media_sideload_image file name?

Question

I'm using media_sideload_image to download images from the web and store them. However, the problem is that the ones from youtube are always called "hqdefault.jpg", which means that it will override the existing image. There are three ways of fixing this:

• How can I change the attachment structure so that it includes the postname? (Current: http://example.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/hqdefault-40x40.jpg)
• How can I set the filename of the attachment to the postname, thus preventing overrides.
• How can I set a new filename of an existing attachment thumbnail?

Many thanks, Dennis

Answer 1

When I started using media_sideload_image(), I found it pretty useless as it returned a full html tag, instead of the attachment ID, so I created my own version of it which replicates all the functionality of media_sideload_image() and adds some very useful stuff, like:

• saving the sideloaded file under a completely new filename
• making the submitted image not just an attachment but the post_thumbnail (featured image)
• the ability to specify all sorts of attachment metadata

Just call the function below instead of media_sideload_image()

/**
 * Download an image from the specified URL and attach it to a post.
 * Modified version of core function media_sideload_image() in /wp-admin/includes/media.php  (which returns an html img tag instead of attachment ID)
 * Additional functionality: ability override actual filename, and to pass $post_data to override values in wp_insert_attachment (original only allowed $desc)
 *
 * @since 1.4 Somatic Framework
 *
 * @param string $url (required) The URL of the image to download
 * @param int $post_id (required) The post ID the media is to be associated with
 * @param bool $thumb (optional) Whether to make this attachment the Featured Image for the post (post_thumbnail)
 * @param string $filename (optional) Replacement filename for the URL filename (do not include extension)
 * @param array $post_data (optional) Array of key => values for wp_posts table (ex: 'post_title' => 'foobar', 'post_status' => 'draft')
 * @return int|object The ID of the attachment or a WP_Error on failure
 */
function somatic_attach_external_image( $url = null, $post_id = null, $thumb = null, $filename = null, $post_data = array() ) {
    if ( !$url || !$post_id ) return new WP_Error('missing', "Need a valid URL and post ID...");
    require_once( ABSPATH . 'wp-admin/includes/file.php' );
    // Download file to temp location, returns full server path to temp file, ex; /home/user/public_html/mysite/wp-content/26192277_640.tmp
    $tmp = download_url( $url );

    // If error storing temporarily, unlink
    if ( is_wp_error( $tmp ) ) {
        @unlink($file_array['tmp_name']);   // clean up
        $file_array['tmp_name'] = '';
        return $tmp; // output wp_error
    }

    preg_match('/[^\?]+\.(jpg|JPG|jpe|JPE|jpeg|JPEG|gif|GIF|png|PNG)/', $url, $matches);    // fix file filename for query strings
    $url_filename = basename($matches[0]);                                                  // extract filename from url for title
    $url_type = wp_check_filetype($url_filename);                                           // determine file type (ext and mime/type)

    // override filename if given, reconstruct server path
    if ( !empty( $filename ) ) {
        $filename = sanitize_file_name($filename);
        $tmppath = pathinfo( $tmp );                                                        // extract path parts
        $new = $tmppath['dirname'] . "/". $filename . "." . $tmppath['extension'];          // build new path
        rename($tmp, $new);                                                                 // renames temp file on server
        $tmp = $new;                                                                        // push new filename (in path) to be used in file array later
    }

    // assemble file data (should be built like $_FILES since wp_handle_sideload() will be using)
    $file_array['tmp_name'] = $tmp;                                                         // full server path to temp file

    if ( !empty( $filename ) ) {
        $file_array['name'] = $filename . "." . $url_type['ext'];                           // user given filename for title, add original URL extension
    } else {
        $file_array['name'] = $url_filename;                                                // just use original URL filename
    }

    // set additional wp_posts columns
    if ( empty( $post_data['post_title'] ) ) {
        $post_data['post_title'] = basename($url_filename, "." . $url_type['ext']);         // just use the original filename (no extension)
    }

    // make sure gets tied to parent
    if ( empty( $post_data['post_parent'] ) ) {
        $post_data['post_parent'] = $post_id;
    }

    // required libraries for media_handle_sideload
    require_once(ABSPATH . 'wp-admin/includes/file.php');
    require_once(ABSPATH . 'wp-admin/includes/media.php');
    require_once(ABSPATH . 'wp-admin/includes/image.php');

    // do the validation and storage stuff
    $att_id = media_handle_sideload( $file_array, $post_id, null, $post_data );             // $post_data can override the items saved to wp_posts table, like post_mime_type, guid, post_parent, post_title, post_content, post_status

    // If error storing permanently, unlink
    if ( is_wp_error($att_id) ) {
        @unlink($file_array['tmp_name']);   // clean up
        return $att_id; // output wp_error
    }

    // set as post thumbnail if desired
    if ($thumb) {
        set_post_thumbnail($post_id, $att_id);
    }

    return $att_id;
}