Create, rename, move and delete folders

Plathix adds a folder panel to the left of the WordPress Media Library. Folders are virtual: they live in the WordPress database and never move files on disk. This page shows how to build the folder tree and keep it tidy.

When you need this

• A blog with several authors. You set up Editorial › Featured Images and Editorial › Authors once, and every author files images in the same places.
• An agency handing a site to a client. Before the handover you rename working folders to names the client understands and move test folders to Trash.
• A store that adds product lines. You add a folder for each new line and later drag it under the right parent.

How to find your way around the folder panel

1. Open Media → Library. The folder panel is on the left, in grid view and in list view.
2. Find the toolbar at the top of the panel. It has four icon buttons: + Folder (plus), Select folders (circle), Expand/collapse all (up and down arrows) and Drag mode (four arrows). Hover over an icon to see its name.
3. Below the toolbar are the Search folders field and the system rows. Media shows all files. Uncategorized shows files with no folder. Trash appears once something is in it.
4. If you have favorites, the Favorites block comes next. See Colors and favorites.
5. Your own folders follow. Click the triangle next to a folder to expand or collapse it.
6. Open a folder’s menu with its ⋮ button (Actions), or right-click the row. The menu offers Add to favorites, New subfolder, Rename, Color and Move to Trash.

Only the Full access level sees the toolbar. In Plathix Free that is the administrator. Editors and authors see the panel without the toolbar, and their folder menu shows only Add to favorites.

The system rows have no menu. You cannot rename, move or delete them. While you type in Search folders, the system rows are hidden unless their names match.

The ‹ tab on the right edge of the panel (Toggle sidebar) hides and shows the panel. You can drag the edge of the panel to make it wider.

How to create a folder

1. Choose where the folder goes. Click Media for a top-level folder, or click one of your folders to create the new one inside it.
2. Click + Folder. With Uncategorized or Trash open the button is disabled.
3. Type the name in the field that appears in the tree.
4. Press Enter. To cancel, press Esc or click outside the field.

“Folder created: «Name»” confirms it.

You can also open a folder’s menu and choose New subfolder. The new folder then goes inside that folder. Uncategorized cannot have subfolders.

Folder name rules:

• Any language and emoji work. HTML tags are removed, and so are percent sequences such as %20. Spaces at the start and end are removed, and repeated spaces become one.
• A name can be up to 200 bytes. This is Plathix’s own rule. That is 200 Latin letters. Emoji and non-Latin letters take several bytes each, so fewer fit. On create, a longer name is refused with “Invalid parameter(s): name”.
• Empty names are refused. So are names with control, bidirectional or zero-width characters.
• Two folders with the same name cannot share a parent, whatever the letter case: “A folder with this name already exists here.” The check uses the folders already loaded in the tree.

How to rename a folder

1. Open the folder’s menu and choose Rename.
2. Edit the name in the tree.
3. Press Enter. To cancel, press Esc or click outside the field.

“Folder renamed: «Name»” confirms it. The color, the favorite status and the files inside stay as they are.

On rename, a name longer than 200 characters is cut to 200. If it is still over 200 bytes, you see “Folder name is too long.”

How to nest and reorder folders

You need the Full access level to drag folders.

1. Click Drag mode in the toolbar if you want to see drag handles. Folder rows can be dragged without it too.
2. Drag a folder onto another folder.
3. Drop it on the middle of the row to put it inside that folder.
4. Or drop it on the upper part of the row to place it before that folder, or on the lower part to place it after it.

While Drag mode is on, the ⋮ buttons and the expand triangles are hidden. Click Drag mode again to turn it off.

Manual order is shared by every user. You see it with the By default sort. With another sort active, Plathix shows “Position saved. Switch sorting to “Default” to see it.”

Dropping a folder into one of its own subfolders is refused with “Cannot move a folder into one of its own subfolders.” System rows are not drop targets for folders. To send a folder to Trash, use its menu.

There is no nesting depth limit. You can nest folders as deep as you need.

How to move a folder to Trash

1. Open the folder’s menu and choose Move to Trash.
2. Read the dialog. It asks “Move this folder to Trash? You can restore it later.” For a folder without subfolders it adds “Files won’t be deleted — depending on your Trash settings, they either move with the folder or become unassigned.” For a folder with subfolders it says “Choose whether subfolders move to Trash together with this folder, or stay in place.”
3. Click Move folder and subfolders to Trash. If the folder has subfolders, you can click Move folder to Trash instead. The subfolders then stay and move up one level, to the parent of the deleted folder.

“Moved to Trash: «Name»” confirms it. The Trash row appears in the panel.

To move several folders at once:

1. Click Select folders in the toolbar.
2. Tick the folders.
3. Click Move folders to Trash (N).
4. Confirm with Move to Trash (N). When some of the folders have subfolders, choose Move selected and all subfolders to Trash or Move only selected, keep subfolders.

What happens to the files depends on Plathix → Settings → Trash, Delete files with folder:

• Off (the default): the files lose their folder and appear in Uncategorized. Restoring the folder does not bring them back into it.
• On: the files go to the WordPress Trash with the folder and come back when you restore it.

Folders stay in Trash for 1 to 180 days, 30 by default. See Trash settings.

Example

Suppose your site uses the Blog & Content tree: Editorial › Featured Images, Authors; Videos; Infographics; Brand › Logos, Icons. A leftover test folder, Trash Test, also sits under Editorial. You want a folder for campaign banners such as summer-campaign.png, Infographics under Editorial, and no test folder.

1. Click Brand, click + Folder, type Banners and press Enter. You would see “Folder created: «Banners»”. Brand would then hold Logos, Icons and Banners.
2. Drag Infographics onto the middle of the Editorial row. Infographics would move inside Editorial with its files.
3. Open the menu of Trash Test, choose Move to Trash and click Move folder and subfolders to Trash. You would see “Moved to Trash: «Trash Test»”, and the Trash row would appear.

Result: the tree would read Editorial › Featured Images, Authors, Infographics; Videos; Brand › Logos, Icons, Banners. The Media count would not change, because no file is deleted.

What we tested

Check	Result
Folder + subfolders → Trash	Passed
Deleting a folder with subfolders moves the whole branch to Trash	Passed
Folder positions and counters are right after a sequence of trash, move and restore	Passed
Keep media with “Delete files with folder” off	Passed: files stay in the library, outside the folder
“Delete files with folder” on: files move to WordPress Trash with the folder	Passed
A duplicate name next to a live folder is blocked with a clear message	Passed
The same folder name is allowed under different parents	Passed
Media, Uncategorized and Trash stay on top and cannot be renamed, moved or deleted	Passed
Tab reaches every folder, Enter opens it	Passed

Limits

• The number next to a folder counts the files directly in it, without subfolders. Empty folders show no number.
• Keyboard: Tab moves through the rows, Enter or Space opens a folder. There is no arrow-key navigation in the tree, and the Delete key does nothing. Inside the ⋮ menu the arrow keys, Home, End and Esc work.
• If you create, change or delete a lot of folders in a short time, you see “You are creating folders too quickly. Please wait about a minute and try again.”, “You are changing folders too quickly. Please wait about a minute and try again.” or “You are deleting folders too quickly. Please wait about a minute and try again.” Wait about a minute, then go on.
• Above 200 folders the tree loads in parts, and the duplicate-name check uses the folders already loaded. Expand the parent folder before you create or rename a folder inside it, so the check sees every folder at that level. When you create a folder whose name matches one that is not loaded yet, Plathix uses the existing folder instead of creating a second one.
• On a touch screen, such as a tablet, tap a folder to open it. For the folder menu (Add to favorites, New subfolder, Rename, Color, Move to Trash), use a computer with a mouse or touchpad.
• To move a folder to Trash, use its menu or Select folders. The Trash row is not a drop target for folders.

In short

The folder panel sits next to the Media Library in grid and list view. Administrators create folders with + Folder or New subfolder, rename them from the folder menu and drag them to nest or reorder. Move to Trash keeps a folder restorable for 30 days by default. Whether its files go with it depends on Delete files with folder, which is off by default. Media, Uncategorized and Trash cannot be renamed, moved or deleted.