Moving from Simple Download Monitor
Keep your downloads and counts. Add a searchable FileDeck library.
Import supported documents, categories, tags and logged-in-only settings, then build the collection your visitors need.
One click, on your own site
Switch in three steps
Install FileDeck alongside
Add FileDeck Pro to the same site, with Simple Download Monitor still active. Installing it doesn’t change your existing download pages.
Click Import
Go to Documents → Import & Export → Migrate. FileDeck shows a Simple Download Monitor card with the number of downloads it found. Choose Publish or Import as drafts, then click Import.
Check, then switch
Work through the access and link checks below, swap in the FileDeck block or shortcode, and deactivate Simple Download Monitor once the new library is ready.
What comes across
Each download becomes one FileDeck document, with its categories, tags and total count.
Downloads & descriptions
Each download becomes one document, taking its title and its description field.
Categories and tags
Download categories, including sub-categories, are rebuilt with the same nesting — and your download tags come across as document tags.
Counts, including your offset
Each download’s total carries over as logged downloads plus your count offset, so a number you adjusted by hand is the number you keep. It arrives as one total; the individual log entries behind it are not imported.
Logged-in-only settings
When the plugin’s site-wide “only logged-in users can download” setting is on, each download imports as restricted to logged-in users — unless that item opted out of the global setting, in which case it imports as public.
Check before you switch
- Site-wide and per-item access. The importer reads the logged-in-only setting and a download’s WordPress password (Password protected visibility), which the document keeps. Any other protection you set on individual downloads is not carried across, so import as drafts and set FileDeck’s access rules before you publish. Test with a logged-in and a logged-out account.
- Old links. A logged-in-only download whose file is on this site gets its own copy in FileDeck’s protected vault, and Simple Download Monitor’s original stays where it was, so its links keep working while you run both plugins. Access you add in FileDeck after the import moves that document’s file into the vault, so the plugin’s link to it stops working from then on. Once you’ve switched, delete the originals that no page or other document still uses. Once you deactivate it, FileDeck answers its download links, its download and category pages and its main shortcodes, so the pages that use them keep working: see what happens to your old links.
- Counts are a total, not a history. FileDeck’s activity log starts from the move; the dates and details of past downloads stay in Simple Download Monitor.
- Files and fields. A file in the plugin’s protected upload folder is copied into the Media Library and the original stays put, so review or remove it once you’ve switched. A download whose file link can’t be resolved comes across without a file, ready for you to add one. The per-item version string and thumbnail image are not imported.
- Drafts. Downloads that aren’t published in Simple Download Monitor come in as drafts.
Why teams move to FileDeck
A searchable library
Four layouts — table, grid, gallery and folders — with instant search, category and tag filters and sortable columns in the free plugin. Pro also indexes supported PDFs and Office files stored on your site, with OCR for scanned PDFs (enable OCR in the plugin).
Access control that scales
Gate categories by role, by password or to logged-in users, with client areas for private document sets and per-document assignment to named people — set once for a whole category, not file by file.
Same price at renewal
Renewals cost the same as your first year, and paid plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Prefer a hand? We’ll help you move.
Free assisted migration is available. Tell us which plugin you use and roughly how many documents you have, and we’ll help scope the import and check the result with you. If you’re on an eligible paid plan with your current plugin, the time left on it can be added to your FileDeck licence — contact us to confirm how it applies to your plan. No credential handoff needed; the importer runs on your own site.
Questions about moving
Do I need to export anything first?
No. FileDeck reads Simple Download Monitor’s data directly from your own site — no export file, no column mapping. Keep it active while you import. See the full walkthrough.
Will my download counts be preserved?
Yes, as a total. FileDeck adds your logged downloads and your count offset, so a number you adjusted by hand comes across as the number you displayed. The individual log entries behind it aren’t imported, so FileDeck’s activity log starts from the move.
What happens to the files themselves?
A file already in your Media Library is linked as the same attachment, and a file elsewhere in your uploads is registered where it sits. A file in the plugin’s protected upload folder is copied into the Media Library, leaving the original in place, and a file on another site stays linked by URL.
What about downloads restricted to logged-in users?
With the site-wide logged-in-only setting on, they import as documents restricted to logged-in users, each with its own copy of the file in FileDeck’s protected vault; an item that opted out of the global setting imports as public. If you need finer control, add a category password or a role restriction afterwards.
Make your next document library FileDeck.
Bring the supported files and metadata across, review the result, then replace your library page when it is ready. FileDeck Pro includes the source-specific importer and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Free assisted migration is available.
Try the free library first if you want to evaluate the display. Source-specific automatic import requires Pro. For private libraries, verify permissions with representative accounts before publishing.
Written by the FileDeck team. What the importer brings across was reviewed against the current FileDeck Pro importer on 26 September 2026 — read about our methods.
Simple Download Monitor is a trademark of its respective owner. FileDeck is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by it; the name is used only to identify the plugin you are migrating from.