Documentation

Getting Started

Introduction

CatFolders is the ultralight WordPress folders plugin to help you create media categories as folders. You then can drag-and-drop files to categorize them into folders.

How does it help?

To E-Commerce Businesses: Add new products and organize product images/gifs/videos into folders based on their classifications. For instance, a Fashion folder can contain T-shirts, Shoes, Dresses, Glasses folders, etc.

To Photographers and Designers: Keep your thousands of photos, graphic designs, and other media file types in well-structured folders. Such categories like portfolio, inspirations, collections, street photography, anniversaries, etc. make it super easy for you to publish them to page/post and share the links.

To Web Developers: Deliver a website to your client in a well-structured manner by uploading graphics, animations, brand assets, and other media content to categories. These arrangements will help clients easily manage their WordPress website.

Requirements

CatFolders should work with the latest versions of PHP, WordPress, WooCommerce, etc. Some minimum requirements include:

• PHP: version 7.2 or higher
• WordPress: version: 5.2 or higher

You should activate only one version of CatFolders at a time, either the lite version or the pro version.

Download and Install

CatFolders comes in a Free and Pro version.

Here’s how to download and install CatFolders Pro:

1. Download the plugin from the purchase confirmation email, your dashboard, or https://wpmediafolders.com/checkout/purchase-history/​
2. Go to Plugins > Add New > Upload and select the ZIP file you’ve just downloaded.
3. Click Install Now, and then Activate.

License

Where to find your license key and how it works

CatFolders license key is a unique 32-digit alphanumeric key for the completed purchase of a licensed product.

Enter license key

Log in to YayCommerce website and navigate to https://wpmediafolders.com/my-account/#license-key, you will see your license keys in License Keys tab.

Copy the license key then paste it into your WordPress dashboard > CatFolders > License.

Update License Key

If your license has just been renewed and you want to update its status, please click on Update.

Remove License Key

From WordPress admin dashboard > CatFolders > License tab, you can deactivate your license key.

If you want to move a license from one site to another, please go to your CatFolders Dashboard > License Keys > Manage sites.

Then deactivate the license key on the current website and enter the new site URL in the input box.

Upgrade and Update

How to upgrade CatFolders

Upgrading this WordPress folders plugin from the free version to the premium version takes 2 steps:

• Deactivate and delete the free version
• Install and activate the pro version

Upon activation, all of your folders created in the free version will be there in the pro version.

How to update CatFolders

There are 2 methods for updating the plugin.

Auto-update: Click update at WP Media Folders line item from your Plugins menu.

Manual update: Deactivate and delete the existing version. Then install the newer version, activate it, and finish!

Uninstallation

How to uninstall and delete CatFolders

1. Navigate to “Installed Plugins” in your dashboard and click on “Deactivate” next to the CatFolders plugin.
2. The last step is to simply click on “Delete”.

How It Works

To organize your files in CatFolders, you can create folders to make files easier to find, publish, or replace.

Move files

There are multiple ways to move attachment items to a folder. You can do this while you view/edit your media on:

• The primary WordPress media library menuWordPress media library assistant submenu provided by third-party plugins
• Gutenberg block editor
• Classic editor and other page builders
• “Select media” modal

Categorize files

Drag and drop a file to a folder

1. Drag the item you want to move.
2. Move the item over to the folder and release it.

Drag multiple files to a folder

1. Click Bulk select to pick multiple files.
2. Drag the whole selection to a folder and release it.
3. Press the ESC key to exit bulk select mode.

Upload files to a specific folder

1. In your main WordPress media library, open a specific folder.
2. From your computer, drag a file/folder or multiple files/folders and drop it in the opened folder. This will keep the whole folder structure as you have it on your computer.

Upload files to a chosen folder in your upload modal

1. In the upload media modal, switch to Upload files tab.
2. Choose a folder from the dropdown list of your created WordPress media folder hierarchy.
3. Drag and drop files/folders from your computer to the chosen folder.

Folder tree interface

Ordering

In CatFolders interface, you can sort files and folders in different ways. This helps you have a temporary order for the current view.

Folders:

• Folder name ascending
• Folder name descending

Files:

• File name: ascending and descending
• Created date: ascending and descending
• Modified date: ascending and descending
• Author: ascending and descending

Settings

Startup folder

Startup folder allows you to choose which folder to open when you start up the WordPress media library. Here are some options you can choose:

• Previous folder: Open the most recent folder
• All files
• Uncategorized
• A specific folder among your created folders

Default sort options

Apart from the temporary sort options, you can set a default ordering for your files and folders. With these settings, your folder tree will appear in the chosen order.

• Default: sort the folders in the order that you manually place them
• Name ascending
• Name descending

Bulk select

There are two types of Bulk select: Bulk select files and Bulk select folders.

Bulk select files

This option is used for selecting more than one media files in a folder in other to perform specific actions on them at once.

1. Choose Bulk select from Media Library
2. Select files
3. Drag the whole selection to a folder and release it.
4. Press ESC key or Cancel to exit bulk select mode.

Bulk select folders

This option allows you to select or mark specific folders and then delete them in bulk at once.

1. Choose Bulk select from
2. Select folders
3. Click on Delete to delete the whole selection
4. Click on Cancel to exit bulk select mode.

List mode

This view mode will let you see the names associated with each media files in the folder being viewed

See the image reference below:

Grid mode

Settings

From your WordPress admin panel, open CatFolders menu and you can see the global settings like:

• User-based folder management
• License
• Import folders from other plugins
• Export, import, backup, data removal, etc.

Folder access permissions

CatFolders has unique setting options that allow each WordPress admin user to have full control over the folders and folder permissions.

User-based folders

This setting controls the folder creator mode.

If disabled, a folder created by any user is considered as a common folder created by “all accounts”.

If enabled, folders are personal folders. A user can create their own folder structure and he/she can’t see or access the folder structure of other users. In this mode, the common folders can’t be seen.

Folder permissions

Inherited from the folder mode in the User-based folders setting, the admin will be able to assign different permissions to different user roles.

Notes:
When User-Based Folders mode is OFF:
– A folder created by any user will be a common folder.
– Anyone will see the same folder structure as long as they have the view permission.
– In the folder properties, you will see that the folder was created by “All Accounts”.
When User-Based Folders mode is ON:
– A folder created by a specific user will be a private folder.
– A user will only see their own folder structure.
– In the folder properties, you will see that the folder was created by you.

For instance, if you want to have a global folder structure where everyone sees the same categorization, and you wish to grant full permissions only to admins and shop managers, you can have the settings as shown in the screenshot below.

Import from other WP plugins

If you’ve used other WordPress media file organizer plugins before, now you can click to import those folders into the CatFolder interface.

The process is simple. Since you have the plugin activated, it will automatically detect all folders and categories you created in the past using other plugins. Therefore, all you need to do is to choose which one you want to import, and simply click Import now to get all the folders and their organized media files imported to CatFolders.

To date, CatFolders supports easy folder import from these plugins:

1. FileBird by NinjaTeam
2. Enhanced Media Library by Webbistro
3. WordPress Media Library Folders by Max Foundry
4. WordPress Real Media Library by Devowl
5. WP Media Folder by JoomUnited
6. HappyFiles by Thomas Ehrig
7. Folders by Premio

If there’s another one you wish us to support, please feel free to get in touch and let us know!

Backup/restore folders

In case you have an established folder organization right under WordPress media library, and you want to keep a record, you can use the Backup and Restore tool.

Here’s what your backup file might look like. Depending on your number of files and folders, the number of attachments can be huge.

Here’s what your backup file might look like. Depending on your number of files and folders, the number of attachments can be huge.

Developer zone

Free vs Pro

Features	Free	Pro
Unlimited Folders	✅	✅
Drag-and-Drop Files & Folders	✅	✅
User-Based Folders	✅	✅
Import Folders from Other Plugins	✅	✅
Upload Modal for Files to Folder	✅	✅
Create Subfolders	✖️	✅
Advanced Sort Options	✖️	✅
File Count at Folder Name	✖️	✅
Third-Party Compatibility with Page Builders, Themes & Plugins	Yes*	✅
Polylang Supported	✖️	✅
WPML Supported	✖️	✅
Fast Update	✖️	✅
1-1 VIP Support	✖️	✅

Note:

• Yes*: The lite version of CatFolders works with popular themes and page builders. It means you are able to insert images from/into a folder right from inside posts and pages editor. However, you will see a tree-select dropdown filter instead of the whole folder tree in the media library modal.

Compatibility

CatFolders is fully compatible with the most popular themes and WordPress plugins.

• CatFolders is compatible with a wide variety of Page and Post editors
• The plugin supports the most popular languages such as English, Spanish, Italian, French, etc.
• It supports the creation of unlimited folder categories
• It supports uploads of many file types apart from the WordPress limits

Support

As a premium user, you have access to our team of WordPress experts 24/7.

Whether you’re experiencing a technical issue or just have a question about how to use a feature, we’re here to help.

• Get in touch: https://wpmediafolders.com/contact/

Plus, premium users always get access to the latest updates and features – often before they’re available to the general public. So if you’re looking for a fast, reliable way to keep your CatFolders account up-to-date, upgrading to premium is the way to go. Thanks for being part of our community!

FAQs

I installed the plugin, what’s next?

Once activated, WP Media Folders will automatically create a folder pane on the left side of your WordPress Media Library. Please click New Folder to start creating your first folder. Then drag and drop to organize your attachments to the folders.

Do you have any discounts for nonprofits?

Yes, we do offer discounts for non-profit organizations. Please get in touch to apply for non-profit discounts and send us relevant documents. Once approved, you will get a 30% OFF coupon code on all of WP Media Folders plan options.

What’s your refund policy?

We have a 30-day refund policy. If you are unhappy with CatFolders, email us and we will refund your purchase without asking any questions. Once your plan is deactivated, you will still be able to use WP Media Folders Pro on your WordPress website, but no longer receive updates and premium support.

Roadmap

Have an idea for WP Media Folders – CatFolders? Or a specific feature that you’d like us to implement? Please feel free to submit it here:

WP Media Folders Roadmap

Need help?

In order to provide you with a better support experience, please make sure that:

• You have checked our knowledge base which has extensive FAQs and Tutorials that can answer most questions.
• You have updated the plugin to the latest version, learn how to update CatFolders.
• To help us rule out the issue being caused by a conflict with another plugin, try deactivating all plugins except WP Media Folders – CatFolders. If the issue goes away after deactivating a certain plugin, we’ll know the issue is being caused by that plugin and we’ll look at getting it fixed from there. If the plugin is from a 3rd party developer, you may need to get in touch with them for the fix at that point.

You have checked them all but still cannot find a solution? No worries, just contact us. 

Changelog

= 2023-01-13 – Version 1.7 =

• Added: Folder permissions
• Added: Search bar
• Improved: Layout, UI and CSS
• Improved: Performance
• Improved: Translation
• Improved: Context menu
• Changed: Text domain from ‘catf’ into ‘catfolders’
• Updated: Pot file

= 2022-12-17 – Version 1.6.1 =

• Added: German translation

= 2022-12-05 – Version 1.6 =

• Added: Translation ready

= 2022-09-26 – Version 1.5 =

• Added: Support WPML, Polylang
• Added: Right-click menu
• Fixed: Startup folder in modal
• Fixed: Some bugs

= 2022-09-16 – Version 1.4 =

• Fixed: Delete folder in modal
• Fixed: Upload file in modal
• Fixed: Small bugs

= 2022-09-12 – Version 1.3 =

• Fixed: License activation

= 2022-09-09 – Version 1.2 =

• Added: Auto update
• Fixed: UI

= 2022-08-30 – Version 1.1 =

• Added: Support page builders

= 2022-08-20 – Version 1.0 =

• Initial Release