The bulk updater commits the changes to the WordPress database making them permanent. This can be intimidating, especially when managing a large website, but with a few simple precautions, you can optimize its use without undue concern.

Let’s take a look into all the best practices and methods to test the Image Attributes Pro bulk updater safely.

Start With A Full Database Backup

Image Attributes Pro updates image attributes in the WordPress database. Updates are made in the Media Library as well as post HTML as per your settings.

So always start with a full database backup. If you don’t have a backup solution yet, you really need to get one as a website needs both onsite and offsite backup.

Want a recommendation? WP-DBManager is a good and reliable solution that has been around for over a decade now.

Test The Bulk Updater On A Few Images

There are many ways to run the bulk updater on a single image. You could use the Test Bulk Updater button and this will update the attributes for the oldest image in the Media Library.

Details about the image that is updated will be displayed in the Event Log on the same page.

You can also test a single image using the Update image attributes button in the Image Attributes Pro meta box in the Media Library…

… or using the meta box in the post / page / product editor.

Row actions in the media library list view, Posts, Page and Products list also let you edit one image or post or product at a time.

If you wish to update multiple images, or posts / products in one go, you can make use of the Bulk Actions.

Note that the changes made during testing are permanent. It’s the Bulk Updater running on a single image at the time.

Once you are happy with the results, you can unleash the Bulk Updater on all images using the Run Bulk Updater button in the Bulk Updater tab of Image Attributes Pro.

Refer to the Getting Started section of the documentation to learn more about each of these features and more. For any further questions, feel free to reach out via the support form.

Maybe you have a website where you import posts or products and you wish to keep image attributes updated to your liking.

In both these cases, Image Attributes Pro can act as a fallback and update image attributes when the post is published.

In Advanced settings > Miscellaneous Settings > Enabled Update image attributes on post publish or update.

When you publish a new post or update an existing post, the image attributes of all images associated with the post will be updated as per the settings of Image Attributes Pro.

Things To Note:

• Be mindful of the Handling existing attributes setting in the Bulk Updater Settings. If it’s set to Preserve existing attributes and add missing attributes only, then attributes added during image upload or by the user will not be overwritten when the post is published / updated.
• Requires Image Attributes Pro version 4.3 or later.

With Image Attributes Pro version 4.3 and later, you have the option to update the image title and image alt text in the post (or product) HTML when you update attributes in the Media Library.

You will find this setting in Image Attributes Pro settings > Advanced tab > Miscellaneous Settings as you can see below.

Once you enable this option, each time you update any image attribute in the Media Library, the image title and image alt text will be copied to the posts, pages or products where the image is used.

A list of posts where the image is used will be available in the Media Library meta box.

Here are few screenshots to help you understand how this feature works.

Few things to note:

• The image attributes are copied over only when you update the Media Library manually. When Media Library is updated programmatically, the attributes are not copied over.
• The image attributes will be used just as they are in the Media Library. Any attribute settings you have in the Advanced tab of Image Attributes Pro will be overridden.
• The Bulk Updater must be configured to Update in the Post HTML in the Bulk Updater Settings of Image Attributes Pro. Otherwise, the attributes will not be copied over.
• If bulk updater is set to Preserve existing attributes and add missing attributes only, then image attributes are only copied over if the corresponding attributes are empty in the post HTML.

By default this will be in the file \wp-content\uploads\iap-logs\iap-bu-log.log. The log from this file will be displayed in the Event Log in the Bulk Updater tab of Image Attributes Pro.

A .htaccess file and index.html file will also be created in the \iap-logs\ folder for security reasons.

If WordPress does not have the sufficient permissions to create the folder and files, event logging will not happen. However, Image Attributes Pro will still work and update image attributes just without a log file.

Starting with version 4.4 the Event Log in the admin will display the latest 10,000 log entries. Too many lines makes WordPress UI slow and unusable. If your log file is larger than 10,000 lines, then download the log file from your server to see the complete log.

Delete Event Log File

You can delete the Event Log file from Image Attributes Pro admin using the Delete button (since version 4.1).

This button is in the Bulk Updater tab of Image Attributes Pro. Refer the screenshot below.

You can also delete the file manually in \wp-content\uploads\iap-logs\iap-bu-log.log via FTP.

For example, a custom attribute like %posttitle% - %sitetitle% will become the Post / Product title - Site Title.

Available Custom Attribute Tags

Here are all the custom attribute tags available with Image Attributes Pro. Each of these tags will be replaced by their corresponding value when an image attribute is updated.

• %filename% – Image filename.
• %posttitle% – Title of the post, page or product where the image is used.
• %sitetitle% – Site Title defined in WordPress General Settings.
• %category% – Post or product Category. First category name will be used by default. Can be altered using iaffpro_custom_attribute_tag_category_names filter.
• %tag% – Post or product Tag. First tag name will be used by default. Can be altered using iaffpro_custom_attribute_tag_tag_names filter.
• %excerpt% – Post excerpt or product short description.
• %copymedialibrary% – To copy image attributes from Media Library to the post / product HTML.
• %imagetitle% – Image Title from the Media Library.
• %imagealttext% – Image Alt Text from the Media Library.
• %imagecaption% – Image Caption from the Media Library.
• %imagedescription% – Image Description from the Media Library.

A note about %copymedialibrary%:

• This attribute is primarily designed to copy the image attribute in the Media Library to the Post HTML. Updates in the Media Library are automatically disabled when either image title or alt text is set to be updated in the Post HTML.
• However, it can also be used to modify the attributes in the Media Library. For example, if you wish to append your business name to all attributes, you could use %copymedialibrary% - My Business Name. Remember to disable updates in Post HTML in the Bulk Updater Settings to do so.
• If you wish to modify attributes in the Media Library as well as Post HTML, two passes of the Bulk Updater will be required. The first pass to modify values in the Media Library alone (by disabling updates in Post HTML) and a second pass to copy the modified values in the Media Library to the Post HTML.

Dynamic Custom Tags

These custom image attribute tags are available only when corresponding plugins are enabled.

• %yoastfocuskw% – Yoast Focus Keyword.
• %yoastseotitle% – Yoast SEO Title.
• %rankmathfocuskw% – Rank Math Focus Keyword.
• %seopresstargetkw% – SEOPress Target Keyword.

Want To Create Your Own Attribute Tags?

You can do so using the iaffpro_get_custom_attribute_tag_{%tagname%}() function. Details and an example is available in the dedicated codex entry →.

This is very similar to the Meta Box in the Media Library.

You will find the meta box on the right side of the post, page or WooCommerce product by default. Refer the screenshot below.

Update Image Attributes

Clicking the Update image attributes button will update the attributes of that specific post or product as per the Bulk Updater Settings of Image Attributes Pro.

The meta box offers the following options.

Exclude Image

To completely exclude and image from Image Attributes Pro, simply check the box to Skip this image and save settings. Image Attributes Pro will not update the attributes of the image in the media library and in the posts or products where the image is used.

Image Used In

Image Attributes Pro will search the WordPress database and list all the posts, WooCommerce products and other post types where the image might be used as a featured image.

This section is greatly useful for manual updates as you can simply edit the post or product using the link provided.

Update Image Attributes

Clicking the Update image attributes button will update the attributes of that specific image as per the Bulk Updater Settings of Image Attributes Pro.

To access this feature, make sure you are on the latest version of Image Attributes Pro, then head over to WordPress Dashboard > Media.

Media Library Grid View v/s List View

Media Library has two views: The Grid view and the List view. Editing features are available in the List view. You can switch between these views using the selector in the top left of the Media Library as you can see below.

Image attribute columns are available in the free version as well starting with version 4.4 of the Auto Image Attributes From Filename With Bulk Updater plugin. However, free version does not have sorting and editing features.

The new columns for image Title, Alternative Text, Caption and Description can be enabled or disabled using the Screen Options drawer in the top right of your WordPress admin. Refer the image below.

Editing Image Attributes From the Media Library

The newly available Media Library columns for image attributes all include an Edit button right next to it. Refer the image below.

You can either click this Edit button, or simply click any of the image attribute itself to reveal the editing text box.

You can use the Tab key on your keyboard to travel through the attributes and edit them quickly. When you are done, click Save All button to save the changes to the database.

Copy Image Attributes To Post HTML Automatically.

As you might know, WordPress stores image attributes in both the Media Library and also within the post HTML. Image Attributes Pro can help you update both these locations.

To update the post HTML whenever you edit the image attributes from the Media Library, make sure the setting Copy image attributes to post HTML while updating in Media Library is enabled. You can find this setting in Advanced tab > under Miscellaneous Settings. Read more.

Quickly Discover Empty Attributes With Sort

Clicking the title of the column sorts the column, first in ascending order and then if you click again, in descending order. This feature helps you identify which images have empty image attributes and update them in no time.

In the above clip, the Caption column is sorted. This brings the empty captions to the top. You can do the same with every other image attribute as well.

Do not forget to click the Save All button when you are done editing.

Image Attributes Pro version 4.1 and beyond adds row actions to the Media Library and Posts / Page / Product list.

Row actions are very handy when you want to update the image attributes of a single image, post or product quickly.

While using the Row Action, the attributes of images are updated as per the settings in the Bulk Updater Settings tab of Image Attributes Pro.

Bulk action is listed as Update image attributes in the WordPress admin Bulk action drop-down.

The bulk action in the Media Library can be used to update the image attributes (such as image title, alt text caption and description) of one image or a group of images.

The following video showcases Bulk actions in the Media Library and how it can be used to update the image attributes of specific images.

Similarly, the Bulk action in the WordPress Posts, Pages and WooCommerce Products admin page can be used to update the image attributes of a single post / product or a group of posts / products.

The following screenshot shows Bulk actions in the WooCommerce Products list.

Important Notes

• While using the Bulk Action, the attributes of images are updated as per the settings in the Bulk Updater Settings tab of Image Attributes Pro.
• When Bulk Action is run, the image attributes are updated both in the media library and the post / products were the image is used. (Related read: Understanding How WordPress Store Image Attributes).

You can extend Image Attributes Pro’s bulk actions and add it to any post type. Refer: Add “Update image attributes” Bulk Action To Any Post Type.