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WP Import Media URL Rewrite

Rewrites image URLs to production during WordPress XML import, without importing media files. Intended for test and development environments.

by ftfour · github.com/ftfour/wp-import-media-url-rewrite

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Install

No release zip yet. The repository archive installs, but the folder name will carry the branch suffix and updates will not flow:

wp plugin install https://github.com/ftfour/wp-import-media-url-rewrite/archive/refs/heads/main.zip
Readme github.com/ftfour/wp-import-media-url-rewrite ↗

WP Import Remote Images

A one-way WordPress plugin for test and development environments.

This plugin processes WordPress XML (WXR) imports and rewrites image URLs in imported content so that images are loaded from the production site, without downloading media files locally.

The plugin is intentionally one-way and must be installed only on the test server.

Why this plugin exists

When importing content from production into a test environment, WordPress usually tries to:

  • download all images into uploads
  • create attachment records
  • quickly consume disk space

This plugin solves that by:

  • keeping images remote (loaded from production)
  • preventing media downloads
  • allowing repeated imports without growing disk usage
  • preserving realistic front-end behavior for theme development

Key principles

  • One-way only (test server → no write access to production)
  • Import-time only (does nothing outside WXR import)
  • No media downloads
  • No attachments created
  • Production is read-only

This is a development tool, not a migration plugin.

How it works

During a standard WordPress import (Tools → Import → WordPress or wp import):

  • image URLs inside imported content are rewritten to the production domain
  • relative and test-domain image URLs are replaced
  • media files are not downloaded
  • the media library remains untouched

Normal post editing and saving are not affected.

⚠️ Important Importer Option (Must Be Disabled)

When using the WordPress Importer, make sure this option is disabled:

“Change all imported URLs that currently link to the previous site so that they now link to this site”

Why?

This option blindly rewrites all URLs to the test domain before the plugin runs, which breaks the intended behavior and may result in incorrect image links.

Always keep this option disabled when using this plugin.

Installation

  1. Copy the plugin directory to:
  2. Activate the plugin in the WordPress admin panel.

Usage

  1. Go to Tools → Import → WordPress
  2. Upload a WordPress XML (WXR) file
  3. When prompted:
  • ❌ Do NOT enable
    “Change all imported URLs that currently link to the previous site so that they now link to this site”
  1. Complete the import

That’s it.

Intended use cases

  • Theme and layout development
  • Testing imported content
  • Repeated imports in dev environments
  • Low-disk or containerized setups

Not intended for

  • Production websites
  • Full site migrations
  • Media synchronization
  • CDN replacement

Compatibility

  • WordPress 6.x
  • PHP 8.1+
  • WordPress Importer (UI and WP-CLI)

License

GPL-2.0-or-later