Early in the development of Remository, a word was needed for the places to put files. Categories was not suitable as it has specific meaning in Joomla and does not allow for nesting. Folders might have been ideal, except that folders also had a specific meaning in earlier versions of Remository.

To avoid confusion, it was decided to call the places for files “containers”. Remository treats all containers in the same way, whether they are at the top level or nested deep below. Any container can have other containers inside it. This can be repeated to any depth needed for the application.

Remository has devices to ensure lists of choices remain manageable, even with very large numbers of containers. These are intended to be self evident in use.

Note that if the repository exists in the file system, the directories in the file system do not need to reflect the structure of the nested containers. Also, it is possible to move containers around, but the files will not be moved in the file system.

The only exception to this principle is that if the Remository admin interface is used to “add files already on the server” the additions will adopt a container structure that reflects the directory structure of the location from which files are added.