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Media Library Categories

By jeffrey-wp

Content Management / Media Library & Asset Management

Media Library Categories Review - In-Depth Analysis

Enhance your WordPress Media Library by adding category support. Easily manage and filter media items with categories.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.98/10

User Rating

4.2/5 (based on 52+ reviews)

Active Installations

20,000+

Update Frequency

Below Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

1 / 10 (Very Low Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

This plugin adds the ability to use categories in the WordPress Media Library. When activated, a dropdown of categories will show up in the media library.

You can change, add, or remove the category of multiple items at once using bulk actions. There is even an option to filter on categories when using the gallery shortcode.

Features include adding, editing, and removing categories from media items, changing the category of multiple items at once, and category management in the Media Library. You can also filter on categories in the media library and the gallery shortcode.

Comparing to Alternatives

Media Library Categories offers a straightforward way to categorize media files, standing out among similar plugins for its simplicity and focus on taxonomy integration.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Integrates category taxonomy directly into the media library.
Simple and easy to use interface.
Developer responsiveness and support for pro users.
Helps organize large numbers of media files effectively.

Weaknesses

Imports post categories into media categories, which can cause confusion.
Deleting a media category also deletes it from posts, leading to unintended consequences.
Compatibility issues with some page builders like WPBakery.
Limited customization options for category display.

User Sentiment Analysis

User feedback highlights both the plugin's utility and some functional challenges.

Positive highlights

'Terrific addition to my media library toolkit' - todindiana
'Great plugin for categorizing images' - jeffkaiser
'Simple and great plugin for adding category taxonomy' - strarsis
'Helped recover media categories after losing them with another plugin' - Marko6548

Common complaints

Imports all post categories into media categories, causing confusion.
Deleting media categories deletes them from posts as well.
Not working properly with WPBakery Page Builder, blocking gallery image additions.
Lack of option to remove photo count display in categories.

Weaknesses

Category management affects post categories unexpectedly.
Compatibility issues with certain themes and page builders.
Some users find the category import behavior problematic.

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users who need a simple and effective way to categorize and organize their WordPress media files, especially those managing large image libraries and creating category-based galleries or sliders.

Not ideal for

Users who require advanced media management features, tight integration without affecting post categories, or compatibility with all page builders and themes might find this plugin limiting or problematic.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version provides basic media category taxonomy integration, allowing users to categorize media files and improve organization without cost.

Pro version

The pro version offers enhanced features such as advanced category management options, improved compatibility, and priority support from the developer.

Final Verdict

Media Library Categories is a useful plugin for users seeking to add category taxonomy to their media library with minimal complexity. It excels in helping organize large media collections and supports category-based content creation workflows.

However, users should be cautious of its behavior importing and deleting categories across posts and media, as well as compatibility issues with some page builders. Those needing more robust or conflict-free media management might consider alternatives.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free Media Library Categories plugin.

Media library

Screenshots

FAQ

By default the WordPress Media Library uses the same categories as WordPress does (such as in posts & pages). If you want to use separate categories you can use a custom taxonomy, this can be set under Settings Media (or click on the settings quicklink on the WordPress plugins overview page).

To only show images from one category in the gallery you have to add the ‘category‘ attribute to the [gallery] shortcode.
The value passed to the ‘category‘ attribute can be either the category slug or the term_id, for example with the category slug:

[gallery category="my-category-slug"]

Or with term_id:

[gallery category="14"]

If you use an incorrect slug by default WordPress shows the images that are attached to the page / post that is displayed. If you use an incorrect term_id no images are shown.

Aside from this behavior, the [gallery] shortcode works as it does by default with the built-in shortcode from WordPress (see the WordPress gallery shortcode codex page). If you only want to show attachments uploaded to the page and filtered by category than use the ‘id‘ in combination with the ‘category‘ attribute. For example (the id of the post is 123):

[gallery category="my-category-slug" id="123"]

Or leave id empty for current page / post:

[gallery category="my-category-slug" id=""]

In this example the slug is used, but you could also use the term_id.

Contributors and developers

“Media Library Categories” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

jeffrey-wp

Pro version Free Version

WPS

6.98

Average

Pro version

Ratings

4.2 out of 5 | 52

Version

2.0.2

Last updated

1 month ago

Active installations

20,000+

WordPress version

6.9.4 or higher

PHP version

or higher

Languages

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Media Library Categories Review - In-Depth Analysis

Performance Overview

What It Does

Comparing to Alternatives

User Sentiment Analysis

Who Should Use This?

Pricing & Value

Final Verdict

Other Notable Features

Screenshots

FAQ

Contributors and developers

Ratings

Reviews (52)

Sort by:

Contributors & Developers

Interested in development?

Changelog

Security Status

Secure

No Unpatched Vulnerabilities

Known Vulnerabilities (2)

WPS

6.98

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