do with Next3 External Media Offload?

Next3 External Media Offload makes it simple to move non-WordPress files to cloud storage. You can easily manage files added by plugins or uploaded manually. This helps free up your server space and keeps your website fast. It’s a smart way to stay organized and improve performance.

Here are the things you can effortlessly do with our new feature:

Folder Selection for Sync: Choose specific folders to scan and offload only the files you want.
Scan for External Media: Automatically detect files added by third-party plugins or uploaded manually.
One-Click Sync and Offload: Easily sync folders and offload files to cloud storage with a single click.
Support for Major Cloud Providers: Works with Bunny Storage, AWS, Cloudflare, and more.
External Media File Manager: View, manage, and copy cloud URLs of offloaded files directly from the dashboard.
Gutenberg Block Integration: Insert offloaded images and galleries into posts using custom Gutenberg blocks.
External Media Gallery Block: Display image galleries using media stored in the cloud.
Improved Site Performance: Keeps your WordPress site lightweight by moving large files to the cloud.

The ability to do these gives you full control over your external media and help maintain a faster, cleaner website.

How Does External Offload Media Addon Work with WordPress?

To use the Next3 External Media Offload addon, you first need to get and install the Next3 Offload plugin. This main plugin provides the core features and allows you to add premium addons like External Media Offload. Without installing Next3 Offload, you won’t be able to access or use the addon features.

So, make sure the main plugin is active on your WordPress site before enabling the addon.

Let’s start with the Next3 offload plugins installation process.

Step #1: Install and Activate Next3 Offload

To use the Next3 External Media Offload addon, you first need to install the main Next3 Offload plugin. This plugin gives you access to all the core features and allows you to enable addons like External Media Offload.

Start by getting the plugin from the official Next3 Offload website. After downloading it, you’ll get a license key for activation. Then go to your WordPress dashboard, open the Plugins section, and upload the plugin to install and activate it.

Select the Add New Plugin button from the Plugins section in your WordPress dashboard.

Then click Upload Plugin.

At this step, you’ll need to upload the plugin file you downloaded. Simply click on the Choose File button to open your device’s file browser.

After selecting the Next3 Offload plugin file (usually a .zip file), click Install Now to begin the installation. (You can follow this article to complete the installation process).

Once the installation is finished, click on the Activate Plugin button to turn it on and start using it on your WordPress site.

To start using the plugin, you need to activate your license first. Go to the plugin settings page and enter the license key you received after downloading.

Then, click the Activate License button to complete the process and unlock all the plugin’s features.

Now you can access the Next3 Offload dashboard from your WordPress admin panel.

Step #2: Set up Provider and Bucket

In this phase, you need to select a cloud storage provider such as Amazon S3, DigitalOcean Space, Wasabi Cloud, Bunny Storage, S3 Object Storage, etc. To connect with any of these cloud providers, you need to create an account for it and collect the credentials according to the particular process.

In this blog, we are going to connect with DigitalOcean. You can check out the whole integration process with DigitalOcean from here: How to integrate DigitalOcean with WordPress to offload media.

After choosing the provider, we need to insert the collected credentials and proceed to the next step.

This step will redirect us to the bucket settings. Here you need to browse an existing bucket or you can also create a new bucket.

Then you’ll get the full admin panel of Next3 Offload. From here, you can access the features of the plugin.

Step #3: Install the Addon

First, install and activate the External Offload Media addon for Next3 Offload in your WordPress dashboard. For this, go to the Plugins >> Add Plugins section.

Hit the Upload Plugin button.

Now select the file, for that click on the Choose File option.

Select the External Offload Media addon’s file from the folder.

To complete the installation process, click on the Install Now button.

Activate the addon by selecting the Activate Plugin button.

You have completed the activation process.

Step #4: Access External Media

After activating, you can see the tab of External Media in Next3 Offload’s admin panel. Now you can access all the External Media addon’s features from here.

In External Media, you can choose specific folders inside your WordPress uploads directory that contain external or non-WordPress media files.

To select the folders for external media, click on the Folders Include option. Check the boxes of files that you want to select. Then click on Sync Now. The addon scans your selected folders and detects all the external media files.

You can see that, total of 35 files have been synced. Now you can offload the synced files.

Select the Offload Now button to proceed with the further offloading process.

You can see the offloading procedure in percentage. Also, you can pause or cancel the process if needed.

Offloading of external media files has been completed. You can see the files here.

You can also refresh, sort, and compress the files.

From the Action section, you can view the field details.

After selecting the View icon, you can see the file’s details.

Step #5: Access Using Gutenberg

Using the addon, you can also add the external media files to a page by accessing the Gutenberg block. For this, edit a page or create a new page where you want to add the files.

Click on the “+” icon to access the Gutenberg block.

Here you can see the blocks of External Media Next3 and External Media Gallery- Next3.

Now you can add the External Media Next3 block here. Click on the Select Media button to select the file.

From the files, select the desired one.

You can also add the External Media Gallery- Next3. Select the Select Images button.

From here, choose the required images for the gallery.

You can see the gallery has been created on this page. Now, publish the page or save if the page is an older one.

Final Thoughts

If you often add files outside the WordPress Media Library, this addon is made for you. It helps you find those files, organize them, and move them easily, without needing extra tools. You won’t have to worry about cluttered folders or slowing down your site.

The best part is, you can offload only the files you choose. Just pick your folders, click sync, and let the addon handle the rest. Plus, you can still use those files in your posts using special Gutenberg blocks—it’s super easy.

So if you want to save time, clean up your media, and keep your site fast, I really recommend getting the Next3 External Media Offload addon. Just install the main plugin, activate your license, and you’re ready to go.

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