Adding a Media Source

Last updated Oct 20th, 2026 | Page history | Improve this page | Report an issue

Support the team building MODX with a monthly donation.

The budget raised through OpenCollective is transparent, including payouts, and any contributor can apply to be paid for their work on MODX.

Backers

Budget

$194 per month—let's make that $500!

Learn more

Creating the Media Source¶

Media Sources live under Media → Media Sources. The page opens with a grid of the sources in the installation.

A Media Source has a name, a description and a Source Type. The type decides where the files live — the list of types is on Media Source Types.

Click Create to open the dialog:

Give the source a name.
Pick the File System type.
Save the source.

For an Amazon S3 bucket, read Media Source Type - S3 first.

Editing the Source¶

Click the name of the source in the grid, or right-click it and choose Edit. The edit page has two tabs: the first holds the name, the description, the type and the properties of the type, the second is Access Permissions.

For a File System source, set basePath to assets/ and baseUrl to assets/ as well. Save the source.

Properties are not asked in the Create dialog The Create dialog takes only the name, the description and the type. The properties appear on the edit page, once the source exists.

Properties¶

Every type has its own set of properties, and the page of the type lists them: File System, FTP, Amazon S3.

The Protected “Filesystem” Source¶

The installation ships a source named Filesystem. Its name and its type cannot be changed, and it cannot be deleted. Its properties and the User Groups assigned to it stay editable.

Settings That Point at a Source¶

Setting	Default	What it does
`default_media_source`	`1`	The source used when nothing else is chosen.
`default_media_source_type`	`MODX\Revolution\Sources\modFileMediaSource`	The type offered first in the Create dialog.
`photo_profile_source`	empty	The source the avatars of users are taken from.
`mgr_source_icon`	`icon-folder-open-o`	The icon of a source in the Files tree.

Upload Limits¶

Setting	Default	What it does
`upload_file_exists`	`true`	When on, an upload of a file that already exists ends with an error. When off, the existing file is replaced.
`upload_maxsize`	`1048576`	The largest file that may be uploaded, in bytes.
`upload_translit`	`true`	Whether the name of an uploaded file is transliterated.
`upload_translit_restrict_chars_pattern`	`/[\0\x0B\t\n\r\f\a&=+%#<>"~:`@?[]{}\|^’\\]/`	The characters removed from the name.

Using the Source¶

The source appears in the source list of the Files tree on the left. Select it and the tree shows the contents of the assets/ directory, and nothing else. If the installation has no assets/ directory yet, create it.

A TV picks the source up from its Media Sources tab. Read Assigning Media Sources to TVs to learn how.