Old links keep working after you migrate Free
After a one-click migration, the old plugin's download links, item pages and shortcodes open your FileDeck documents, even with the old plugin switched off.
Updated October 4, 2026
A library that has been online for a while has links pointing at it everywhere: download links in emails and menus, item pages in search results, shortcodes in posts. Once you’ve moved it into FileDeck with a one-click import and switched the old plugin off, FileDeck answers those links, so the posts, menus and emails that use them keep working.
Free — this part is in the free plugin, so your old links keep working if your Pro licence lapses. The one-click import that brings a library across is part of FileDeck Pro.
Which links
| Old plugin | Download links | Item and category pages | Shortcodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Download Monitor | /download/…/, or the endpoint you renamed it to |
— | [download], [downloads] |
| WordPress Download Manager | ?wpdmdl=… |
/download/…/, /download-category/…/ |
[wpdm_package], [wpdm_direct_link], [wpdm_category], [wpdm_all_packages] |
| Simple Download Monitor | ?sdm_process_download=… |
/sdm_downloads/…/, /sdm_categories/…/ |
[sdm_download], [sdm_download_link], [sdm_show_all_dl], [sdm_show_dl_from_category] |
| Shared Files | /shared-files/…/ |
— | [shared_files] |
| Simple File List | — | — | [eeSFL], including showfolder |
Where each one goes
- An old download link goes straight to the file when the visitor can download it right away. If they first need to log in, enter a password or fill in a download form, it opens the document’s page, which asks for that. A visitor who isn’t logged in and can’t open a members-only document is sent to log in.
- An old item or category page moves permanently (a 301 redirect) to the document’s or category’s page in FileDeck, so search engines carry it across.
- An old shortcode shows FileDeck’s download button for that document, or a FileDeck library for shortcodes that listed several (narrowed to the same category or folder when the shortcode named one). One that points at something you didn’t import shows nothing.
A link still meets the document’s access rules: it reaches the file only for a visitor who could open the document anyway.
While the old plugin is still active
It answers its own links, and FileDeck leaves them alone, so you can run both side by side while you check the new library. Deactivating the old plugin is enough to hand its links over. If you delete it instead, its uninstaller may remove the records that item pages are matched by.
FAQ
Do links work for documents I brought across by CSV?
No. FileDeck matches an old link to the document a one-click import made from that item, and a CSV import doesn’t record which item a row came from. Point those links at the new documents by hand.
What about items that came across as drafts?
Their links start working when you publish the document. Until then FileDeck answers them like a link it doesn’t recognise.
I duplicated an imported document. Which one do old links open?
The imported original. A duplicate doesn’t inherit the record of which item it came from.
Will search engines keep my old pages’ ranking?
Old item and category pages move with a permanent (301) redirect, which is how a page tells search engines it now lives somewhere else.
Still stuck? Email support@getfiledeck.com.