Looking for a WordPress S3 guide to help you get your WordPress blog up and running on a connect S3 compatible objects storage? In this article, I will explain everything you need about offloading media to any S3-compatible object storage
First, I’ll provide an overview of connect S3 compatible object storage and how they might help your WordPress site. Then I’ll go through the steps you need to take to start offloading media to any S3 compatible objects storage.
What is S3-Compatible Object Storage?
S3-compatible object storage refers to cloud storage systems that use the same API as Amazon S3. It allows seamless communication between applications and storage providers. This compatibility means businesses can easily switch between different storage services without needing to change the code that manages and stores their data. It offers flexibility for developers and companies looking to optimize their storage needs.
Some popular examples of S3-compatible object storage include Backblaze B2, Linode, Cloudian, Exoscale, OVHcloud, etc. These services provide similar features to Amazon S3 but often at lower costs or with specific benefits, such as no egress fees or improved data privacy regulations depending on the provider.
S3-compatible object storage is beneficial because it offers scalability, cost savings, and freedom to choose the best service for your specific needs. By not being tied to Amazon’s ecosystem, businesses can explore more affordable or specialized options without sacrificing integration with the tools they already use.
Which WordPress Plugin Should You Use for Offloading Media to S3-Compatible Object Cloud Storage?
When selecting a WordPress plugin for offloading your media files and assets to any S3-compatible object storage, it is critical to choose one that is dependable. It should be simple to use and include the functions required for your use case.
Let’s talk about the top three plugins that can integrate S3 object storage with your WordPress to offload files:
- Next3 Offload: The Next3 Offload Media plugin is a WordPress S3 plugin. It provides extensive media file management capabilities for WordPress websites. This plugin works with S3 object storage to store media files in the cloud. This frees up server space and improves site performance.
- Media Cloud: Media Cloud is a revolutionary WordPress plugin. Media Cloud works by transferring your photos, media, and other files from your WordPress server to online cloud storage services. These include Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, DigitalOcean Spaces, DreamHost Object Storage, and others. You can then serve the material via a CDN such as Amazon CloudFront, Cloudflare, and others.
- WP Offload Media: This plugin is another popular S3-compatible objects plugin in the market. This plugin copies photos, videos, documents, and other media uploaded via WordPress’ media uploader to Amazon S3, DigitalOcean Spaces, or Google Cloud Storage. It then automatically updates each media file’s URL with the Amazon S3, DigitalOcean Spaces, or Google Cloud Storage URLs.
How Do You Connect S3-Compatible Object Storage with WordPress?
You can easily offload media to S3-compatible object storage. For this, you need to use an offload media plugin like the Next3 offload.
Here you can see the basic steps to offload your WordPress media library to S3-compatible object storage.
- Install the plugin Next3 Offload.
- Choose a provider.
- Generate Keys to configure with Next3 Offload
- Set up delivery settings.
- Configure storage settings.
- Set up the offload settings.
Step 1: Install and Activate Next3 Offload
To link your WordPress media assets with S3 object storage, first install and activate a powerful offloading plugin. Here we are offloading an all-in-one offload media plugin Next3 Offload.
First, enter into your WordPress admin panel. Then, go to the Plugin section.
Then click on the Add New Plugin button.
Now, click on the Upload Plugin option.
At this point, click on the Choose File option.
Click on the Install Now button (You can follow this article to complete the installation process).
Now, you need to activate the plugin.
Now, to access the plugin, you need to activate the license. Insert your collected license key in the field. Click the Active License button.
After completing the steps described above, you can access the Next3 Offload dashboard and all of the plugin’s functionality.
Step 2: Choose a Provider
Now it’s time to choose a provider. We’ll use S3 object storage to integrate with the WordPress site.
At this point, you must insert the Access Key and Secret Key. To accomplish this, you need first to create an S3 object storage account.
Let’s walk through the process of signing in and signing up for S3 object storage.
Step 3: Generate Keys to Configure with Next3 Offload
You can find so many S3-compatible storage like Backblaze B2, MinIO, IDrive e2, UpCloud, CloudFront, etc You can also follow the best S3-compatible storage providers for a better understanding of S3-compatible storage.
To access S3 Object Storage you need to create and access any of these S3-compatible storage providers. For convenience, here we’ll use the Backblaze B2 storage provider to get the access key and secret access key. You can use any other S3-compatible object storage as per your preference.
Create a S3-compatible Storage Account
First of all, you need to sign up for a S3-compatible Cloud Storage account. For having an existing account you can log in to your account without the sign-up process. We’ll show you the trial version of Backblaze B2 to explore the ways just as an example.
Create a Cloud Storage Bucket
Click on the Buckets tab.
Hit on the Create a Bucket button.
Enter a name to your bucket. Then you need to choose its settings (private or public) and Default Encryption.
After completing the bucket creation, you need to collect the Endpoint value. You will need this value later to collect this you can also get help from the S3 storage’s documentation or customer service.
Generate Application Keys
Now move to the Application Keys section.
Select the Add a New Application Key.
Now you need to provide the details to create the key.
In this phase, you must copy and save the keyID and applicationKey. You need to insert the keys to connect with the Next3 Offload media plugin.
Now, go to the last tab in your browser (step 2). Then navigate to the WordPress administrator dashboard.
After selecting the provider S3 object storage, you have to create a bucket or access an existing bucket to offload media files.
Insert the keyID in the Access Key field that you have collected before.
Enter the applicationKey in the Secret Access Key field that you have collected before.
You need to paste the collected Endpoint on the Endpoint field.
Now, click on the Next button to finalize.
Then you need to connect with your S3 Storage with a bucket to offload your media files.
N.B: The step 3 above is written using Backblaze B2 just for your understanding and clarification purposes. The bucket creation process and application key collection process vary from storage to storage and you should make sure you follow the process from the individual documentation section of the S3-compatible storage you would like to offload your media files and assets to.
Related Readings:
- How to Offload WordPress Media to OVH Cloud Object Storage
- How to Offload WordPress Media Files to Cloudian Cloud Storage
- How to Offload WordPress Media Files to Exoscale Object Storage
- How to Offload WordPress Media Files to Scaleway
- How to Offload WordPress Media Files to Vultr: The Ultimate Guide
Step 4: Set up the Delivery Settings
Now, you need to choose a delivery source for the next step. Then, go to the Next3 Offload’s panel and click Delivery Settings.
At this phase, you need to choose a delivery provider.
Don’t forget to click on the Save Settings button.
Step 5: Configure Storage Settings
After connecting S3 Object Storage with WordPress, go to Storage Settings and configure all the fundamental functionalities.
To configure the basic storage settings, go to the WordPress Admin Dashboard and select the Next3 Offload option from the Next3 Offload control panel.
Now, you can enable the Offload media option using the toggle button.
After enabling Offload media, you can enable the Copy to local server option.
At this phase, you can also enable the options for Setup Path.
Now, you can enable File Management.
Step 6: Set up the Offload Settings
Finally, you can set up the Offload Settings.
You can now offload all of your existing media files one by one. Simply click the Offload Now button to complete the offloading process.
You can use the capabilities to restore offloaded files from local storage. Now, click on the Move Now button.
You can also use it to clean up offloaded files from local storage. Click on the Clean Now button.
You can both offload existing CSS and JS files to the Cloud.
Note: You can check your WordPress media library to see whether your files have offloaded or not.
Let’s offload a file from the media library. Select the Media tab on the left side of the panel bar.
Select a file and hit the Offload file to Cloud for individual offload files.
You can see the file is successfully offloaded. After that, refresh this page.
Final Words
To offload WordPress media to any S3-compatible object storage, you need to follow some simple steps that we have mentioned above. This offloading process to any S3-compatible object storage using the Next3 Offload plugin speeds up your website and helps to grow your business by optimizing your website.
So, it is the right time to choose S3-compatible object storage and offload your media files. You need to go through the easy process. Hope this, blog will help you to know the step-by-step process of offloading media files to a S3-compatible object storage. Also, you can check the particular S3-compatible object storage documentation and other resources.
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