Using the WP Media Folder Plugin

  1. Go to the Media Library by clicking Media on the WordPress Admin Dashboard menu (at the left).
  2. The Media Library screen appears.
  3. Switch from the Grid view (which shows the images) to the List view, which shows the filenames, by clicking the list view icon:
    List View vs Grid View

Creating Folders

To create a new folder, click the blue Create Folder button.

Note: the folders don’t display in alpha order and can’t be sorted – this is a limitation of the plugin.

The folders appear in medium-size icons, and in a folder pane at the left of the screen:

Top of Screen Showing Media Folders

Nesting Folders

Due to the difficulties with drag and drop, you may not want to nest folders (create folders within folders).

Renaming Folders

  1. Hover the cursor over the top left corner of the folder icon, and two icons appear:
    Two Icons Appear
  2. Click the pencil icon.  A dialogue box opens with the name of the folder selected:
    Rename Dialogue Box
  3. Rename the folder and click OK.  The dialogue box closes.

Deleting Folders

  1. Hover the cursor over the top left corner of the folder icon, and two icons appear:
    Two Icons Appear
  2. Click the Trash icon. A dialogue box opens asking you to confirm the deletion:
    Delete Folder Confirm Dialogue Box
  3. Click OK. The dialogue box closes.

Managing the Drag and Drop Interface

This plugin works by drag and drop.

Each monitor only has so much vertical space, and monitors with limited vertical space will require scrolling, which complicates drag and drop.

Try these tips:

  • Increase vertical space – The bigger your monitor, the better. Filing will be harder if you try it on a laptop.
  • Shrink the text size of the page in the browser – press Control and – to shrink the browser screen. You can do this multiple times.
  • Adjust list items per page – in the upper right, Screen Options will let you adjust the number of entries show per page.
  • Filter the list to shorten it:
    • filter by filename – if you have a number of files with filenames that start with the same phrase, enter the phrase in the Search media items box to filter the results
    • filter by file type – use the All media items drop-down to filter to images, audio, or unattached
  • Sort the list – this can move the files you want closer to the top of the screen – click the File, Author, Uploaded to, and Date column labels to sort the data – once for ascending, and again to reverse the order

How to Drag and Drop When You Need to Scroll to Get to the Files

Click the three dots and drag them up to the top and hold them over the black horizontal toolbar, that will auto-scroll the screen (be careful with this, and do it with a mouse, not a touchpad).

This can be tricky until you get used to it – practice to get more comfortable.

Navigation “Gotchas”

The Folder Tree

On the left side of the screen is a folder tree:

Folder Tree

The folder you are currently in appears in bold.

You can only use the folder for moving between folders; you cannot drag files onto or into it.

 

Your Browser’s Back Button May Not Work the Way You Expect

To return to the main Media Library, don’t click the back button of your browser.

Instead:

On the folder tree, click the words Media Library:

Folder Tree Media Library Highlighted

or…

On the Dashboard Main Menu at the left, click Media:

Dashboard Menu - Media

How to Move Single Files

  1. Hover the cursor over the three dots to the left of the file icon until the cursor turns to a pointing hand:
    Drag and Drop Three Dots
  2. Click the three dots and drag them over the destination folder.  The destination folder changes to show a blue border around it, and a rectangle with the number 1 appears:
    Destination Folder - Single File Move
  3. Let go of the mouse button, and the screen blinks as it moves the file into the folder.

How to Move Multiple Files

  1. Click the checkboxes to the left of the file icons for the files you want to move.

Tip: You can select all the files on the page by clicking the checkbox next to the File column header to select all items on the page, then individually de-select any files you want to omit by clicking their check boxes.

  1. Hover the cursor over the three dots to the left of the file icon until the cursor turns to a pointing hand:
    Drag and Drop Three Dots
  2. Click the three dots and begin to drag them toward the top of the screen.  A rectangle with the number of files selected appears:
    Three Dots - Multiple Files
  3. Continue dragging the files until you reach the destination folder. The destination folder changes to show a blue border around it.
  4. Let go of the mouse button, and the screen blinks as it moves the file into the folder.

Note:  If you select and move all the files on the page, you will need to click the Refresh button on your browser to see the next page of results.

Moving Folders Up a Level (or OOPS I dropped the file in the wrong folder)

  1. Click on the folder where the file was dropped. The contents of the folder appear, along with a Back icon:
    Folder Contents and Back Icon
  2. Click the three dots and drag them over the Back folder.  The destination folder changes to show a blue border around it.
  3. Let go of the mouse button, and the screen blinks as it moves the file into the folder.