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HappyFiles Review: Organize your WordPress Files like a Boss

Last Updated on August 31st, 2023

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It’s no secret that adding media files like images and videos can make all the difference to the success of your WordPress website. Yet by the time you’ve added an explainer video here and a few product photos there, all those files can become a nightmare to manage. That’s where WordPress media library management plugins like HappyFiles come into their own. In this comprehensive HappyFiles review, we look at how this dynamic plugin makes it easy to sort, categorize, and locate all of your WordPress assets. This includes not just your images, videos, and other media, but also posts, pages, WooCommerce products, and more.

Today, we will demonstrate what a significant difference this low-cost tool can make to your growing WordPress website, as well as outlining the key features and how effortlessly simple it is to use.

HappyFiles Features

For a very affordable price, HappyFiles Pro packages a wealth of features which, in our estimation, surpass even those offered by other leading media library plugins like WP Media Folder and Mediamatic.

Like those two top-rated plugins, it’s primary purpose is to enable you to organize your WordPress content into searchable folders so that you no longer have to deal with the chore of scrolling through hundreds of files just to find that one stock photo you added to a blog five years ago and now want to reuse.

Yet what makes HappyFiles stand out from the crowd is that it does take media management to the next level thanks to the following key features:

Intuitive Drag-and-Drop Interface

That drag-and-drop, as mentioned earlier, the interface is a breeze to use, meaning you can move your files around quickly. For us, this is a big selling point in itself. While other media library plugins may be great in theory, they’re often so laborious to set up that you might as well not bother.

Not so with HappyFiles. Even sites with hundreds of images, posts, and WooCommerce items can be fully organized within the space of an hour thanks to bulk file management, a handy media context menu for managing your categories, and the ability to add as many categories as you need.

The best part is that, unlike other drag-and-drop-based tools, HappyFiles Pro doesn’t slow your site down. It’s purpose-built with speed in mind, boasting a lightweight design that belies its excellent functionality and feature set.

Resizable Sidebar

While the interface makes managing your entire media collection a breeze, if it’s not quite how you like it, you can resize the sidebar or turn it off altogether.

Effortless Integration

HappyFiles pro plugin works with popular editors and page builders like Elementor, Visual Composer, Divi, and more.

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Direct Uploads to Categories

Uploading images and then sorting them out after the fact can be a chore. HappyFiles solves that problem by allowing you to select -and even create- categories as you’re uploading, saving you even more time when it comes to managing your media.

Limit Category Editing

Don’t want your part-time contributors or novice users interfering with your carefully-curated collection of categories? The Restrict Category Editing feature allows you to determine who can – and can’t – make use of HappyFiles Pro.

Right-To-Left Support (RTL)

This is one of the few plugins of its type that supports right-to-left languages such as Hebrew and Arabic.

Multiple Category Assignment

Not all files fit neatly into a single category. HappyFiles Pro allows you to assign multiple categories to each file to make it even easier to find them.

HappyFiles Free Version

If you wanted to test it out before you make any kind of financial commitment, the plugin’s developer also offers a free version called HappyFiles Lite. While this is great for giving it a test-run, it only provides support for a maximum of ten categories and leaves out many of the essential features that make HappyFiles unique.

For example, the free version only allows you to manage media files and doesn’t support posts, WooCommerce content, or custom post types.

Also, the premium version offers priority support and one-click plugin updates, the latter of which being especially important as the developer continues to work on adding new features.

With that in mind, we’ve used HappyFiles Pro for this review, and all of our screenshots are from this version of the plugin.

HappyFiles Review: How to Use HappyFiles to Manage Your WordPress Files and Posts

The first sign that we’re onto a winner with HappyFiles is how straightforward it is to set up.

Setting Up HappyFiles

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To begin, head to the HappyFiles website and click the ‘Download’ link, as shown above.

After choosing HappyFiles Pro and going through the payment process, you’ll be directed to a new page with a direct link to download the plugin.

How To Download HappyFiles

Click this, and while you’re waiting for the download to finish, make a note of the license key at the top of the page as you’ll need this during the installation process.

Installation and Activation

Once the zip folder has downloaded, you can add it to your website using your preferred method, whether that’s uploading via FTP or going to Plugins – Add New from your WordPress dashboard menu and select Upload Plugin.

Either way, activate the plugin and head to your media library.

Creating Categories

Creating Categories

Right away, you’ll notice that your library looks markedly different than usual, with a new ‘Categories’ feature added to the right of your media files.

To create your first category, simply click the ‘Create’ button with the plus symbol at the top of the box (next to rename and delete), then type in the name of your category in the box that appears and click the blue ‘Create’ button.

Creating Categories

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Adding Images to Categories

Sorting your images into your newly created categories is as simple as holding your mouse down over your chosen image and dragging it towards your selected category.

Adding Images to Categories

If you want to check that the image has been categorized successfully, you can just click on the category name as so:

Adding Images to Categories

Categorizing Multiple Files

To move multiple files into a single category at the same time, all you need to do is use the standard ‘bulk select’ feature that you’re already familiar with.

Select all of your required files and then use the same drag-and-drop approach.

Categorizing Multiple Files

Adding Images to Multiple Categories

By default, HappyFiles isn’t set up to add images to multiple categories. If you move an image from one category into another, it will no longer be featured in that first category.

The good news is that this problem is easily solved.

Adding Images to Multiple Categories

From your WordPress menu, head to Settings – HappyFiles, then scroll down to the ‘Assign Multiple Categories’ option.

Click in the checkbox, scroll down to save changes, and from that point in, every time you move an image into a different category, it will stay in the original category.

Uploading Directly into Categories

HappyFiles Uploading Category image

So far, so good, but let’s be honest:

If we had to manually drag every picture into a category each time we uploaded one, that would soon become tiresome.

Fortunately, there’s no need to.

With HappyFiles, you can upload images directly into any category. Just open the category first and then upload images as you would normally.

Categorizing Post Types

Categorizing post types

If you want to use HappyFiles to categorize your pages, posts, and other content, you can turn this feature on in the settings.

Again, head to Settings – HappyFiles, then simply check the relevant boxes listed under ‘Post Types (PRO).’ and click ‘Save.’

With that enabled, you’ll have the same layout and can use the same drag-and-drop method of organization for your posts (or whichever content types you chose) that you did with your images.

Categorizing Post Types

HappyFiles Review: Other Settings and Key features

That is all there is to it:

Install the plugin, choose which post types you want to categorize, and get to work on gaining better control over your content in a quick-and-simple drag-and-drop fashion.

Before we finish this HappyFiles review, however, it’s worth looking at some of the other key settings you might want to utilize.

Other HappyFiles Settings and Key features

Head back to Settings – HappyFiles, and you’ll be able to use that license key we discussed earlier to enable those helpful one-click updates.

Here, you can also change which user roles can make use of HappyFiles to create and edit categories. By default, only site administrators can do this, but the settings allow you to assign editing powers to editors, authors, contributors, and others.

Elsewhere, you’ll find a beneficial feature that allows you to disable AJAX refresh in your media library. This can prove invaluable if you find that you’re having compatibility issues with HappyFiles and other tools such as Imagify.

HappyFiles WordPress Media Library Management Plugin Review: Our Verdict

On the whole, there’s a lot to like about HappyFiles.

Though it may not seem like an essential tool in the world, if you’re just starting, you’ll soon begin to appreciate it once your site starts to grow.

After all, building a successful site can often require a vast number of media files, especially if you’re keeping it relevant and up-to-date with lots of fresh, new content. Yet the more your site grows and the more files you add, trying to locate that one image or video among a library of hundreds can quickly start to feel like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

HappyFiles does an excellent job of eliminating that problem, and all without any lengthy or complicated set-up process.

Download and install, and within minutes you’ll have the kind of practical, easy-to-use media organizer that makes managing your growing WordPress site a breeze.

Get HappyFiles

A team of WordPress experts that love to test out new WordPress related software, WordPress plugins and WordPress themes.