diff --git a/config.php b/config.php
index 9021d89..db749d7 100644
--- a/config.php
+++ b/config.php
@@ -7,5 +7,7 @@ define('DATE_TIME_FORMAT', 'm/d/y  h:iA');
 define('TOTAL_UPLOAD_SIZE', '5G');
 define('USERS_DIR', '/var/www/users/');
 define('USERS_FILE', 'users.txt');
+define('META_DIR','/var/www/metadata/');
+define('META_FILE','file_metadata.json');
 date_default_timezone_set(TIMEZONE);
 ?>
diff --git a/copyFiles.php b/copyFiles.php
index e7884d6..55e2eb4 100644
--- a/copyFiles.php
+++ b/copyFiles.php
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ $sourceDir = ($sourceFolder === 'root') ? UPLOAD_DIR : rtrim(UPLOAD_DIR, '/\\')
 $destDir = ($destinationFolder === 'root') ? UPLOAD_DIR : rtrim(UPLOAD_DIR, '/\\') . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $destinationFolder . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR;
 
 // Load metadata.
-$metadataFile = "file_metadata.json";
+$metadataFile = META_DIR . META_FILE;
 $metadata = file_exists($metadataFile) ? json_decode(file_get_contents($metadataFile), true) : [];
 
 // Ensure destination directory exists.
diff --git a/getFileList.php b/getFileList.php
index 484161a..bcc085c 100644
--- a/getFileList.php
+++ b/getFileList.php
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ if ($folder !== 'root') {
     $directory = UPLOAD_DIR;
 }
 
-$metadataFile = "file_metadata.json";
+$metadataFile = META_DIR . META_FILE;
 $metadata = file_exists($metadataFile) ? json_decode(file_get_contents($metadataFile), true) : [];
 
 if (!is_dir($directory)) {
diff --git a/metadata/file_metadata.json b/metadata/file_metadata.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0637a08
--- /dev/null
+++ b/metadata/file_metadata.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+[]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/moveFiles.php b/moveFiles.php
index b70bf1b..3a4c093 100644
--- a/moveFiles.php
+++ b/moveFiles.php
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ $sourceDir = ($sourceFolder === 'root') ? UPLOAD_DIR : rtrim(UPLOAD_DIR, '/\\')
 $destDir = ($destinationFolder === 'root') ? UPLOAD_DIR : rtrim(UPLOAD_DIR, '/\\') . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $destinationFolder . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR;
 
 // Load metadata.
-$metadataFile = "file_metadata.json";
+$metadataFile = META_DIR . META_FILE;
 $metadata = file_exists($metadataFile) ? json_decode(file_get_contents($metadataFile), true) : [];
 
 // Ensure destination directory exists.
diff --git a/upload.php b/upload.php
index 2fdd602..e630d26 100644
--- a/upload.php
+++ b/upload.php
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ if ($folder !== 'root') {
     }
 }
 
-$metadataFile = "file_metadata.json";
+$metadataFile = META_DIR . META_FILE;
 $metadata = file_exists($metadataFile) ? json_decode(file_get_contents($metadataFile), true) : [];
 $metadataChanged = false;
 
diff --git a/uploads/.gitkeep b/uploads/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/users/.gitkeep b/users/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29