No easy way to duplicate item(s) or remove item(s) from folder

Hi,

first, I think you plugin is great and has a lot of USPs!
See me overall positive review please!👍

Where your plugin has some shortcomings is regarding the topic of duplicating and deleting item instances in the virtual folders as one is used from normal file browsers, and as other competitor plugins like Real Media Library do already.

Technically your plugins supports duplicate files (=having instances in more than one virtual folder. Not real dupes on the filesystem of the webserver).

Nevertheless it offers no official user-visible method to duplicate files and also no easy method to remove files from folders (again not to be confused with “Delete permanently” which deletes files from the filesystem and the respective WordPress DB entries).

WORKAROUNDS:

1) To “duplicate files”
a) Move them into a folder.
b) Duplicate the folder.
c) Leave the files there or move them where you want them.

2) To “remove selected file(s) from folder”
a) Create a pseudo trash folder.
b) Move files there.
c) Remaining problem: You have no easy way to select multiple items and in one pass remove their last instances in virtual folders and thus get those files into the “Uncategorized” category. You can only achieve that by opening each item individually into the detail view (!) and in the “Folder” widget untick all associations to folders, the pseudo trash folder including. Very cumbersome.

PROPOSALS:

1) Copy selected file(s) with drag-n-drop and holding a modifier key (i.e. shift). Only works for keyboard-devices. But is complimentary to the other possibilities anyways. Real Media Library does exactly that.

2a) The “Bulk Actions” menu (Posts, Pages, Media List View) gets these entries:
(Sorted from most likely to least likely / most destructive, respectively)
– Move to Folder
– Copy to folder
– Remove from folder
– Delete Permanently

2b) The “Thumbnail View” replaces the label + dropdown on the right like this:

OLD: Move Selected files to: [ Selected Foler ▾]

NEW: [ Move to … ▾] or [ Copy to … ▾]

Note on a UX inconsistency: In thumbnail mode the dropdown menus act as “oneshots”, meaning choosing an option already triggers the action whereas in the list views you have a dropdown where you select an action and an additional “Apply” button to trigger the action. I think you should be consistent in your app. Whether the 1-step or 2-step is to be decided. I recommend the 1-step solution, as this is a productivity tool. More than “triggering too quickly” at the first few times cannot happen. Anyhow you have an UNDO function. Or you can undo yourself by moving some items back. It’s a learning experience without too much risk I’d say.

3) Bulk Organize” and “Bulk Select” are completely redundant
a) Go to: Media Library > Thumbnail View
OLD: The buttons “Bulk Organize” and “Bulk Select” are completely redundant, they do exactly the same!
NEW: I propose to remove “Bulk Organize” because “Bulk Select” is more appropriate: It’s a two step process, first “select” then choose an action.

EDITORIAL

The plugin description page mentions “Place content in multiple folders at once”. The interested reader would like to know HOW this is done in your plugin. As my analysis above showed having the same items in multiple folders currently requires quite some workarounds and has its quirks. So please elaborate in this section what’s possible in that regard and what not or what requires certain alternative paradigms (if intentional) or workarounds (if unintentional).

Regards, abitofmind

• This topic was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by abitofmind.
• This topic was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by abitofmind.
• This topic was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by abitofmind.
• This topic was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by abitofmind.