Clean Filenames
by Samuel Aguilera · Uncategorized
Also makes 13 other plugins · 86.9K+ installs across the portfolio →
Removes or replace international or special characters that can make your filenames not compliant with some servers or services.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
C 61/100
Stale · Few reviews
Active installs
3K+
≈3.8K estimated
Momentum
+25%
low volume, under 1,000 downloads a month
Biggest opportunity: Swap “upload” for “filenames”. “upload” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “filenames” sits at #8 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
Install conversion
How it's measured →9.8%
of downloads still active
At least 3K of 30.6K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,784 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Uncategorized plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
Details
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Room to improve
Most to gain: Update recency
Updated 568 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 6.7.11; the current branch is 7.1
4.6★ over 8 reviews, weighted for review count to 4.2★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 568 days ago — ship an update; wp.org decays a listing's search weight after ~180 days.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
28
Momentum
Losing ground
-1.0
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
0%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-1.0
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| international characters your tag | #5 | #12 | 0 |
| filenames | #8 | #16 | down 2 |
| sanitize your tag | #12 | #14 | down 3 |
| filename your tag | #14 | #19 | down 3 |
| custom filename | #18 | #22 | 0 |
| upload your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| utf 8 your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
10 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 5 listed. 5 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 2 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “upload” for “filenames”. “upload” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “filenames” sits at #8 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
- One page off on “filename”. #14 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
- One page off on “sanitize”. #12 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,491 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 1.4K · peaks are release surges
Directory rank vs rivals
wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
Release cadence
No release in a yearHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
0
releases in the last 12 months
1.6y ago
latest release · v1.2.4 · 14 Apr 2025
15
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 95% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “3K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 6 years ago; the previous band took 14 months to cross, which places it about 80% of the way through.
Install history since 24 Sep 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Ishko5.6y ago
Very useful and clean, strips every non standard character of all your filenames when uploading. Just activate and forget 🙂 Thanks to the dev for keeping the plugin updated, great job !
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ yasindedo17.2y ago
If you answer this review i will appreciate it. I dont ask for Turkish translation, as the plugins supports spanish and some other langs then i ask about Turkish. Does the plugin support Turkish characters like ĞİÜÇŞıÖ ?
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Elías7.5y ago
Previene problemas con tildes, así como homogeneiza los nombres de archivos que a veces se muestran en el frontend, como con el plugin WP Better Attachments.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ floydik8.9y ago
This plug-in do exactly what I except and there is no problem with Czech diacritics. If I was uploaded file name “příliš žluťoučký kůň úpěl ďábelské ódy.jpg” I’v got filename: /wp-content/uploads/2017/12/prilis-zlutoucky-kun-upel-dabelske-ody.jpg and Title příliš žluťoučký kůň úpěl ďábelské ódy. Great job. This topic was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by floydik.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Bjarne Oldrup9.0y ago
As others, I need my filenames to be simple for plugins, backup, different OS’es etc to work without a hiccup, but my title I’d like left alone. So if I choose to upload a file called “Test æøå ÆØÅ +(plus) !(udråbstegn).txt”, I want a sane filename, but the original title where I insert the media… This plugin does that perfectly, where others also changes the title… Tested with Danish letters, works great 🙂
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Larzans9.6y ago
Very good character replacements (ä->a, …) and to be safe a final filtering of the filename to prevent unwanted (and unknown) characters from being used. I tried a few plugins of this type, and this is definately the best.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Gregory10.0y ago
Fix issues with some weird plugins and their stupid developers. Work as described except spaces in filename. The plugin just don’t handle it correctly.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ pengabelot12.6y ago
Transforms filenames of media you upload, converting local characters as à -> a, á -> a, è -> e, … ç -> c, ñ -> n, … This prevents errors, in my case some problems when I’m doing a copy of my website to my local disc via FTP, because Filezilla is unable to download media files with this kind of characters.
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 1.2.4 Changed priority for Gravity Forms integration. 1.2.4
- — Version 1.2.3 Added additional support for files uploaded using single upload Gravity Forms fields. Thanks to my buddy David Smith! 🙂 1.2.3
- — Version 1.2.2 Added filter scf_friendly_filename to allow additional changes to the filename before returning it to WP. Minor changes to make code 100% compliant with WordPress Coding Standards. This doesn’t means any change in the pl 1.2.2
- — Version 1.2 Added remove_accents() WP core function as first step instead of previous own custom replacement array for accents. 1.2
- — Version 1.1.1 Minor coding standards improvements. 1.1.1
- — Version 1.1 Fixed bug introduced in 1.0.9. Thanks to Edu from etmsoft for reporting it. 1.1
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 4 languages, 4 at 90% or more
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
This plugin’s searches fall outside the topics measured so far. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
6 of 8 pass · checked 28 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Removes or replace international or special characters that can make your filenames not compliant with some..."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 3 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 3 of 3 read like questions a user would type.
- ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("if you have"); say who the plugin is for and what they use it for.
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ✓ Headings and lists 3 headings and 2 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,756 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "sanitize", "utf-8" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2020-10-22 2K+ → 3K+ up after 413 days in tier
- 2019-09-05 1K+ → 2K+ up after 1256 days in tier
- 2016-03-28 700+ → 1K+ up after 186 days in tier
- 2015-09-24 500+ → 700+ up
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
- F Filenames to latin 9K+ installs · 4.4★ · 3 shared tags D
- M MD5 Media Renamer 400+ installs · 4.1★ · 3 shared tags D
-
Clean Image Filenames 30K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags B - M Make Filename Lowercase 1K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags C
- H Healthy filenames 100+ installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags
-
RY Nice Upload FileName 100+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags D
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Clean Filenames into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/sanitize-spanish-filenames" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Clean Filenames — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Clean Filenames: 3K+ active installs, 4.6★ (8 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-03. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/sanitize-spanish-filenames
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