An ultra-lightweight, hardened WordPress file manager plugin for safely browsing, editing, uploading, and managing code files — all under 50KB.
If you ever find out that your WordPress enforces a 2MB upload limit on plugin uploads or media uploads through the dashboard and for developers who doesn't have client's cpanel access but wants to fix the issue? this plugin is the correct solution for you. On servers with older SSL configurations, you can't install any file manager plugin larger than 2MB. This means you're stuck — you need to upload an SSL certificate or edit a config file, but you can't install the tools to do it.
Secure Mini File Editor was built to solve exactly this problem. It's small enough to upload directly as a zip file (under 50KB), yet feature-complete enough to handle real file management tasks — including uploading SSL certificates that can't be installed any other way.
Despite its tiny footprint, it follows WordPress.org coding standards and implements a 10-layer security model, making it production-ready for developers and site administrators who need quick, safe file access.
- File Browsing — Navigate your WordPress directory structure
- Code Editing — Edit files with syntax-highlighted textarea
- Create Files & Folders — Create new files or directories from the dashboard
- File Upload — Upload files with automatic conflict resolution (Replace/Rename)
- Drag & Drop Upload — Drag files from your computer directly onto the browser
- File Download — Download any file directly from the dashboard
- Zip Download — Download any file or folder as a zip archive
- Unzip Archives — Extract uploaded zip files directly in the browser
- File Deletion — Delete files and empty directories with confirmation
- Directory Navigation — Move up and down the directory tree
- Search & Filter — Type to instantly filter visible files and folders
- File Permissions — View octal permission codes for each file
- Last Modified Date — See when each file was last modified
- Folder Size — View recursive folder sizes
| Layer | Protection |
|---|---|
| 1 | WordPress Filesystem API — all writes use WP_Filesystem |
| 2 | WordPress Upload Handler — uploads validated via wp_handle_upload() |
| 3 | Path Validation — all paths validated against WordPress root |
| 4 | Nonce Verification — cryptographic nonces on all operations |
| 5 | Admin-Only Access — manage_options capability required |
| 6 | Rate Limiting — prevents abuse on write operations |
| 7 | Executable Blocking — PHP, ASP, JSP, EXE uploads blocked |
| 8 | File Size Limit — 5MB maximum upload, 10MB maximum save |
| 9 | Sensitive File Protection — wp-config.php, .htaccess, .env, .git protected |
| 10 | Symlink Protection — symlinked files cannot be edited or deleted |
- Download or clone this repository
- Upload the
secure-mini-file-editorfolder to/wp-content/plugins/ - Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' menu in WordPress
- Access via the 'Mini Editor' menu in your WordPress admin sidebar
PHP, CSS, JS, HTML, JSON, XML, Markdown, YAML, SQL, Shell scripts, Config files, and many more.
- WordPress 5.0+
- PHP 7.4+
- Admin privileges (
manage_optionscapability)
- Initial release
- File browsing with directory navigation
- Code editor with dark theme
- File upload with drag-and-drop support
- File upload conflict resolution (Replace/Rename)
- File download and zip download
- Create new files and folders
- Delete files and empty directories
- Rename files and folders
- Zip/unzip support
- Search and filter files
- File permissions display
- Last modified date display
- Folder size calculation
- 10-layer security model
- WordPress Filesystem API for all operations
- Rate limiting and audit logging
GPLv2 or later — see LICENSE for details.