Understand media reference updates

Renaming the physical file alone would leave WordPress pointing to the old name. Media Renamer builds mappings for every known file belonging to the attachment and then searches supported site data for those mappings.

Files included in the plan

The rename keeps each suffix and extension while replacing the root name:

old-name.jpg            → new-name.jpg
old-name-scaled.jpg     → new-name-scaled.jpg
old-name-300x200.jpg    → new-name-300x200.jpg
old-name.jpg.webp       → new-name.jpg.webp

The plan includes the WordPress original image, registered generated sizes, and existing WebP companions. Attachments that intentionally share the same physical file, including detected Polylang translations, are updated together.

References the analysis can find

The dry run searches supported current-site database text values and POM Framework managed settings for:

• complete old URLs;
• root-relative public paths;
• upload-relative paths;
• absolute filesystem references;
• generated-size filenames;
• serialized occurrences.

The report shows affected locations and occurrence counts before application. Optional attachment choices can also change the media slug and title.

What is outside the guarantee

The scan does not make external systems aware of the rename. Check separately:

• third-party websites and applications;
• CDN and proxy caches;
• exported feeds and email already sent;
• source-controlled theme or plugin code;
• manually written server rules;
• data held by a custom integration outside the supported scan.

The advanced basename-only option broadens matching but does not turn the process into universal discovery. It can also replace unrelated occurrences, so use it only after reviewing the complete report.

Verify representative storage

After applying, inspect a block page, classic editor content, featured image, product gallery, translated attachment where used, managed custom CSS, and one serialized widget or option that appeared in the report. Confirm both the new URL and the absence of a broken old reference.