Virtual Media Folders

Virtual folder organization for the WordPress Media Library.

Way back in 2006 (almost 20 years ago!), I released ImageManager 2.0, a popular WordPress plugin for image management and editing. Virtual Media Folders is my modern take on media organization for WordPress, built with React and modern tooling.

Description

Virtual Media Folders brings folder organization to your WordPress Media Library. Organize your media files into hierarchical folders without moving files on disk—folders are virtual, so your URLs never change.

Click to watch demo video on YouTube

Features

• Virtual Folders – Create hierarchical folder structures to organize media
• Drag & Drop – Move media between folders with drag and drop
• Sticky Sidebar – Folder navigation stays visible while scrolling
• Gutenberg Integration – Filter media by folder in the block editor
• Bulk Actions – Move multiple media items at once
• Keyboard Accessible – Full keyboard navigation with screen reader support
• Internationalized – Translation ready (Norwegian Bokmål included)
• AI Organizer – Uses vision-capable AI models to analyze actual image content and automatically organize your media library into virtual folders. This is add-on functionality requiring an API key from a supported AI service provider.

Requirements

• WordPress 6.8+
• PHP 8.3+

Installation

From GitHub

1. Download `virtual-media-folders.zip`
2. Go to Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin
3. Upload the zip file and activate

From WordPress.org

1. Go to Plugins > Add New
2. Search for "Virtual Media Folders"
3. Click Install Now and Activate

Usage

Organizing Media

1. Go to Media > Library
2. Click the folder icon to show the sidebar
3. Use + to create folders
4. Drag media onto folders to organize / Bulk select media and use the "Move to Folder" action
5. Click a folder to filter the view

Settings

Go to Media > Folder Settings to configure:

Setting	Description
Show "All Media"	Display "All Media" option in sidebar
Show "Uncategorized"	Display folder for unassigned media
Jump to folder after move	Navigate to target folder after moving
Default folder for uploads	Auto-assign new uploads to a folder

Block Editor

When inserting media from a block:

1. Open the Media Library modal
2. Use the folder sidebar to filter
3. Select your media

Documentation

• Accessibility – Keyboard navigation and screen reader support
• Development – Setup, API reference, hooks, and contributing

License

Virtual Media Folders is free software licensed under the GPL v2 or later.

Copyright 2025 Per Soderlind