Media

Media consists of the images, video, recordings, and files that you upload and use in your blog. Media is typically uploaded and inserted into the content when writing a Page. Note that the Uploading Setting in the Settings Media Screen describes the location and structure of the upload directory (where your media files are stored). If you do need to upload Media, even if that Media is not related to a Page, then you need to use the Media Add New Screen.

Media LibraryMedia Library

The Media Library Screen allows you to edit, view, and delete Media previously uploaded to your blog. Multiple Media objects can be selected for deletion. Search and filtering ability is also provided to allow you to find the desired Media.

Media Library provides two type of views. One is simple visual Grid View and another is conventional List View. Switch between these views using the icons to the left above the screen.

Media Library Grid ViewMedia Library Grid View

In Media Library Grid View, thumbnails of image, Audio icons and Movie icons are arranged in the grid.

Filtering OptionsFiltering Options

At the top of Grid View, you can filter the media by media type and date:

All media items – This drop-down allows you to select, by media type such as Images, Audio and Video or Unattached to any Pages, which Media are displayed in the Table of Media. By default, “All media items” is selected and all of your Media are displayed.
All Dates – This drop-down allows you to select, by date, which Media are displayed in the Grid View. By default, “Show all dates” is selected and all of your Media are displayed.

To the right, is a Search box where you can enter a word, or series of words to search and display all the Media meeting your search words. The search results will be updated as you type.

Delete MediaDelete Media

To delete media items, click the Bulk Select button at the top of the screen. Select any items you wish to delete, then click the Delete Selected button. Clicking the Cancel Selection button takes you back to viewing your media.

Attachment DetailsAttachment Details

In Media Library Grid View, clicking an Image thumbnail, Audio icon or Video icon will display an Attachment Details dialog, which allows you to preview media and make quick edits. Any changes you make to the attachment details will be automatically saved. You can also delete individual items and access the extended edit screen from the details dialog.

Use the arrow buttons at the top of the dialog, or the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard, to navigate between media items quickly.

Attachment Details changes its appearance and information by media type. The left side of this dialog shows the Image, Audio player or Video player. The right side lists the following media file attributes and optional data. Some of them are editable from this dialog.

File name – The name of media file
File type – The MIME Type of media file
Uploaded on – The date when media file was uploaded
File size – The file size of media file
Dimensions – (Image files only) The dimensions of image media
URL – Read only display of a direct link to the media file.
Title – The name of the media. A title is often shown on attachment pages and galleries if themes or plugins are designed to display it.
Caption – A brief explanation of the media.
Description – An explanation of this particular media.
Alt Text – (Image files only) The alt text for the image, e.g. “The Mona Lisa” to describe the media. Used for accessibility.
Artist – (Voice files only) Singer, composer or producer of this media.
Album – (Voice files only) Album title that includes this media.
Uploaded By – author who uploaded the Media.
Uploaded To – Title of the Post or Page that contains this Media. Click on the title to view that Post or Page in an edit Screen. If the Media was unattached to any Post or Page, this line does not appear.

At the bottom there are three link menus:

View attachment page – shows the media in a simulated view of how the image would look when displayed in your Theme.
Edit more details – displays the Edit Media Screen.
Delete Permanently – deletes the media.

Also, image files has Edit Image button at the lower left

Edit Image

(Image files only) allows you to make edits such as rotate, scale, and crop.

Media Library List ViewMedia Library List View

In Media Library List View, a table lists all of your Media, by row. The Media are listed with the newest uploaded Media first.

Table of MediaTable of Media

The table of Media contains the following columns:

[ ] – This checkbox, when clicked (checked), ‘selects’ that particular Media to be processed by a Bulk Action.
“thumbnail” – There is no column heading for “thumbnail”, but a small image of the actual media is displayed in this column
File – Displayed in the form of a link, this is Title, the name of the media. Clicking the title link opens Edit Media Screen. Below the Title the actual name of the file that holds this particular Media is displayed.
Author – Displayed in the form of a link, this is the author who uploaded the Media. Clicking the author link causes all the Media authored by that user to be displayed in the Table of Media (thus allowing a Bulk Action to be applied to all Media for a given author).
Uploaded to – Uploaded to describes the title of the Page that contains this Media and the date of that Page. Click on the title to view that Page in an edit Screen. If the Media was unattached to any Page, an “Attach” link will appear and when clicked this Media can be attached to selected Pages. If the Media has been attached to more than one Page, only the details of the first Page will be displayed.
Comment bubble – Each Media row has comment bubble with the number of comments for that Media. If a Media has any comments, then the number of comments is displayed in a bubble. Clicking on a blue comment bubble causes the Comments Screen to be displayed to allow moderation of those comments. You can edit or delete content found in comments to your posts, and you can mark comments as spam, send comments to the trash, and reply to comments. A number of rules can be defined about who can write comments, and how comments are moderated.
Date – The date the Media was uploaded.

Sortable ColumnsSortable Columns

Some column headings, such as the File, Author, Uploaded to, and Date headings, can be clicked to sort the Table of Media in ascending or descending order. Hover over the column title, e.g. File, to see the up arrow or down arrow. Click the heading to change the sort order.

SelectionSelection

This Screen allows Bulk Actions to be performed on one or more Media selected in the Table. For Bulk Actions to be performed on multiple Media at once, those Media must be first selected via one of these methods:

Select one Media at a time – To select a Media, the checkbox to the left of the Media entry must be checked (clicked). It is possible to keep selecting more Media by checking their respective checkbox.
Select all Media in given Table – All Media in a given table can be selected by checking the checkbox in the Table’s title, or footer bar. Of course, unchecking the header or footer title bar checkbox will cause all entries in that Table to be unchecked (NOT selected).
Reverse Selection – A Reverse Selection means checked items become unchecked, and unchecked items become checked. A Reverse Selection is accomplished by holding the Shift key on the keyboard and clicking the header or footer title bar checkbox.

ActionsActions

Actions describe the process to be performed on particular Media. There are two styles of Actions that will be referred to as Bulk Actions and Immediate Actions. The follow describes these Actions:

Bulk Actions – These Actions can be performed on one, or more Media, at one time, if those Media have been previously selected. Bulk Actions are available, when appropriate, as choices in the Bulk Actions drop-down box, above the Table. The only Bulk Action allowed is Delete Permanently.
Immediate Actions – Immediate Actions are performed immediately, on an individual Media. Hovering the mouse cursor over the Media row reveals the Edit, Delete Permanently, and View options under the File column, in that Media row. Clicking on a Media Title will also initiate the Edit Action.

The available Actions are described below:

Edit – This Immediate Action displays the Edit Media Screen. This Action can be initiated by click on the Media Title.
Delete Permanently – This Action deletes the Media. Delete Permanently is available both as a Bulk Action, and an Immediate Action.
View – This Action presents the Media in a simulated view of how the image would look when displayed in your Theme. View is available only as an Immediate Action.
Attach – In Unattached filtered view, “Attach” action is displayed. By clicking this link, the media can be attached to selected Pages.

Media → Add New

The Media Add New Screen allows you to upload Media (Images, video, files, etc.) for later use in your posts and pages. This screen allows you to both add single items as well as perform bulk uploads, if you wish to add more than one media item to your Media Library.

Upload New Media

Uploading media from your local computer into the Media Library is quite simple. Two ‘uploader’ methods, Multi-File Uploader and Browser Uploader, are provided. The Multi-File Uploader is the primary method for adding media to the Media Library, but if doesn’t work then click the “Browser Uploader” link to use the Browser Uploader.

You will also see a message displayed at the bottom of your view that indicates maximum upload size for files, as set by your hosting provider.

Multi-File Uploader

Choose files to upload

Drag-and-Drop – If you are using a web browser that supports HTML5 then you will see an active upload area (indicated by a dashed border) where you can “drag-and-drop” files from your computer to this area to upload them to the Media Library. You can upload files one at a time, or you can add multiple media items by dragging and dropping a group of files in this area.
Select Files – If drag-and-drop is not working for you, click on the Select Files button, which will launch a file browser that allows you to find and select (by clicking) the files you want to upload. Multiple files can be also be selected by holding down the Ctrl key (Cmd key on a Mac) and clicking on each file you wish to upload. After all the files are selected, click on the Open button to begin uploading.

As your files are uploaded, a status bar will be displayed next to each one to indicate progress, and when the uploading is complete, a thumbnail of the media is displayed. Once your upload is complete, you may click on the Edit link to edit and save the information about that media file.

Overview

The Edit Media page is where you manage information about your media that is saved in the Media Library. To reach the Edit Media page, go to Media > Library and click the name of the media item or the Edit link that appears below the name on hover. You can also reach this page by clicking on the Edit link when adding new media to your site.

The data entered on the Edit Media page is often used by attachment pages and galleries if the theme or plugin chooses to display it, and the data is also used as the default values at the time an image is inserted into a page. Once the image has been inserted as an individual image, it becomes disconnected from the data in the media library and you can use the Image Details screen to update it on a per-image basis.

In addition to managing meta data such as title, caption, alt text, and description, there are also added controls for performing basic media edits such as rotating, scaling, and cropping images.

Edit Media Page

Title – The name of the media. A title is displayed in the File column of the Media Library Screen and is often shown on attachment pages and galleries if themes or plugins are designed to display it.
Permalink – This is the URL of the media attachment page. There is also a link to view the attachment page. Next to this, there may be a button to edit the permalink—if there isn’t, you can change the permalink by activating ‘Slug’ from the screen options and changing the slug’s value.Edit Image button(Image files only) allows you to make edits such as rotate, scale, and crop.
Caption – A brief explanation of the media.
Alternate Text – The alt text for the image, e.g. “The Mona Lisa” to describe the media. Used for accessibility.
Description – An explanation of this particular media.
File URL – Read only display of a direct link to the media file.
Save Meta Box – Displays information about your media, such as the upload date, web address, file name, type, size, and dimensions. Also includes actions to Delete Permanently or Update any change you have made.

More Edit Media Options

Note: The following Meta Boxes may not be visible by default. You can enable them by clicking on the Screen Options tab at the top right of the Edit Media page.

Discussion – Turn the ability to leave comments and/or trackbacks on the media attachment page on or off.
Comments – List of current comments saved for this media file.
Slug – The attachment page slug
Author – The Author for the media

Edit Image

Clicking the Edit Image button launches the image editor screen, giving you access to several useful image editing controls. The edits you make to your image are non-destructive and you can restore the image to it’s original (uploaded) specifications at any time. Here are the various controls available to you in this Edit Image mode:

Crop – To crop the image, first click on the image and drag to make your selection. Once a selection has been made, then click the crop icon above the image to finalize the crop. You can use the Aspect ratio and Selection option to make further adjustments or use keyboard shortcuts to fine-tune your crop selection before clicking the crop icon.
Rotate counter-clockwise – Rotate the image 90 degrees counter-clockwise.
Rotate clockwise – Rotate the image 90 degrees clockwise.
Flip Vertically – Flip the image upside-down.
Flip Horizontally – Flip the image left-to-right.
Undo/Redo – Remove or restore your last edit. You can click as many times as you want in succession to “step” through the edit history.
Scale Image – Proportionally scale the original image. For best results, scaling should be done before you crop, flip, or rotate. Images can only be scaled down, not up. The original dimensions are displayed as a guideline above the box for entering new dimensions. Click Scale button to display the new scaled image. Also Restore Original Image button appears to allow you restore the change.
Restore Original Image – If changes have been made to an image, the Restore Original Image button allows you to discard any changes and restore the original image. Previously edited copies of the image will not be deleted. Press the Restore image to complete the action.
Image Crop – Used in combination with the Crop icon, this tool allows you to make the following precise adjustments:
- Crop Aspect Ratio: You can specify the crop selection aspect ratio then hold down the Shift key while dragging to lock it. The values can be 1:1 (square), 4:3, 16:9, etc. If there is a selection, specifying aspect ratio will set it immediately.
- Crop Selection: Once started, the selection can be adjusted by entering new values (in pixels). Note that these values are scaled to approximately match the original image dimensions. The minimum selection size equals the thumbnail size as set in the Settings Media Screen.
Save – Use this to save the changes made to an image and return to the Edit Media screen for this image.
Cancel – Use this to cancel any operation that has been performed on the image in the current session