Article Files - ContentMK Docs

Every article in ContentMK gets its own dedicated folder on your computer. Screenshots, photos, SEO reports, handoff documents, code snippets — anything related to an article can live right alongside it. No cloud uploads, no storage limits, no proprietary format. Just regular files in regular folders.

Where Files Are Stored

Article files live at ~/Documents/ContentMK/files/, organized by site and article:

~/Documents/ContentMK/files/
  {site-id}/
    42-my-article/                 ← WordPress-synced article
      article.html                 ← Auto-generated from sync
      wp-blocks.html               ← Block markup from sync
      screenshots/
        homepage-2026-02-25.png
      photos/
        hero.jpg
    _local-7-my-draft/             ← Locally-created article
      notes.txt

Folder Naming

The folder name depends on how the article was created:

Article Origin	Folder Name Pattern	Example
WordPress sync	`{wp-post-id}-{slug}`	`42-my-article/`
Created locally	`_local-{id}-{slug}`	`_local-7-my-draft/`

The slug is derived from the article title at the time of creation. WordPress-synced articles use the post ID from WordPress, which keeps the folder name stable even if you change the article title later.

Regular Files, Not a Database

These are ordinary files and folders on your disk. You can open them in Finder (macOS) or Explorer (Windows) at any time, copy them, back them up with your normal backup tools, or share them however you like. Nothing is hidden inside a database.

The Article Edit Page Sidebar

The article edit page uses a two-column layout:

Main column — Article Details fields and SEO settings
Right sidebar — Three tabs for supplementary content

The sidebar tabs are:

Tab	Purpose
Files	Browse, upload, and manage files attached to the article
Notes	WordPress block-level notes (requires WP Notes module)
Schema	Structured data (schema.org) settings for the article

You can drag the divider between the main column and the sidebar to resize them. Your preferred sidebar width is remembered between sessions, so you only need to set it once.

Using the Files Tab

The Files tab appears in the sidebar whenever you open an article for editing. It shows all files in the article’s folder and provides tools for uploading, organizing, and managing them.

Uploading Files

There are two ways to add files:

Drag and drop — Drop files anywhere on the upload zone in the Files tab. No need to target a specific folder.
Click to browse — Click the upload zone to open your system’s file picker

Files are automatically organized into the correct subfolder and renamed with a date stamp — you don’t need to sort or rename anything yourself.

Smart Auto-Organization

When you upload a file, ContentMK runs a three-step classification pipeline:

Classifies the file based on its name, type, and extension — routing it to the correct subfolder automatically. Images go to photos/, CSV reports go to imports/, screenshots go to screenshots/, and so on.
Renames the file with a date stamp and article context for consistent naming. For example, report.csv becomes 2026-02-26-best-hiking-boots-report.csv, making it easy to identify files at a glance — even outside of ContentMK.
Shows a toast notification confirming where the file was placed. From the toast, you can undo the upload, move the file to a different folder, or rename it — all without navigating away from your edit.

If an AI provider is configured (in AI Settings), files that the rules-based classifier can’t automatically categorize are analyzed by AI for smarter placement. This is optional — the rules-based pipeline handles the vast majority of common file types without needing AI.

Subfolders

Files are organized into subfolders within each article’s directory:

Subfolder	Typical Contents
`screenshots/`	Page screenshots, visual references, UI captures
`photos/`	Hero images, article photos, graphics
`imports/`	Import source files (CSV, XML)
`exports/`	AI export files (JSON, Markdown)
Module-specific folders	Created by premium modules (e.g., `semrush/` for SEO reports, `ahrefs/` for backlink data)

Premium modules that generate files automatically create their own subfolders as needed. For example, if you use the SEMrush integration to pull an SEO report for an article, the report files appear in a semrush/ subfolder.

File Actions

Hover over any file in the Files tab to see the available actions:

Action	How to Access	Details
Open	Click the file	Opens in your default application for that file type
Reveal in Finder	Hover action button	Shows the file’s location in Finder or Explorer
Rename	Pencil icon, or double-click the filename	Edit the filename inline
Delete	Hover action button	Removes the file from disk (user-uploaded files only)

The delete action is only available for files you uploaded yourself. Auto-generated files cannot be manually deleted to prevent accidental data loss.

Auto-Generated Files

When you sync an article with WordPress, ContentMK automatically saves two files into the article’s folder:

File	Contents
`article.html`	The fully rendered HTML content of the article
`wp-blocks.html`	The raw WordPress block markup (Gutenberg blocks), if available

These auto-generated files have a few special properties:

They are marked with an “auto” badge in the Files tab so you can distinguish them from files you uploaded
They are automatically updated each time the article syncs with WordPress, so you always have the latest version
They cannot be manually deleted — this protects you from accidentally removing content that the sync process depends on

Having the rendered HTML and block markup stored locally means you always have a copy of your WordPress content on your own machine, independent of your WordPress installation.

File Types

ContentMK accepts any file type. There are no restrictions on what you can store in an article’s folder. Common uses include:

Category	File Types	Typical Use
Images	PNG, JPG, WebP, SVG	Screenshots, hero images, graphics, visual references
Documents	PDF, DOCX	Content briefs, handoff documents, style guides
Data	CSV, XLSX	SEO reports, keyword research, analytics exports
Code	HTML, CSS, JS	Embed snippets, custom code blocks, templates

Since files are stored as regular files on disk, there are no file size limits imposed by ContentMK itself — only the limits of your available disk space.

Difference from Content Cache

ContentMK has two separate file-related systems, and it helps to understand the distinction:

	Article Files	Content Cache
Purpose	Store and organize files you want to keep	Speed up article loading and rendering
Visibility	Visible folders you can browse in Finder/Explorer	Hidden system cache, not meant to be accessed directly
Persistence	Permanent — files stay until you delete them	Temporary — automatically cleaned up by the app
Management	You control what goes in and what gets removed	Fully automatic, no user intervention needed

Both systems work independently. The content cache handles performance behind the scenes, while article files give you a permanent, organized home for everything related to each article.