Asset Container

In Statamic, an asset container is a configured location where media files are stored and managed. A site can have one container or several — for example, a separate container for images, one for PDFs and documents, and one for video files. Each container has its own disk configuration (local filesystem, Amazon S3, DigitalOcean Spaces, or any Flysystem-compatible storage), its own browsing interface in the Control Panel, and its own blueprint for attaching metadata fields to assets.

Assets stored in a container can be browsed and selected from asset fields on any entry or form. When you add an image field to a blueprint, the editor picks from the asset container rather than uploading a file ad hoc.

Metadata on Assets

One thing Statamic does that WordPress’s media library handles differently is asset metadata. In Statamic, you can define custom fields on a container’s blueprint — alt text, caption, credit, focal point, copyright year, or whatever your project needs. That metadata is stored alongside the asset and available in templates. In WordPress, the media library supports title, caption, alt text, and description as built-in fields, and additional metadata requires plugins.

This means when you’re migrating a WordPress site, any media metadata you’ve captured in the WordPress library (alt text in particular) should be exported and imported into Statamic’s asset system, not just the files themselves.

Local vs. Cloud Storage

Statamic’s asset containers abstract the storage location, so you can start with local disk storage during development and switch to S3 or another cloud provider for production without changing your templates. The container handles the path resolution.

WordPress’s media library stores files in /wp-content/uploads/ organized by year and month. When migrating, you’ll typically copy those files into your Statamic asset container’s storage directory, then update any content references that pointed to the old file paths. If you’re moving to cloud storage for your Statamic site, the migration is also a good opportunity to upload directly to your cloud bucket rather than going local first.

Comparison to WordPress Media Library

WordPress has a single media library shared across the whole site. Statamic’s container-based approach lets you segment and configure storage by purpose, which is more flexible for complex projects — particularly those with specific storage requirements per content type or department. For most sites, a single container is perfectly fine and mirrors the WordPress model closely enough that the transition is smooth.