CatFolders – WordPress Media Library Folders & Categories vs Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN

WordPress organizes media by upload date. That’s it. When you have thousands of files, finding the right image becomes a nightmare of endless scrolling. 👉 CatFolders gives you real organization. Drag and drop files into custom folders that match how you actually work. Problem solved! Ready to organize by project, client, topic, or content type instead of random upload dates? Organize your WordPress Media Library with an intuitive folder-based system: Create unlimited folders for your media files Drag and drop interface for easy organization Filter and search media by folder Clean, user-friendly interface integrated directly into WordPress Compatible with popular WP page builders and themes 🔗 Documentation | Request a Pro Demo 🚀 🗂️ Ready to take your document management to a whole new level, literally? ✨ Explore the CatFolders Document Gallery plugin – now integrated with the power of multi-level folders! ⚡️ FEATURES After installing and activating WP Media Folders, you will have an integrated folder tree right inside the WordPress media library. Unlimited folders With WP Media Folders – CatFolders Lite version, you will be able to create unlimited main folders and freely move them to the position you want. Import categories from other WP media folders plugins Are you considering migrating to CatFolders? We’ve got it covered! With CatFolders, importing your established folder structure is simple and takes only one click. You will then be able to find your familiar categories in CatFolders-fashion. CatFolders supports easy folder import from these plugins: FileBird by NinjaTeam Enhanced Media Library by wpUXsolutions WordPress Media Library Folders by Max Foundry WordPress Real Media Library by Devowl WP Media Folder by JoomUnited HappyFiles by Thomas Ehrig Folders by Premio Wicked Folders Works with Media Library Assistant CatFolders enhances Media > Assistant admin submenu and supports the [mla_gallery] shortcode. [mla_gallery mla_catf_folder=”120″] [mla_gallery mla_catf_folder=”120″ attachment_category=mla-category] Drag and drop multiple files You can bulk select and drag & drop many files at once to put them in a destination folder. Folders can be bulk selected as well. SVG support Simply enable uploading SVG and other vector file types with sanitization included! Remember recently opened folder CatFolders comes with a variety of options to decide which folder to be opened on your first visit. You can choose to get back to your most recent folder, or always back to a specific folder, such as “Uncategorized” or “All files.” Collapsible folder sidebar The sidebar reserved for the folder tree can be collapsed so that you can have the full-screen view of the WP media library when needed. Upload files to a specific folder The enhanced media library uploader allows you to choose a folder first and then upload multiple files from your computer to that folder. You can also bulk-upload many folders from your storage to WordPress media library in a single drag-and-drop. Works with Grid & List view All files in a selected folder are sortable in list mode, which means you can easily sort your file list by file name, author, date, and custom post type to which they are uploaded. In grid mode, CatFolders works great both in the media library and the page/post editor. This helps you choose the media files you need for the work-in-progress content much faster than working with an unorganized media library. API for developers REST APIs allow external plugins to perform specific actions, such as getting folder structure or triggering automated tasks. 😻 WHAT’S THERE IN WP MEDIA FOLDERS PRO? Organize pages, posts, and custom post types with folders Once upgraded to Pro, you can bulk-select and move any page, post or CPT (WooCommerce products, coupons, Elementor templates, etc.) to your folder structure. A smart move to label everything properly! Advanced sort options Once upgraded, you can sort files by file name, created date, modified date, author, newest or oldest, etc. Whether you want to sort files and folders by default or temporarily, there’s always a sorting method for you. Create subfolders Each subfolder is a child of the parent folder above it. With CatFolders Pro, a main folder can hold unlimited subfolders. The parent/child analogy helps you organize your files more efficiently. It’s very easy to hide or show all folders below the selected folder. Folder access permissions Enable global folder structure where everyone sees the same categorization, or set folder permissions based on user roles. Access permissions include adding new, viewing, and editing folders. Recommended for multi-author blogs, multi-vendor marketplace websites, and ecommerce businesses. Third-party themes and page builders Not every theme and plugin has the same way of building, we work hard to deliver extra compatibility. So WP Media Folders will work with these builders throughout your website building stage: Gutenberg: The built-in, block-based editor for WordPress. Elementor: Drag-and-drop interface for robust page design. WPBakery: The all-in-one page builder for custom layouts. Visual Composer: Create professional-looking sites and grow your web creation business in minutes. Themify: The ultimate theme and page builder combo. Divi Builder by Elegant Themes: Various theme templates with a drag-and-drop interface. Thrive Architect: Full web kit with optimized page design. Beaver Builder: Build beautiful websites, fast and easy. Oxygen: Flexible and powerful WordPress builder. Cornerstone Page Builder: Build websites with pixel-perfect precision. Tatsu Builder: The next-generation builder for modern WordPress sites. Bricks: Visual site builder for WordPress with flexibility and control. Brizy WordPress Builder: Fast, intuitive, and designed for speed. Fusion Page Builder: The ultimate tool for unlimited design possibilities. Zion Builder: Easy to use page builder for Kallyas theme. And many more! 👋 WHY USE CATFOLDERS? CatFolders turns WordPress categories into virtual folders, giving you a real file manager for your media library. Locate any file, document, or image instantly. Built with ReactJS and modern coding standards, CatFolders creates lightweight virtual folders with minimal load impact. It delivers a smooth and blazing-fast media management experience. What truly sets CatFolders apart is speed. Install the free version, import a hundred folders, and see the performance for yourself 😉

Compress images, optimize images, and enable image lazy load automatically with the powerful Smush image optimizer to keep your WordPress site fast, without losing quality. Smush makes it easy to optimize images, compress images, and deliver images faster across your entire WordPress site. This all-in-one image optimizer automatically reduces image file sizes, enables image lazy load, and serves modern formats like WebP and AVIF, all without breaking image quality or adding extra work. Whether you’re running a blog, store, or portfolio, Smush helps you optimize images at scale and keep your site fast with a trusted WordPress image optimizer. Trusted by 1+ Million Sites | 4.8/5 Star Rating Get everything you need to optimize images and speed up your site. Smush works out of the box with no complicated setup – just install and let it handle the rest. Compress images without losing quality Reduce image file size automatically while keeping your images sharp and clear. Smush is an easy-to-use image optimizer which let’s you compress images using both lossless and lossy compression, giving you the best balance of quality and performance without extra work. You can also compress images outside the media library using Directory Smush, making it easy to optimize images stored in theme folders, plugins, or other directories on your server. Lazy load images for faster pages Enable image lazy load across your site so images load only when needed. This image optimizer improves initial page speed and creates a smoother experience for visitors without extra configuration. Serve WebP and AVIF images automatically (PRO) Convert images to WebP and AVIF and serve them automatically to supported browsers. Smush helps you optimize images using next-gen formats to reduce file size and improve load times across your WordPress site. Deliver images faster with an Image CDN (PRO) Serve images through a global image CDN to reduce latency and improve load times for visitors around the world. 119 global CDN servers Up to 500 GB of bandwidth Faster image delivery based on visitor location Improved performance for image-heavy and high-traffic sites Automatically resize and fix image dimensions (PRO) Eliminate common PageSpeed warnings and improve layout stability with automatic image sizing. Smush dynamically resizes images to perfectly fit their containers, regardless of original size, helping fix the “Properly size images” warning in Google PageSpeed Insights. It also automatically adds missing width and height attributes to your images, improving rendering speed and reducing layout shifts. This helps you meet the “Ensure images have explicit width and height” recommendation without any manual work. Optimize your entire site, automatically Smush works across your whole site as a powerful image optimizer to optimize images as you upload them and maintain performance over time without manual work. Optimize images automatically on upload Compress images in bulk or individually Works with your existing media library No need to re-upload images Enable image lazy load across your site Convert images to WebP and AVIF Deliver images with an integrated image CDN Automatically resize and serve correctly sized images Optimize images outside the media library with Directory Smush Built for performance Smush improves page speed and overall performance by reducing image weight and improving how images are delivered. Reduce page load times Improve user experience Better performance for image-heavy pages Supports image lazy load and preload images (PRO) for faster perceived performance Works with your existing setup Smush is built to work with your current WordPress setup, including popular themes, page builders, and plugins. Compatible with Gutenberg, Elementor, WPBakery, and more Works with WooCommerce stores No need to change your workflow Easy to enable and configure Designed to be simple You don’t need to be a performance expert to optimize images with Smush image optimizer. Works out of the box Simple settings when you need them No technical knowledge required Safe to use on any site Why choose Smush? There are plenty of image optimization plugins, but Smush focuses on making it easy to optimize images, compress images, and improve performance without complexity. As a leading WordPress image optimizer, Smush gives you powerful optimization tools without the technical hassle. Trusted by over 1 million WordPress users Built specifically for WordPress Regular updates and improvements Backed by the WPMU DEV team Get started in minutes Install Smush, activate it, and start to compress images, optimize images, and enable image lazy load right away. This easy-to-use image optimizer helps most sites see improvements immediately without changing how they upload or manage images. About Us WPMU DEV is a premium supplier of quality WordPress plugins, services and support. Learn more here: https://wpmudev.com/ Don’t forget to stay up to date on everything WordPress from the Internet’s number one resource: WPMU DEV Blog Hey, one more thing… we hope you enjoy our free offerings as much as we’ve loved making them for you! Contact and Credits Originally written by Alex Dunae at Dialect (dialect.ca, e-mail ‘alex’ at ‘dialect dot ca’), 2008-11.