Moving from WP Customer Area
Move your client documents into FileDeck’s private areas.
Import supported private files and owner assignments, then verify each client’s view before switching.
On your own site
Switch in three steps
Install FileDeck alongside
Add FileDeck Pro to the same site, with WP Customer Area still active. Your customers see no change yet.
Import as drafts
Go to Documents → Import & Export → Migrate. FileDeck shows a WP Customer Area card with the number of private files it found. Choose Import as drafts and click Import. It runs in the background, so a large portal will not tie up your browser.
Check each client’s view, then switch over
Preview the portal as representative clients (Documents → Clients → Preview portal) and confirm each sees exactly their own documents. Then publish, put the FileDeck Client Portal block on your customer page, send your customers a password reset from the Clients screen, and deactivate the old plugin.
What comes across
Private files, their categories and — the part that matters for a portal — the individual people each file belongs to.
Private files & descriptions
Each private file becomes a document with its title, its original date, and its excerpt (or its content) as the description.
Categories, with nesting
Its private-file categories, including sub-categories, are recreated with the same nesting.
User owners become client areas
Each distinct set of individual user owners becomes one client area with those people assigned. A file shared by two customers goes into one area both of them can see.
Files copied into your Media Library
WP Customer Area keeps its files outside the Media Library, so FileDeck copies the first file of each item into your Media Library and leaves the original where it is.
What to check separately
This importer brings across private files and their individual owners. It does not replace every WP Customer Area module. Check file owners, groups, roles, conversations, projects and any paid add-ons independently. Only individual user owners are mapped. A file with no owner FileDeck can map (one owned only by a group, a role or another owner type, by accounts that no longer exist, or by nobody) imports as a logged-in-only draft, so assign it to the right client area before you publish it. Files that were private or unpublished in WP Customer Area arrive as drafts too. If an item has more than one file, only the first comes across.
Why teams move to FileDeck
Search inside your files
Pro searches the text inside supported PDFs and Office files stored on your site, with OCR for scanned PDFs when you enable it — so people can find a 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
Renewals cost the same as your first year, and paid plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. No introductory discount that jumps at renewal.
Want help with the move?
Free assisted migration is available. Tell us how your portal is set up and we’ll help you plan the import and check each client’s view on your own site — no credential handoff needed. Our migration offer can also add the remaining time on your current eligible paid plan to your FileDeck licence; contact us to confirm how it applies.
Questions about moving
Will my customers keep the same access?
For files owned by individual users, yes: each set of owners becomes a client area with those people assigned. Group, role and add-on ownership is not carried across, so check those files, and sign in as a few representative clients before you deactivate the old plugin. See the full walkthrough.
What is a client area?
A private document set with named people assigned to it — each client sees their own documents and nobody else’s, with optional uploads and email notifications. More on client areas.
Are my files copied or linked?
Copied. WP Customer Area stores its files outside the Media Library, so FileDeck copies the first file of each item into your Media Library, where it can serve and protect it. The original stays where it is.
Do I need to export anything first?
No. FileDeck reads WP Customer Area’s data directly from your own site. There is no export file and no column mapping; keep it active while you import.
Can I run the import more than once?
Yes. Every document records which source record it came from, so re-running skips what is already in rather than creating duplicates.
Make your next document library FileDeck.
Bring the supported files and metadata across, review the result, then replace your library page when it is ready. FileDeck Pro includes the source-specific importer and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Free assisted migration is available.
Try the free library first if you want to evaluate the display. Source-specific automatic import requires Pro. For private libraries, verify permissions with representative accounts before publishing.
Written by the FileDeck team. What the importer brings across was reviewed against the current FileDeck Pro importer on 26 September 2026 — read about our methods.
WP Customer Area 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.