Moving from Advanced File Manager
Advanced File Manager is a file manager, not a document library — it keeps no titles, descriptions, categories or access rules of its own. If you have a folder of real documents under your uploads directory, FileDeck turns it into something visitors can actually browse, search and download from: files become documents, sub-folders become categories.
Why it might not appear as a source
FileDeck only offers Advanced File Manager on the Migrate screen when the folder it manages sits inside wp-content/uploads and is not itself a WordPress install root. By default it browses your entire WordPress installation, and importing that would turn every core, theme and plugin file on your site into a document. If it is not offered, point it at a genuine documents folder first — wp-content/uploads/documents, for example — then reload the screen. An import that could reach anywhere on your server, driven by a setting in the database, is not a trade worth making.
One click, on your own site
Switch in three steps
Point it at a documents folder
Check that Advanced File Manager’s managed directory is inside wp-content/uploads. If it is browsing your whole install, change it to a real documents folder first — otherwise FileDeck will not offer it.
Click Import
Install FileDeck Pro, then go to Documents → Import & Export → Migrate. FileDeck shows the folder with a count of importable files — click Import. It runs in the background, so a large folder will not tie up your browser.
Fill in what only you know
Because the source stores no descriptions or access rules, your documents arrive with a title, a category and a file. Add descriptions, set access, and you have a real library.
What comes across
What the source actually records — which, honestly, is the file and where it sits.
Files, with tidied titles
Each file becomes a document, its filename cleaned up into a readable title, and copied into your Media Library as a real attachment.
Sub-folders become categories
Your folder structure is rebuilt as document categories, with nesting preserved, so the shape of the library survives the move.
Dates from the filesystem
With no date-added recorded anywhere, FileDeck uses each file’s modification time as the document date.
Code and clutter left behind
Anything WordPress would refuse as an upload (.php, .htaccess, .sh, .sql), web assets that are almost never documents (.js, .css, .html, .xml), hidden files, and the file manager’s own .trash and .tmb caches are all skipped.
Why teams move to FileDeck
Search inside your files
Full-text search reads the contents of your PDFs and Office documents, not just their titles — so people find the right file by what’s in it.
Access control that scales
Gate categories by role, by password or to logged-in users, with client areas for private document sets and per-document assignment to named people — set once for a whole category, not file by file.
Honest, flat pricing
Your renewal never jumps, and a 30-day money-back guarantee backs every plan. No switch-and-bait discounts that spike at renewal.
Prefer a hand? We’ll do it with you.
Big or unusual library? We’ll walk the import through with you and stay on it until it’s live and you’re happy — and we’ll add the time left on your current plan to your FileDeck licence, so you don’t pay for the same months twice. No credential handoff needed; it all runs on your own site.
Questions about moving
Why is Advanced File Manager not offered on the Migrate screen?
Because the folder it manages is not inside wp-content/uploads, or it is a WordPress install root. By default the plugin browses your entire installation. Point it at a real documents folder under uploads and reload the Migrate screen. Full details here.
What does not come across?
Descriptions, dates added, owners and access rules — because Advanced File Manager does not record them. A document arrives with a title, a category and a file; the rest is yours to add.
Is there a limit on how many files?
A single import indexes up to 5,000 files. Larger folders import the first 5,000 — split the folder if you need more.
Is this the right import for me?
If you have been using it purely as an FTP client inside wp-admin, there may be little here worth importing, and that is a perfectly reasonable answer. This is for people with a folder of real documents who want visitors to browse and search them. If your documents live in another plugin instead, those sources carry far more across.
Bring your library across today
Turn a folder on your server into a searchable, access-controlled library — without moving a single original file.
Want to look before you buy? Install the free version — it runs happily alongside your current plugin, and the import only runs when you click it. The one-click importer is a Pro feature; you can add Pro whenever you’re ready.
Our comparison claims are tested on fresh installs, not copied from marketing pages — here’s how we test.
Advanced File Manager is a trademark of its respective owner. FileDeck is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by it; the name is used only to identify the plugin you are migrating from.