Desktop Media Uploader — Advanced Settings
The Advanced Settings screen is available from the More tab in Desktop Media Uploader.
Advanced Settings are used for server compatibility, upload tuning, logging, troubleshooting, and support. Most users do not need to change these settings unless they are solving a specific upload problem or following instructions from support.
Desktop Media Uploader is designed to work well with the default settings. These options are provided for hosting accounts that need additional control.
Server Rate Limit Settings
Desktop Media Uploader includes server rate limit settings for hosts that cannot process large upload queues at full speed.
The desktop app displays these settings, but the limits are enforced by the WordPress plugin on the server. Desktop Media Uploader detects the server’s available limits and will not allow settings that exceed what the server allows.
These settings can reduce upload pressure on the server, but they cannot bypass hosting limits, PHP limits, or server security rules.
This is useful for shared hosting accounts, resource-limited hosting plans, or servers that fail when too many files are processed too quickly.
Upload Timeout
Upload Timeout (sec) controls how long the upload process waits before treating an upload request as failed.
A higher value can help on slower hosting accounts, busy shared hosting accounts, or when uploading large files.
If uploads fail before finishing, increasing the upload timeout may help.
Server Files/Second
Server Files/Second limits how many files the server plugin processes per second.
Lower this value if your host starts failing during large uploads or if the server cannot keep up with the upload queue.
This setting is useful when the server can accept the files, but fails when too many files are processed too quickly.
Server IO - MB/s
Server IO - MB/s limits how much upload data the server plugin processes per second.
Lower this value if your hosting account has strict IO limits or if uploads fail when too much data reaches the server too quickly.
This setting can help on hosting accounts with limited disk IO, CPU, or process resources.
max_file_uploads
max_file_uploads controls how many files are allowed in one upload request.
Desktop Media Uploader will not allow this value to be set higher than the server’s detected PHP max_file_uploads limit.
Lowering this value may help if uploads fail when too many files are included in a single request.
upload_max_filesize
upload_max_filesize (MB) controls the maximum size of a single uploaded file.
Desktop Media Uploader will not allow this value to be set higher than the server’s detected PHP upload_max_filesize limit.
Files larger than the allowed value cannot be uploaded unless the server limit is increased.
post_max_size
post_max_size (MB) controls the maximum total size allowed in one upload request.
Desktop Media Uploader will not allow this value to be set higher than the server’s detected PHP post_max_size limit.
This setting can be useful if uploads are timing out. Lowering the value reduces the amount of data sent in each upload request, which can help slower or resource-limited servers complete each request before the upload timeout is reached.
Desktop Media Uploader also has an app limit based on 25 Mbps. Even if the server allows a larger post_max_size, Desktop Media Uploader uses the smaller value between the app limit and the server’s detected post_max_size limit.
In other words, the default value is limited by the smaller of:
- Desktop Media Uploader’s 25 Mbps app limit
- The server’s detected PHP
post_max_sizelimit
Modern Format Cleanup
Desktop Media Uploader can create modern image formats such as WebP and AVIF before uploading files.
The cleanup settings help prevent uploading modern-format files that are larger than the original image.
Discard AVIF > original
When enabled, Desktop Media Uploader discards an AVIF file if the AVIF version is larger than the original image.
This helps avoid uploading AVIF files that do not provide a file-size benefit.
Discard WebP > original
When enabled, Desktop Media Uploader discards a WebP file if the WebP version is larger than the original image.
This is useful because some images do not compress better as WebP, especially images that are already optimized.
Tooltips
Disable Tooltips
When enabled, Desktop Media Uploader hides help tooltips in the app interface.
Tooltips are useful when learning the app or when you want a quick reminder of what a setting does. After you are familiar with the settings, you can disable tooltips to keep the interface cleaner.
Logging and Support
The Advanced Settings screen includes logging options that can help diagnose upload problems.
Support may ask you to enable logging, clear the logs, reproduce the issue, and then send the latest log file.
Log To File
When enabled, Desktop Media Uploader writes log information to a local log file on your computer.
This is useful for troubleshooting failed uploads, timeout problems, server errors, retry behavior, or unexpected app behavior.
Log Level
Log Level controls how much detail is written to the log file.
The normal setting is Info.
Use Info for regular troubleshooting.
More detailed log levels may be requested by support when diagnosing a specific problem.
Clear Logs
Clear Logs removes the current log files.
Use this before reproducing a problem so the new log file only contains information from the latest test.
Recommended troubleshooting steps:
- Click Clear Logs
- Try the upload again
- Click Show in Finder
- Send the log file to support if requested
Show in Finder
Show in Finder opens the folder containing the Desktop Media Uploader log files.
On Windows, this opens the log folder in File Explorer.
Use this button when support asks for a copy of your log file.
Open Support Ticket
Open Support Ticket opens the Desktop Media Uploader support ticket page.
When opening a support ticket, include:
- Your WordPress site URL
- Your hosting provider
- The Desktop Media Uploader app version
- The WordPress plugin version
- A short description of the problem
- The log file, if requested
Recommended Settings
For most users, leave the Advanced Settings at their default values.
A typical setup is:
- Upload Timeout: Enabled
- Discard AVIF > original: Enabled
- Discard WebP > original: Enabled
- Log To File: Enabled
- Log Level: Info
- Server Files/Second: Disabled unless needed
- Server IO - MB/s: Disabled unless needed
- max_file_uploads: Disabled unless needed
- upload_max_filesize: Disabled unless needed
- post_max_size: Disabled unless needed
Use the server rate limit settings only when uploads fail, time out, or overload the hosting account.
Desktop Media Uploader can reduce upload pressure on the server, but it cannot bypass the server’s actual limits.