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Next File Manager — Documentation

Next File Manager

A Joomla-native file manager for the whole site — not just images/. Browse the server, SFTP, FTP, WebDAV and S3 from one interface, grant access through profiles, and keep a record of every change.

The Next File Manager browser with the folder tree on the left and a populated grid view

What It Does

Joomla's Media Manager is scoped to one folder and one filesystem. Anything outside it — a template override, a backup archive, a client's upload folder, a file on another host — means reaching for an FTP client or a hosting control panel. Those tools know nothing about Joomla's users: access is a shared credential, the scope is the whole account, and nothing is written down about who did what.

Next File Manager brings the job into the Joomla admin as a single-page application, then wraps it in Joomla's own user-and-group model. Operators open Components → Next File Manager and are immediately browsing the Joomla install. Additional drives — a folder elsewhere on the server, an SFTP or FTP/FTPS host, a WebDAV or Nextcloud share, an S3-compatible bucket — are attached as storage, and the folders on them worth naming become places.

Access below Super User is granted with profiles. A profile names the places and subfolders a user may see, which of sixteen file operations they may run, how large their uploads may be and which extensions are permitted. Assign it to a Joomla user or to a whole user group. A user with no profile gets nothing.

Underneath all of it, a protection layer that a misconfigured profile cannot switch off: configuration.php, .env files and private keys are unreadable below Super User by any route — including inside a ZIP — and the administrator/, libraries/, cli/ and includes/ trees are write-protected until a Super User explicitly unlocks a path.

Key Concepts

Term Meaning
Storage How to reach a filesystem: a driver (server folder, SFTP, FTP/FTPS, WebDAV, S3) plus its credentials and base. Not browsable on its own. One storage is built in and always follows the live Joomla root.
Place A named folder on a storage, and the unit a profile grants. One storage can hold many places — which is how a single SFTP account exposes several folders without its password being entered twice. The built-in site place resolves to the Joomla install.
Profile A named permission set: granted roots, sixteen togglable file operations, upload limits and feature gates.
Root One grant inside a profile — a place, an optional subfolder within it, and a read-only or writable flag. The user sees that subtree and nothing above it.
Assignment A link from a profile to a Joomla user or user group. A direct user assignment wins over a group one.
Command A single grantable operation: upload, download, rm, rename, mkdir, rmdir, copy, cut, paste, duplicate, archive, extract, edit, search, info, preview.
Protected path A pattern that blocks writes to a path and everything under it. Ships with safe defaults; editable by Super Users.
Secret file A file whose contents are confidential (configuration.php, .env, *.key, *.pem, .htpasswd). Never readable, downloadable, previewable or copyable below Super User.
Lock A per-path override recorded against an item — either an explicit lock, or a Super-User unlock that lifts protection for that one item.
Capability What a driver can actually do (true directories, byte-range reads, rename, and so on). The interface hides operations the protocol does not support.

Key Features

  • Files everywhere: browse, transfer, edit, archive and search across the server, SFTP, FTP, WebDAV and S3
  • Controlled access: profiles with scoped roots, sixteen command toggles and upload limits, also on the site front end
  • Safeguards: protected paths, unreadable secret files and an activity log

See the full feature list.

Requirements

Requirement Detail
Joomla 4.x, 5.x or 6.x
PHP 8.1 or higher
PHP zip Required for archive create and extract
PHP ftp Required only for the FTP/FTPS driver; the driver reports its absence rather than failing
phpseclib Ships with Joomla; required by the SFTP driver
PHP curl Recommended for the WebDAV and S3 drivers
HTTPS Strongly recommended — file contents and credentials transit every request

Support

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