The purpose of the Shiba Media Library Plugin is to facilitate the manipulation and grouping of images within the existing WordPress image library framework.
[Most recent Shiba Media Library updates]
December, 2015
Tested on WordPress 4.4. No changes needed.September 13th 2015 – Release 3.9.1
- Updated thumbnails column for WordPress 4.3.
- Tested on WordPress 4.3.
When creating permalink structures, care must to taken to ensure that the new structure does not override existing post, page, category, and tag permalinks.
Key Features of the Shiba Media Library Plugin
- Enables image tagging and allows you to group images into galleries by using their tags. Images can also to added manually using the regular media manager interface.
- In addition to images/attachments, galleries may also contain posts and other galleries. In this way, you group not only images, but also posts, galleries, and any combination of these object types. Here are some fun things you can achieve with expanded galleries.
- Easily search for posts, pages, galleries, and more in the expanded media manager interface, and include them directly into a gallery. The days of painfully hunting for IDs are over!
- Freely order images, posts, and pages within a gallery.
- Gallery objects get saved into your WordPress export files. This allows you to keep a backup of your gallery objects, as well as move them from blog to blog.
- Expanded media manager image search that allows you to find images based on title and alt text.
- Expanded search that allows you to find attachments and galleries based on titles, tags, and categories.
- Show the number of posts an image containing an image in the Media >> Library screen.
- View most-used tags for post, attachment, and gallery objects.
- Quick Edit image attachments.
- Adds a new drop-down menu to your existing WordPress Media Library. This menu will allow you to do bulk attachments to both attached and non-attached images.
- Detach a set of images from their post so that they revert back to their unattached state.
Shiba Media Library Plugin Menu.
The Power of Galleries and Tags
Gallery objects are stored in the regular WordPress post database. In this way, you get to leverage almost all existing functions that are available for WordPress post objects including displaying your galleries using the WordPress gallery shortcode.
Galleries created with the Shiba Media Library Plugin should also work with other plugins that support the WordPress gallery shortcode.
Example gallery that is rendered using the Shiba Gallery Plugin
This entire plugin operates within the current WordPress Media Library framework so any tag changes will automatically be reflected in your WordPress gallery shortcode results.
If you want to extract images with particular tags using PHP, just include the tags in your WordPress get_posts command.
$args = array( 'post_type' => 'attachment', 'tag' => 'tag-a,tag-b,tag-c' ); $attachments = get_posts( $args );
Why Can’t I Use Tags in the Gallery Shortcode?
The Shiba Media Library addresses the media library back-end and sets up tag links in the WordPress database. I.e., there is a link in the database saying that a particular image is linked to a given tag.
For tags to work in the gallery shortcode, it must also be supported on the gallery front-end – i.e., by the plugin that renders your images. The Shiba Gallery plugin, for example, supports image tags.
However, most gallery rendering plugins do not yet support this extension because it is currently not part of the native WordPress gallery shortcode and is therefore not a standard.
Shiba Media Library Updates
Shiba Media Library 3.9
May 2nd 2015
- Updated image search function (in the Media Manager interface) so that it works for attachment titles, alt text, as well as captions.
- Tested plugin on WordPress 4.2.
Shiba Media Library 3.8.2
September 17th 2014
- Updated the Add-Media templates and interface so that images can be properly selected and inserted.
- Updated the media table in the Edit Gallery screen so that it renders properly in WP 4.0.
- Updated some deprecated functions.
- Tested plugin on WordPress 4.0.
Shiba Media Library 3.8
April 22nd 2014
- Updated plugin directory and url paths to use standard functions instead of constants.
- Updated the Galleries >> Options screen to use the new wordpress update settings system (add_settings_error).
- Fixed a bug in the Media screen that occurs when expanded bulk operations are applied to an empty image set.
- Tested plugin on WordPress 3.9.
Shiba Media Library 3.7.2
Dec 24th 2013
- Fixed some warning messages and make sure post images show up when editing a gallery.
Shiba Media Library 3.7
Sept 26th 2013
- Posts, pages, and supporting custom post types can now be included in galleries from within the media manager interface.
- Expanded search for images to include title as well as alt text.
- Show number of posts that an image is included in (i.e. included in post content). Gallery images are not counted.
- New options page. You may now enable or disable the image quick edit, number of posts, and expanded media manager search functionalities.
- Fixed URL too long bug.
Shiba Media Library 3.6
Jan 7th 2013
- Updated for 3.5.
- Plugin gallery objects now use the id list system introduced in WordPress 3.5. Use the new media manager interface to upload and attach images to gallery objects.
- Fixed quick edit functions.
- Updated deprecated media functions.
- Encapsulated the plugin options page within an object class.
- Fixed gallery and attachment tag links in tag-metabox.
- Added an attachment_link filter so that %category% gallery-permalinks translate properly.
- Properly redirect bulk operations and delete permanently operation in the Edit Gallery screen.
Shiba Media Library 3.4
August 20th 2012
- Updated for WordPress 3.4.
- Added Quick Edit functionality to images. Quick Edit capability is accessible in the Media Library and Edit Gallery screens.
- Image ordering will now be saved in both draft and published modes.
- Updated old javascript functions to use jQuery.
Shiba Media Library 3.3
August 31st 2011
- Added ability to order images within Gallery objects.
- By going into Galleries >> Options, you may now change the gallery shortcode used for viewing a Gallery object.
- Gallery objects now have Shiba Widgets support.
- The “Insert into Post” button should now appear on custom post types.
- Removed image parallelization option. As outlined in Google Page Speed, new browsers now allow more than two concurrent connections per hostname. As such, the image parallelization option is no longer needed.
Shiba Media Library 3.2
February 16th, 2011
- Updated for WordPress 3.1, RC4. Tested on WP 3.0 and WP 3.1,RC4.
- Fixed bulk trash operation on Gallery screen.
- Permalinks now work properly on network activation and deactivation in WordPress Multisite.
- Columns from other plugins are now properly added in the Media Library screen.
Shiba Media Library 3.1
January 17th, 2011
- Updated for WordPress 3.1. Tested in WP 3.0 and WP 3.1,RC2.
- Fixed numerous bugs in the gallery query system. Gallery types should now work properly.
- Cleaned up the plugin so that gallery objects are now always custom post types. As a result the plugin requires WP 3.0 and above. If you are using WP 2.9, then please download Shiba Media Library 3.0.
Shiba Media Library 3.0.3
November 25th, 2010
- Fixed bulk operations in the Google Chrome browser. Shiba Media Library now has its own menu in the media screen.
- Cleaned up the gallery tagging system so that tagged gallery images can now be properly ordered with order, orderby, numberposts, and offset arguments. This makes it much easier to enable gallery paging.
Shiba Media Library 3.0
August 13th 2010
- Added ability to append image tags in bulk as requested by Peder.
- Re-enabled Insert into Post button even for images that are already attached.
Shiba Media Library 2.9
- Shiba Media Library is now updated for WordPress 3.0. It should work in 3.0 and 2.9+.
- All your previous gallery objects should still work seamlessly in the new update.
- Expanded image attachment and detachment functions are now better integrated into the standard WordPress Media Library interface.
- You may set your gallery permalink structure by going into Settings >> Permalinks
- Fixed PHP notices. Thanks to Writemcodeboy for alerting me to this issue.
Media Library Plugin 2.7
- Added in the ability to parallelize your image links. This enables more images to be downloaded simultaneously, and improves page speed.
- Also fixed some bugs associated with the permalink creation function. In particular, I refined the regular expression for gallery attachment images and added more rules for validating the gallery permalink structure.
Media Library Plugin 2.6
- As requested by Keoshi, I have added in the ability to edit your entire gallery permalink structure.
Media Library Plugin 2.5
- I just finished making some large changes to the permalink redirect code. If you are having permalink redirect issues, in particular with your feeds, then please download the latest version.
Media Library Plugin 2.4
- Added most-used attachment and gallery tag views.
- Permalink support and customization for gallery objects.
- Expanded media and gallery search.
- Plugin is cleaner and more secure.
Thanks to A.M. for making many of the great suggestions that went into this plugin update.
Media Library Plugin 2.3
- Expanded gallery objects so that they may contain posts, pages, and other gallery objects; in addition to image attachments.
- You may now assign thumbnails to galleries. This uses the Post Thumbnail system introduced in WordPress 2.9, so you will need at least version 2.9 and a gallery front-end that knows how to render posts to fully realize the power of this feature.
- You can now navigate to gallery objects, just like you do with attachments. Gallery object pages are rendered using the gallery shortcode.
** Thanks to Keoshi for making many of the great suggestions that went into this plugin update.
Media Library Plugin 2.2
- Fixed a bug in Release 2.1 where Trash links for posts and pages no longer work properly. This is an important bug fix so please download the latest version of the plugin.
Media Library Plugin 2.1
- Added bulk-actions, search, and date filter to the Manage Gallery screen. Now you can perform the same menu view operations on galleries as you can with posts and pages.
- Integrated the Manage Gallery menu with the WordPress Trash system. Now you can move galleries to the trash, untrash, or delete them permanently.
- Fixed various bugs with gallery links, trash links, as well as image tags. The gallery and tag system should now work a lot more smoothly.
Media Library Plugin 2.0
- Allows you to tag your images. Through tagging, you can include the same image into multiple galleries.
Media Library Plugin 1.0
- Allows you to re-attach multiple images to any post from the Media Library panel.
- Enables bulk image detachments.
- Works on WordPress 2.8
Hello –
I just upgraded to WP v3.2 & discovered that there seems to be a compatibility issue with the Media Library plugin – I’m no longer getting pretty permalinks on new images I add. Has anybody else reported this?
Thanks,
Jack
Hello Jack,
I am could not duplicate this on my test site. Are the new images attached to a post or gallery? (not with tags but with the Attach action).
Currently, only images that are attached have pretty permalinks. I believe this has always been the case and is not special to 3.2.
Hello –
If I insert an image into a post (either from the media library or by uploading), it does get the pretty permalink. But if I upload it to a gallery, it shows as attached to that gallery but gives me this as the URL when viewed from a Page set up for the gallery:
http://www.jackjohnsonphoto.com/?attachment_id=1443
The Page for that gallery includes only this (as it has all along):
[gallery id="931" order="DESC" orderby="ID"]
If I insert that same photo from the gallery into a post, I get this URL:
http://www.jackjohnsonphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/MG_9464-6_flat_sig.jpg
Any suggestions greatly appreciated!
– Jack
Hmmm, what version of the plugin are you using?
Two things to try –
1. Go into Settings >> Permalinks and do a Save. This flushes the rewrite rules.
2. Try installing the latest version of the plugin on an empty test site and see if the problem still persists.
Let me know how it goes. Thanks.
Hi, Shibashake –
This looks like it might be relevant, but I’m not positive:
http://wordpress.org/support/topic/adding-a-media-submenu-issuess
Regards,
Jack
Hello Shibashake,
The download link at the very bottom below version 1.0 is very not obvious, as it’s not marked as a link or whatsoever.
I suggest putting it at the very top and perhaps making it red like a hyperlink.
Because I though “Shiba Media Library 3.1” was the latest and downloaded that only having to find out it doesn’t work at all with the latest WP.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a GREAT plugin however the download link is camouflaged.
I’m just curious as to why you don’t have your plugins in the WordPress repository? I’ve been using your media library and gallery plugins (and I tout them all over the place – I just love them both), but there’s never a notification that plugins have been updated, and I can’t find the in the WordPress repository at all. (In fact, if I search for “Shiba” in the repository *my* plugin comes up because I mention you LOL)
I guess it’s a request to either pop them in the repository, or at the very least put some notification in the plugin to check the version number against the ones set on your server so we can be updated when they’ve been upgraded. I come back here every time I install them to see if there are upgrades, but it would be lots easier to be notified on the backend of whatever site I’ve installed them on when updates occur.
Hello Shelly,
I did try to submit my very first theme when I started playing around with WordPress but did not have a good experience.
I decided not to trouble them or myself any further. 😀
Very strange. Well, I’m not surprised about the *theme*, but plugins are different.
Anyway, have you ever thought of putting in version control in your plugin on your own site then? It’s been a while since I’ve had to do it, but basically it’s just a teensy bit o’ php in your plugin that checks the version number set in a file on your server. When you upgrade the plugin, you change the text in that file – then plugins will check to see if the version number is higher than what they have installed If so, it’ll give them an upgrade notice. (It’s all automated now, so I haven’t had to do it for quite some time!)
Anyway, just suggestion! 🙂
Thanks for the good info. Shelly. It would be good to have a version check sometime down the road.
Hi, could you tell me how to make the attachments searchable by title, name or other? At the moment wordpress is only searching posts. Thanks – and great plugin.
Do you mean you want to make the general WordPress search return attachments as well?
One way to do this is to hook into the ‘request’ filter. I have some examples of that here –
http://shibashake.com/wordpress-theme/mastering-the-wordpress-loop
Looks like this is where you are handling support.
I am using your media library plugin v 3.2 on a site with wp 3.1
I have a few cusotm post types on the site, and am adding a new post type. This post type is the first to support “editor” so I had not noticed, but on custom post types I cannot add images. The “add to post” button is gone. It comes back if I disable the media library. Do I need to add support for the post type?
There are two possibilities here –
Plan A
1. Go into shiba-mlib-helper.php.
2. Go to line 431
else $send = ”;
and change it to
else return $form_fields;
Plan B
1. Hook into the shiba_insert_media_button filter and add your custom post type to the array.
add_filter(‘shiba_insert_media_button’, ‘my_add_media_post_type’);
function my_add_media_post_type($post_types) {
$post_types[] = ‘my_custom_post_type’;
return $post_types;
}
Thanks, I went with the filter since I prefer to leave plugin files alone. It worked perfectly
Hello sir, great plugin for attach, reattach or de-attach but de-attach function is not working after upgrading to wordpress 3.1
Please help
Do you have the latest version of the plugin?
Hi there!
Thanks so much for such a useful plugin. I’ve been trying all afternoon to figure out how to do custom order on my images, hopefully as a custom column if thats even possible. I’ve kinda hit my limit of what I understand in wordpress, and any help or guidance would be awesome!
Thanks!
Drew
Hello Drew,
Currently, I have not put any custom ordering support into the plugin. I know that there is some native WordPress support for that, but I haven’t looked into it at this point.
I will put this on my to-do list, but I have several more plugin updates I have to make for 3.1, including a theme update, so it may be a while before I get back to Media Library.
If it’ll put it further up your priority list, I’d like to see this feature too 🙂
Btw, Great work
I love this plugin. It does wonders for organizing my photos, but there is a problem. The galleries work great when they are embedded in a post or a page. However, when I try to view the galleries independently, nothing loads.
For example:
http://mayatanfoundation.org/?gallery=teaching-gallery
Any advice for how to get this to work?
Try setting the gallery permalink in Settings >> Permalink to something like /gallery/%gallery%/ then try viewing the galleries again.
I love your media library plugin, and it’s working great for me. However, I just recently upgraded to WordPress 3.1 and the ability to see what images are in a gallery on the ‘edit gallery’ page has disappeared. I’ve tried to attach a picture, but I don’t see it showing up on the gallery editor on the said gallery. I may be using an outdated library plugin, as I’ve seen you’ve done some work on making it compatible to WP 3.1, however I’m a little confused about where exactly do I go for the latest version. There are multiple download points on your site, but which will deliver to me the most latest download… and will it work?
Thanks for a good plug in,
Asher
All the download links will get you to the latest version of the plugin unless a version number is explicitly specified, e.g. download Shiba Media Library 2.2.
You can also just go to the site plugins page to get the most recent versions of any of the Shiba plugins.
In terms of WordPress 3.1, I am in the middle of testing all my plugins. I have tested Media Library on 3.1 single-site and it works fine there. This article contains the current 3.1 plugin status.
Let me know if you find more issues with 3.1.
Thank, installing the latest update helped. Thanks for keeping up with the wordpress versions.