Use this application to manage files and directories on your webserver or any FTP server. You can
create, rename, move and delete directories, upload, download, edit, rename, move, copy, delete
and search files, and change file and directory permissions*. It's also possible to play audio/video
files and view preview thumbnails of images.
Have a look at the following examples (most file actions are disabled for security reasons, though).
The first example shows the default view with directory tree and log window:
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The next two examples are "minimized" views; the first one lists all MP3 files, while the second
one shows preview thumbnails from all JPG files. In both cases, the search function has been
disabled to "lock" the initial search result:
Please have a look at the config.inc.php file to find out how FileManager can be adapted
to your needs.
FileManager can be used as a stand-alone application, but it's also easy to integrate it into
your own website. The above examples show that it is no problem to create as many FileManager
instances as you like, each one with its own specific settings. Just have a look at the
usage section and the source code of filemanager.php to see
how you can do this.
FileManager works fine with FTP connections. Please note that if you don't set up an FTP
connection in the configuration, FileManager will use the
local file system instead. In this case it can only access directories and files for which
PHP has at least read permission; if you want to upload, edit, rename, move, copy or delete
files, or change file permissions*, PHP must also have write permission for these files or
directories.
This software should work with PHP 4.1.0 or higher.
Features
Works with FTP servers (UNIX and Windows) and local file system.
Supports multiple languages.
Can be easily adapted by modification of configuration file and CSS file.
Can be easily integrated into your website - even multiple instances.
Supports detailed view and icon view.
Built-in editor for text files with realtime syntax hilighting.
Built-in image preview with thumbnails.
Built-in action log.
Integrated file and directory search.
Integrated directory tree for quick directory switching**.
Supports automatic setting of permissions when creating new directories or saving
files*.
Supports automatic modification (to lowercase, replace spaces) of filenames for
uploaded and downloaded files.
Images can be resized automatically before they are saved.
Multiple files and even whole directories can be uploaded and downloaded at once.
Files can also be saved from URLs.
Supports automatic backup creation (versioning) when saving files.
Supports restoring of deleted files.
Supports password protection (login).
Supports hiding of system files and files with arbitrary extensions.
Works with UTF-8 and other character sets.
Integrated media player for audio and video files.
Can view documents (Word, Excel, PDF, etc.) with Google Docs Viewer.
Provides hooks for upload and download.
* On Windows systems changing of file permissions doesn't work properly. This is not a
restriction of this software.
** If the number of directories is too big, it will take some time to load. This goes
especially for FTP connections. In this case it is recommended to disable the directory
tree.
File Search
You can use FileManager to search files and directories. It will search all directories
recursively, starting in the directory that is currently viewed. At the moment, it is only
possible to search for file or directory names. Wildcards like "*" are not supported; FileManager
will find all files and directories containing the search string in their name. For instance, if
you search for "file", the files "filemanager.php", "file.gif", etc. will match your search.
While FileManager views a search result, file upload is disabled, and you cannot create new
directories. If you want to do so, please return to your current directory listing first. Please
note that this is not possible if you disabled the search function, but told FileManager to start
with a search - in this case, the current search result will be "locked" and file upload and
directory creation won't be possible.
Upload Engines
File upload with PHP has two drawbacks: usually the file size is limited (default is 2 MB
per file and 8 MB per POST request), and it is not possible to view a progress bar. The size
limit can be changed in the php.ini file by the server administrator, but this will
also affect all other PHP applications.
The Java Uploader
The open source JUpload applet
views a progress bar, supports drag and drop, upload of big files and even whole directories.
It's integrated into FileManager since version 7.8 as default upload engine. Java 1.4 or higher
is required on the client side.
The Perl Uploader
Alternatively FileManager can also upload files via Perl and view a progress bar while uploading.
This requires however that Perl is installed on your server, and that the Perl scripts in
FileManager's cgi directory can be executed. Please have a look at the
usage section to see how this can be done.
The PHP Uploader
This is the basic uploader that should only be used if neither the Java nor the Perl uploader
works for you. It only requires PHP on your server, but you will have to live with a file size
limit (depending on your PHP configuration) and without a progress bar (unless your browser has
one by default).
Authentication
If you want to use the Java or Perl uploader and installed FileManager on a server that requires
authentication, you must set the authUser and authPassword variables in
FileManager's configuration file.
Media Player
The integrated open source audio player
SoundManager 2
can handle MP3 audio files. MP4/AAC, WAV and OGG audio files are also playable if your browser
supports them with HTML5 audio. Please note that Flash 9+ is required on the client side.
FileManager can view SWF files, too. For the video formats MP4 and FLV, the
OOS FlvPlayer
is being used. This also requires Flash 9+ on the client side.
A Quick Note On ID3 Tags And Preview Thumbnails
It is only possible to view ID3 tags and preview thumbnails from files of the server's local file
system. This is no problem when FileManager uses the local file system, but in FTP mode these files
must first be copied from the FTP server. This can take quite some time especially when the file
size is big and/or there are a lot of files in a directory. In this case, it is recommended to
disable image preview and ID3 tags. This can be done in the configuration file (variables
enableImagePreview and enableId3Tags).
A Quick Note On File Download
When FileManager runs in FTP mode, files must first be transfered to the local system before
they can be sent to the browser. This can take some time especially with big files. To avoid
this, FileManager uses the asynchronous FTP mode: while loading a file from the FTP server, it can
start to send it to the browser without having to wait until the transfer is complete. This works
however only on systems with PHP 4.3.0 or higher. If your system runs an older PHP version, the
file must be transfered to the local system completely before download can start.
Known Issues
Here's a list of things that don't work on some systems or with certain configurations:
If SSL is used, FileManager might not work properly in Internet Explorer. This seems to be a
browser problem, though. It might help to tweak your SSL server configuration like this:
Thumbnail creation of big images might not work on some servers. This also goes for automatic
resizing when uploading images (server returns error 500 and the image won't be saved). Increase
the memory size limit in your server's PHP configuration and restart your web server.
Conversion to CP437 (for filenames in a ZIP archive) doesn't work on my web server
(SunOS), but it does work on my local server (Windows). This means that file and directory
names in ZIP archives created by FileManager may be corrupted if they contain non-ASCII
characters.
Change Log
Version 9.7
Added possibility to disable file cache.
Bugfix: Files were not removed properly from cache in FTP mode.
Version 9.6
Added support for bulk moving of files and directories.
Version 9.5
Added support for touchscreen devices.
Updated SoundManager.
Version 9.4
Added fixed table header in detailed view. In IE 7 standard mode it doesn't view properly, but
in quirks mode it views ok. No problems with IE 8 and 9, though.
Version 9.3
Important bugfix: Bulk delete caused JavaScript error.
Version 9.2
Added support for zipped bulk download of files and directories.
Bugfix: Set session save path if PHP_AUTH_USER is set.
Optimized download mail notification.
Version 9.1
Important bugfix: Some dialogs caused a JavaScript error because of a PHP warning inside the JSON
string.
Version 9.0
Important bugfix: Upload via Perl didn't work if temporary directory was not the default directory.
Bugfix: View filename in error message if upload fails.
Bugfix: Renamed icon "exe.gif" to "program.gif".
Added support for right-click context menu - does not work with Opera, though.