Background Download Queue

When a customer downloads a full gallery or an order with many images, Sunshine zips those files together and sends the zip to their browser as it's built. That works at any size, so most sites can leave downloads to happen immediately and never think about this setting.

Background processing is the alternative. Instead of the customer waiting on the page, Sunshine prepares the zip behind the scenes in smaller batches and emails them a link when it's ready. It's worth turning on if your host is particularly limited, or if you'd simply rather your customers got a link by email than sat waiting.

This background work runs on WordPress's scheduler, which only fires when someone visits your site. On a low-traffic site, or while a big upload is happening, the "ready" email can be delayed. If you want downloads to process quickly and dependably, see Setting Up a Reliable Server Cron.

How to Set It Up

1. Go to Sunshine > Settings > Downloads
2. Find the Background download threshold field
3. Enter the number of files that should trigger background processing

The number you enter is the minimum file count. Any download with that many files or more is prepared in the background instead of immediately. For example, if you set it to 50, someone downloading a gallery of 60 images gets a background download and an email, while someone downloading 20 images gets theirs straight away.

Single-file downloads are always immediate, no matter what you set here.

Leave this field empty to turn background processing off entirely, so every download is prepared immediately. This is the right choice for most sites.

If you do want to use it, pick a number high enough that only genuinely big orders are affected, so smaller downloads still arrive instantly.

How It Works

For logged-in customers

1. The customer clicks the download button
2. A message appears letting them know the download is being prepared and they'll receive an email when it's ready
3. The download processes in the background
4. Once ready, the customer receives an email with a link to download their file

For customers who aren't logged in

1. The customer clicks the download button
2. A form appears asking for their email address
3. After entering their email, they see a confirmation that the download has been queued
4. Once ready, they receive an email at that address with a download link

Download link expiration

Download links expire after 48 hours. The generated zip file is also automatically removed from your server at that point, so it won't take up space long-term. If a customer's link has expired, they can go back to the gallery and request the download again.