Upload files with predictable names
Pomatio keeps filenames portable by retaining only ASCII letters, numbers, underscores, periods and hyphens after WordPress performs its native filename sanitization.
Before you begin
- Sign in to the intended site's WordPress dashboard.
- Confirm that your account can upload files.
- Check that the file type and size are permitted by the destination feature.
Upload a Media Library file
- Open Media → Add Media File.
- Select or drop the intended file.
- Wait for the upload to complete.
- Open the new attachment and inspect its file URL.
WordPress first removes or replaces its own unsafe characters and converts whitespace to hyphens. Pomatio then removes accents and any remaining character outside the portable allowlist. For example, Crème brûlée.png becomes Creme-brulee.png, while characters without an ASCII representation can be removed entirely.
The same policy applies when other Pomatio features ask WordPress to sanitize a filename. It does not rename files that were stored before the policy ran.
Upload compressed archives
Pomatio permits files ending in .zip and .gz through WordPress's upload MIME allowlist on every network site. The .gzip extension is not part of this policy.
This allowlist does not grant upload access. Your account must still have permission to upload files, and WordPress or the destination feature may reject a file because of its size, contents or additional validation rules.
Expected result
The stored filename contains only A-Z, a-z, 0-9, _, . and -. The upload still retains its attachment title and other metadata independently from the physical filename.
Verify the result
- Confirm that the upload completed successfully.
- Inspect the final file URL or the filename displayed by the destination feature.
- Confirm that the extension remains correct.
- Open or download the file to verify that it is usable.
Troubleshooting
- The name differs more than expected: WordPress performs its own sanitization before Pomatio applies the portable allowlist.
- Some characters disappeared: rename the source with an ASCII description before uploading when those characters are important for recognition.
- The upload was rejected: check permissions, file type and size. Filename sanitization does not make an otherwise prohibited file uploadable.
- A Gzip archive was rejected: use the supported
.gzextension;.gzipis not included in the network policy. - An existing file still has its old name: the policy runs when a filename is sanitized; it does not rename previously stored files.