Setting the File Directory Path

By default the File Directory Path is set to the Joomla images directory.

This path can be changed in the Editor Parameters -> Filesystem section of Editor Profiles for all plugins that allow uploading, or in the relevant plugins tab in the Plugin Parameters section for each individual add-on.

When setting the File Directory Path, please note the following :

  1. The path is relative to the Joomla site root and therefore cannot be set to a folder outside of the site root.
  2. The path cannot start with a . or .. eg: ../images
  3. The path cannot start with any of the existing Joomla system folders, eg: administrator,cache,components,includes,language,libraries,logs,media,modules,plugins,templates,xmlrpc - unless the folder is removed from the Restricted Directories list.
  4. If Allow Root Access is set to Yes and the File Directory Path is left blank (showing "images" in grey), the add-on will list the Joomla root. This is not recommended, but may be useful for some advanced users.
  5. The path can contain the following variables -
    • $id Will be replaced with the user ID
    • $username Will be replaced with the user username
    • $usertype or $usergroup Will be replaced with the user usertype eg: author
    • $profile or $group Will be replaced with the profile name
    • $year Will be replaced with current year, eg: 2010
    • $month Will be replaced with current month number, eg: 06
    • $day Will be replaced with the day number, eg: 10
    • $hour Will be replaced with current hour number, in 24 hour format eg: 23

    - but must always start with an existing, static path eg: images/$usergroup not $usergroup/$username
  6. The folder will be created if it does not exist.

Setting the File Directory Path for all plugins

  1. In Editor Profiles click on the name of the Profile to edit, then click on the Editor Parameters tab.
  2. Click on the Filesystem tab.
  3. Type in the new path, eg: images/stories
  4. Click the Save button.

Setting the global File Directory Path

Setting the File Directory Path for an individual plugin

The File Directory Path can be set for each "Manager" plugin (Image Manager, File Browser, File Manager etc.) in the Plugin Parameters tab.

  1. In Editor Profiles click on the name of the Profile to edit, then click on the Plugin Parameters tab.
  2. Click on the tab for the add-on to set the value for, eg: Image Manager.
  3. Type in the new path, eg: images/files
  4. Click the Save button.

Setting the File Directory Path for an individual plugin

Restricting users to a specific folder

Users can have their access restricted to a specific folder, allowing them to access, upload and edit (rename, delete, etc) files and folders only in this folder and folders within it. 

This is done by including the variables $username or $usergroup in the File Directory Path (for all relevant add-ons or an individual add-on). For example, the File Directory Path images/$username would restrict the user to the folder images/joeblogs (where the user's username is joeblogs). Similarly, a path of images/$usergroup/$username would restrict the user to images/author/joeblogs (where the user is part of the Author user group)

The path can contain any variation of available variables (see above), eg: images/$usergroup/$username/$year, but must always begin with an existing, static path.