Per Søderlind

Virtual Media Folders brings virtual 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.
<h4>Features</h4>
<ul>
<li>Virtual Folders – Create hierarchical folder structures to organize media</li>
<li>Drag & Drop – Easily move media between folders with drag and drop</li>
<li>Sticky Sidebar – Folder navigation stays visible while scrolling through media</li>
<li>Gutenberg Integration – Filter media by folder directly in the block editor</li>
<li>Bulk Actions – Move multiple media items at once</li>
<li>Keyboard Accessible – Full keyboard navigation support</li>
<li>Internationalized – Ready for translation (Norwegian Bokmål included)</li>
</ul>
<h4>Free add-ons</h4>
<a href="https://github.com/soderlind/vmfa" rel="nofollow ugc">Add-On Manager</a> lets you easily install and manage add-ons that extend Virtual Media Folders with powerful new features:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://github.com/soderlind/vmfa-ai-organizer" rel="nofollow ugc">AI Organizer</a> – 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, or a local LLM.</li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/soderlind/vmfa-editorial-workflow" rel="nofollow ugc">Editorial Workflow</a> – Role-based folder access, move restrictions, and Inbox workflow.</li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/soderlind/vmfa-folder-exporter" rel="nofollow ugc">Folder Exporter</a> – Export folders (or subtrees) as ZIP archives with optional CSV manifests.</li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/soderlind/vmfa-media-cleanup" rel="nofollow ugc">Media Cleanup</a> – Tools to identify and clean up unused or duplicate media files.</li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/soderlind/vmfa-migrate" rel="nofollow ugc">Migrate</a> – Migrate folder structures from other media folder plugins to Virtual Media Folders.</li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/soderlind/vmfa-rules-engine" rel="nofollow ugc">Rules Engine</a> – Rule-based automatic folder assignment for media uploads, based on metadata, file type, or other criteria. </li>
</ul>
<iframe loading="lazy" class="youtube-player" width="750" height="422" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bA4lf7ynz24?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen="true" style="border:0;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"></iframe>
<h4>How It Works</h4>
Virtual Media Folders uses a custom taxonomy to assign media to folders. This means:
<ul>
<li>Your media files stay exactly where they are on the server</li>
<li>URLs never change when you reorganize</li>
<li>Folders can be nested to create hierarchies</li>
</ul>
<h4>Usage</h4>
Organizing Media
<ol>
<li>Go to Media > Library</li>
<li>Click the folder icon to show the sidebar</li>
<li>Use + to create folders</li>
<li>Drag media onto folders to organize / Bulk select media and use the “Move to Folder” action</li>
<li>Click a folder to filter the view</li>
</ol>
Settings
Go to Media > Folder Settings to configure:
<ul>
<li>Show “All Media” – Display “All Media” option in sidebar</li>
<li>Show “Uncategorized” – Display folder for unassigned media</li>
<li>Jump to folder after move – Navigate to target folder after moving</li>
<li>Default folder for uploads – Auto-assign new uploads to a folder</li>
</ul>
Block Editor
When inserting media from a block (Image, Gallery, etc.):
<ol>
<li>Open the Media Library modal</li>
<li>Use the folder sidebar to filter</li>
<li>Select your media as usual</li>
</ol>
AI Abilities
Virtual Media Folders exposes Abilities API tools that can be used by AI agents and MCP adapters:
<ul>
<li><code>vmfo/list-folders</code> (read-only) – Lists folders with <code>id</code>, <code>name</code>, <code>parent_id</code>, <code>path</code>, and <code>count</code>.</li>
<li><code>vmfo/create-folder</code> (write) – Creates a folder with <code>name</code> and optional <code>parent_id</code>.</li>
<li><code>vmfo/add-to-folder</code> (write) – Adds one or more attachments to a folder using <code>folder_id</code> and <code>attachment_ids</code>.</li>
</ul>
Recommended AI flow:
<ol>
<li>Call <code>vmfo/list-folders</code> to resolve folder names/paths to a stable <code>id</code>.</li>
<li>If needed, call <code>vmfo/create-folder</code> to create the target folder.</li>
<li>Call <code>vmfo/add-to-folder</code> with that <code>folder_id</code> and one or more <code>attachment_ids</code>.</li>
</ol>
This avoids ambiguity when duplicate folder names exist.
Permission model:
<ul>
<li><code>vmfo/list-folders</code> and <code>vmfo/add-to-folder</code> require the <code>upload_files</code> capability.</li>
<li><code>vmfo/create-folder</code> requires the <code>manage_categories</code> capability.</li>
</ul>
See the <a href="https://github.com/soderlind/virtual-media-folders/blob/main/docs/mcp.md" rel="nofollow ugc">MCP Integration guide</a> for client configuration (Claude, GitHub Copilot, Cursor) and a full usage walkthrough.
<h4>Documentation</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://github.com/soderlind/virtual-media-folders/blob/main/docs/a11y.md" rel="nofollow ugc">Accessibility</a> – Keyboard navigation and screen reader support</li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/soderlind/virtual-media-folders/blob/main/docs/development.md" rel="nofollow ugc">Development</a> – Setup, API reference, hooks, and contributing</li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/soderlind/virtual-media-folders/blob/main/docs/mcp.md" rel="nofollow ugc">MCP Integration</a> – MCP client configuration, upload flow, and AI agent usage</li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/soderlind/virtual-media-folders/blob/main/docs/addon-development.md" rel="nofollow ugc">Add-on Development</a> – Guide to building add-on plugins</li>
</ul>
<h4>Free add-ons</h4>
Use the <a href="https://github.com/soderlind/vmfa" rel="nofollow ugc">add-on manager</a> to easily install and manage add-ons that extend Virtual Media Folders with powerful new features:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://github.com/soderlind/vmfa-ai-organizer" rel="nofollow ugc">Virtual Media Folders – AI Organizer</a> – Uses vision-capable AI models to analyze actual image content and automatically organize your media library into virtual folders.</li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/soderlind/vmfa-editorial-workflow" rel="nofollow ugc">Virtual Media Folders – Editorial Workflow</a> – Role-based folder access, move restrictions, and Inbox workflow.</li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/soderlind/vmfa-folder-exporter" rel="nofollow ugc">Virtual Media Folders – Folder Exporter</a> – Export folders (or subtrees) as ZIP archives with optional CSV manifests.</li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/soderlind/vmfa-media-cleanup" rel="nofollow ugc">Virtual Media Folders – Media Cleanup</a> – Tools to identify and clean up unused or duplicate media files.</li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/soderlind/vmfa-migrate" rel="nofollow ugc">Virtual Media Folders – Migrate</a> – Migrate folder structures from other media folder plugins to Virtual Media Folders.</li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/soderlind/vmfa-rules-engine" rel="nofollow ugc">Virtual Media Folders – Rules Engine</a> – Rule-based automatic folder assignment for media uploads, based on metadata, file type, or other criteria.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Privacy Policy</h3>
Virtual Media Folders does not:
<ul>
<li>Track users</li>
<li>Send data to external servers</li>
<li>Use cookies</li>
<li>Collect any personal information</li>
</ul>
All data is stored locally in your WordPress database.

Virtual Media Folders

Virtual folder organization and intelligent management for the WordPress Media Library, without altering file locations on disk.

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