WordPress Image Control

Leaving WordPress on its own for image management on a website with a lot of images is stupid.

Items to Consider

• Title
• File Name of Actual File
  • Naming Convention: Use modern Video Resolution terminology; 1K, 2K, 4K, 8K (which refers to horizontal resolution, whereas 1080i, 720p, etc. refer to vertical resolution)
• Permalink Current URI (from Permalink Manager) & Native Slug (Permalink name if Permalink Manger were disabled)
• Permalink Address Page (https://WhatEverWebSite/PermalinkURI)
• URL Page of File (https://WhatEverWebSite/FileName): ALT Attribute of Image Element / Tag is set to the URL
• Taxonomy (Categories and Tags) of Images: Useful internal WordPress searches and some SEO indexes
• Additional Items for Images (Caption, ALT / Alternate Text, Description)
  • Caption is used in META Tags for various items (SEO, Twitter, OG (Open Graph Protocol - https://ogp.me/), etc.) and as the default caption when the image is viewed via a Permalink URI. Oddly Wordpress or some plugin uses it as the OG "description"
  • Description is used when image is viewed via a Permalink URL, or whenever the image is used in a Page, Post, etc.
  • ALT / Alternative Text is used in the Images ALT Attribute when viewed via a Permalink URL or whenever the image is used in a Page, Post, etc.
• Automatic "Thumbnail" (Resized Image) Generation that are automatically generated by WordPress, Themes, Plugins, etc.: Wordpress sets the SRCSET Attribute
• SEO stuff
  • Canonical URLSs are only useful if an end Image / Item / etc. falls under multiple categories (IE is duplicitous) and a Search Engine needs to know which one is the default.
• Search Results just for Images???
• Custom CSS for Permalink URI??? - see below (Simple CSS offers custom CSS for an Image, but it doesn't show up on Permalink URI)
• Plugins To Manage Images and Media
  • Media Library Assistant: Adds Parent Field to an image, adds some (obscure) fields to what can be associated with a Media File, Parent Info, Menu Order, Attachment Metabase (read only), and an alternate list view, Allows for additional Categories to be created
  • Enhanced Media Library (useful): Some Utilities for importing and exporting, Add several tabs to Settings, Media (including allowed file types)
  • Add from Server: A plugin that allows upload of files that otherwise cause the Wordpress Media functionality to cough up a hairball (large files, etc.)
  • Permalink Manager - Manages all Permalinks, including Media and Images, with a Bulk Updater (Make sure to enable "Native Slug" in Tools, Permalink Manager, Settings)
  • Auto Image Attributes - Changes Attributes (ALT, etc.), based on File Name. Useful if there aren't any ALT entries for an image
  • Phoenix Media Rename (useful) is a simple Plugin that allows for this and it even automatically replaces spaces with dashes ( - ). It also allows for "bulk renaming", but only for manual modifications to the name (IE, it can't add "My Web Site" to the beginning of every file name).
  • Media File Renamer: Phoenix is better
  • WP Media Folder (very useful, but...): Creates a folder and file structure for media, so very handy for a lot of media. Unfortunately it breaks some other Media Plugins, but the fix is easy, just disable it for others to work.
    • Some Alternatives to explore: https://colorlib.com/wp/wordpress-media-library-management-plugins/
  • Plugin that will create a default ALT description if there isn't one???
  • Plugin that will redirect Permalink for Image to a Lightbox based on Category???
    • ...or redirect image to intended location instead of the Permalink URI
      • Attachment Pages Redirect with Media Library Assistant: https://wordpress.org/plugins/attachment-pages-redirect/: Redirects Permalink URI to a Page, etc (Permalink of Page, etc.)
        • One great remaining thing would be to not only redirect to the page, but also use a # to scroll to the appropriate point on the page. Since most Anchor Tags are defined by the ID Attribute or the Name Attribute, it should work.
        • A permalink redirect to an absolute URL with an Anchor Tag would be nice: https://www.lifeofthesaltonsea.org/recent-history/#apr-1962
          • Smooth Scroll to Anchor: https://wordpress.org/plugins/easy-smooth-scroll-links/
      • Yoast will do this, but it kills off it's ability to create an Image Index
      • All in One SEO will do it to, but not sure about having both it and Yoast installed
      • In the image.php (Wordpress or Theme?) file: <?php wp_redirect(get_permalink($post->post_parent)) ; ?>
  • Plugin that creates a Title for an Image (Media Assistant???)???
  • Plugin for custom Image CSS??
    • Simple CSS (Under Appearance, Pages, Posts, Images, etc.): This adds a custom CSS Field to Images (does not work with Permalink URI)
    • Simple Custom CSS is too simple (it's just a single field for the entire website)
    • Custom CSS Pro is great for previewing what it will do to a website, but appears to apply site wide to everything.
  • Plugin for Image Contents or Index Page???
    • This one does everything on a site, not just images: https://barn2.co.uk/wordpress-index-plugin/
    • Table of Contents, this one does everything on a site, not just images: https://wordpress.org/plugins/easy-table-of-contents/
  • Plugin for dedicated Image SEO (IE, not Yoast)
    • A list is here: https://blog.hubspot.com/website/best-sitemap-plugins-wordpress

WordPress Issues

WordPress does not include a Title for an Image

Other Stuff to Think About

Remove EXIF information for privacy. Read more here: https://www.wpexplorer.com/wordpress-image-management/