Organize WordPress Media Library With Folders

If you’ve ever found yourself frantically scrolling through months’ worth of media content to find that one picture you swear you uploaded a while back, WP Media Folder may be the perfect plugin for you.

Long considered to be one of the best WordPress media library plugins available, this multi-functional media management tool has recently been given yet another major update, packing in, even more, features designed to optimize your media files.

As a result, you get more ways to fully take control of your pictures, videos, and other content, saving you ample time in finding the right media for the right post with zero hassle. 

Below, we’ll talk you through all of those new additions as well as explaining everything you need to know to decide if this is the right media library plugin for you.

In a nutshell, WP Media Folder is a premium plugin that lets you organize all of your media content into folders and subfolders so that it’s easy to find. 

However, it’s also so much more than that. 

The plugin’s key features also allow you to:

• Upload single or bulk files directly to folders
• Move files between folders with drag and drop
• Use detailed sort/filter options to find things even more easily
• Search folder names to quickly navigate to the right folder
• Import files from FTP and sync folder structure
• Upload and replace existing files in your media library (helpful if you need to update an old image that you’ve used in multiple places)

As if that wasn’t enough, there are also two handy add-ons that add even more functionality including:

• Integration with a range of cloud services including Dropbox, Google Photos, and more
• The ability to create fully optimized photo galleries straight from your media library.

If you ask us, this second feature is especially appealing as it saves you the time, trouble, and expense of also utilizing a separate gallery plugin. 

How Much Does WP Media Folder Cost? 

We’ll dive more into those features later, but for now it’s worth mentioning that they aren’t the only thing that’s very appealing about this plugin. 

The price is also very attractive, especially when compared to other tools of this type.

The core WP Media Folder plugin costs $29 for 6 months of support/updates. You can also get 12 months of support/updates for $39.

And if you want both add-ons, you’ll pay $59 for the core plugin, both add-ons, and 12 months of support/updates.

No matter which plan you purchase, you can use the plugin on unlimited sites.

If you’re fed up with plugins that are a chore to set up, you’ll find a lot to like about WP Media Folder. 

After downloading from the website and installing to your WordPress site, you’ll be taken to a handy configuration wizard which does all of the hard work for you.

Environment Check

Up first, the wizard checks your server environment to ensure that you’ve got the right technical infrastructure to support the plugin. 

Let’s face it; there’s nothing more annoying than setting everything up only to realise your PHP is outdated and nothing is going to work right, so this is a great place to start.

Next, you’ll be asked to opt-in to WP Media Folder’s core features as well as additional features.

While the ability to override and duplicate files is definitely handy, it’s the first two of these features that we like the most.

Opting into the front-end mode allows you to use the plugin with popular front-end page builders like Visual Composer and Elementor, making it even easier to put together a high-performance WordPress site with minimal technical know-how required.

Meanwhile, the ability to embed videos from third-party sources such as YouTube means you still enjoy all the benefits of sharing video content on your site without the negative impact on your site speed.

Of course, you can technically do that anyway, but this simplifies the process and ensures you can always quickly find previous videos you’ve embedded if you ever need to use them again.

With that done, you can go back and install the add-on plugins if you opted to use them, and then you’re ready to start using WP Media Folder.

Viewing Your Folders

The WP Media Folder interface has some similarities to Google Drive’s interface in how it displays subfolders inside the interface. 

And it also includes a traditional file tree on the left-hand side so that you can jump around as needed:

One of the key differences from the last big update of this plugin is it now gives you even more options for sorting and organizing your files and folder. 

Along with the options to add new media from your harddrive or use a third-party video, you also have further options which include: 

Bulk Select 

While this was available in the last version of WP Media Folder, it’s still such a useful feature that it’s worth mentioning again. 

Bulk select allows you to pick multiple pictures at once and either delete them permanently or simply move them over to a new folder with ease.

Filtering 

If you really do have a lot of media files to organize, Filtering is the first of two options that will help you find exactly what you’re looking for, allowing you to drill down so that you only see certain types of content or content uploaded on a particular date.

You can even filter everything out so that you only see images of a certain file size which is incredibly useful if you’re looking to free-up some server space and improve your site performance.

Sorting 

If filtering out still doesn’t help you find what you need, the Sorting Option will help you to organize either your folders or individual files by name, date, size, or file type. 

Creating A Folder

To create a folder, you simply click on the Add New Folder button, give it a name, and you have a brand new folder:

Visually Organizing Folders

To add some more visual organization, you can right-click on a folder to add a custom color:

There’s also an option to add a custom folder cover, if you want to take things further.

Moving Files Between Folders

To move a single file between folders, you just grab it and drag it to the new folder:

Likewise, you can also drag and drop folders into other folders to help you create another level of organization.

If you edit an individual file, you can also make a file appear in multiple folders.

Adding Images to Posts 

So far, so intuitive, but now it’s time to start using your plugin to add content to your posts.

If you’re using the standard Gutenberg block editor and simply want to add an image, this is done in exactly the same way as normal. 

If you’re uploading a new image, you can choose to organize it directly into a folder, or if you’re looking for an image you already have, you can simply open up your media library to see the same interface we’ve just looked at, giving you the control to quickly flick through folders to find the exact image you need. 

However, that’s only the beginning as WP Media Folder also gives you three other options to utilize:

Basic Image Gallery 

The first of these options allows you to create a basic image gallery using your folders. 

After clicking on the option in the blocks menu, you can either upload images to a new folder, or simply select a pre-made folder and the plugin will convert that folder into a simple image gallery.

If you simply need a quick and effortless way to add a gallery, this is the way to go, but there is more.

WPMF Gallery Add-On 

If you still want to add a gallery but you need something a little more sophisticated, the WPMF Gallery Addon may be just the thing.

Select this from the block menu and add a new gallery. 

This not only gives you greater flexibility over which pictures you use, but also how you display them, whether that’s in a standard masonry format, a square grind, with “flow slide” effect or any number of other options.

Embed PDF 

One of the things that truly separates this plugin from the countless others out there is that it goes above and beyond simply behind a behind-the-scenes media manager and really brings a whole host of benefits in the way you display and present that media.

The aforementioned photo galleries are one example, the Embed PDF option is another.

Available as part of the add-on, this lets you select a PDF from your media library and display it directly in your posts and pages, rather than simply linking to it as a downloadable file. As you can imagine, this improves usability on your site and makes it much more straightforward for visitors to view important PDF documents.

Page Builder and Third-Party Tool Integrations 

Another tick in the win column for this plugin is that it integrates with 12 different page builders and other third-party tools such as WooCommerce. 

The full list of compatible tools includes: 

This requires zero additional setup. Once you’ve got the plugin up and running, you can use it with the same ease in Elementor that you would in the Gutenberg example we looked at earlier. 

Cloud Support 

Previous versions of WP Media Folders only supported integration with Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive.

Since then, the developers behind the plugin have expanded cloud support to also include:

1. Google Photos
2. OneDrive Business
3. Amazon Web Services.

Ultimately, this means that you can store all of your images in any one of these accounts and use the plugin to display them in your site, another handy feature that can work wonders in improving your site performance by eliminating the need to store lots of media content on your WordPress server.

Along with everything we’ve listed above, the plugin also includes all of the following: 

• Add watermarks to your images
• Load gif files
• Use shortcodes for your galleries (AddOn feature only) 
• Social sharing options for your image galleries
• Resizable sidebar (so that you can customize the interface more to your liking)
• Smart context menu.

Our Verdict

WP Media Folder has always been a Grade-A plugin thanks to its highly intuitive interface, advanced filtering/sorting options and the way it simply does a fantastic job of giving you greater control over your media content.

However, over the course of the last few updates, the plugin has continued to prove its worth as one of the best media management tools around.

Not only does it work flawlessly with your favorite page builder, it also now offers effortless integration with no less than six third-party cloud services, including recent additions such as Google Photos and Amazon Web Services. 

The gallery features are second-to-none too, and we love that there are now six different “gallery templates” to help you decide how you’re going to showcase your images.

All in all, if you want to add some much-needed organization to your WordPress media library, give WP Media Folder a look.

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