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Attachment Taxonomies

By Felix Arntz

Content Management / Document Management & Downloads

Reviewed by Abdul Hameid

Trusted WordPress expert with 20+ years of experience evaluating plugins for the WP ecosystem.

Attachment Taxonomies Review - In-Depth Analysis

This plugin adds categories and tags to the WordPress media library. It is lightweight and developer-friendly.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.88/10

User Rating

4.6/5 (based on 10+ reviews)

Active Installations

1,000+

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

The plugin adds two taxonomies to the WordPress media library which are then available to categorize and tag your attachments. By default, these taxonomies, although sharing the same names and behavior, are separate from the default post taxonomies, but this can easily be changed if desired.

The plugin follows WordPress Core principles and offers a lightweight alternative to similar approaches which often tend to be incredibly flexible, but at the same time complicated and bloated. And if you have a little knowledge of code, you should be able to adjust the plugin exactly to your needs if the default configuration doesn't satisfy you.

Key features include adding categories and tags to the Media Library, inserting filter dropdowns for attachment taxonomies into the media toolbar, allowing to pick taxonomy terms for attachments from within the Attachment Selection and Edit modals, adding a setting for the default attachment category, and enhancing the gallery shortcode to include images of a specific attachment taxonomy automatically.

Comparing to Alternatives

Attachment Taxonomies offers a streamlined approach to managing media taxonomies, standing out for its simplicity compared to other plugins in the category.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Minimalistic and lightweight without unnecessary features
Seamless integration with WordPress media library
Supports categories and tags for attachments
Clean and WordPress-like user experience
Highly rated by users for simplicity and effectiveness

Weaknesses

Lacks bulk editing for attachments, making category assignment tedious
No option to assign categories during file upload
Category hierarchies sometimes not clearly visible
Limited compatibility with some page builders like Divi

User Sentiment Analysis

With a strong majority of 5-star ratings and very few low ratings, users generally appreciate the plugin's simplicity and integration, though some desire additional features.

Positive highlights

"A very cool plugin, simple and not bloated" — kungfunefar
"Piece of art! No bloat, no hassle." — Daniel Menȝies
"Integrates fine with WordPress media library" — Dinamicore
"Great and simple for ranking large numbers of images" — OrangeDesign
"Adds basic media taxonomies in a clean, WordPress-like way" — Martin Sauter

Common complaints

Lack of bulk editing for assigning categories to multiple attachments
No category assignment option during file upload
Category hierarchies not always visible or clear
Limited support in some page builders like Divi

Weaknesses

Missing bulk editing functionality
No category assignment on upload
Hierarchy display inconsistencies
Compatibility issues with certain page builders

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users seeking a lightweight, straightforward plugin to add taxonomy support to media attachments without unnecessary complexity.

Not ideal for

Users needing advanced features like bulk editing, upload-time categorization, or deep integration with all page builders may find this plugin limiting.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version provides essential taxonomy features for media attachments, including category and tag assignment within the media library.

Final Verdict

Attachment Taxonomies is a well-crafted, minimalistic plugin that effectively adds taxonomy support to WordPress media attachments. Its simplicity and clean integration make it a favorite among users who want basic categorization without bloat. However, it lacks some advanced features like bulk editing and upload-time categorization, which could be a drawback for power users.

Overall, it offers excellent value as a free plugin with no known security issues. Users looking for a straightforward solution will appreciate it, but those requiring more robust media management features might consider alternatives.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free Attachment Taxonomies plugin.

Attachment

FAQ

You can simply use the WordPress Core function register_taxonomy() and specify 'attachment' as the second parameter. As an alternative, you can create your own class for the taxonomy, extending the abstract Attachment_Taxonomy class provided by the plugin. Then you can add it using the method add_taxonomy( $taxonomy ) of the class Attachment_Taxonomies.

Example Code (adds an attachment taxonomy called “Location”):

<?php  final class Attachment_Location extends Attachment_Taxonomy {     protected $slug = 'attachment_location';     protected $labels = array(         'name'              => __( 'Locations', 'textdomain' ),         'singular_name'     => __( 'Location', 'textdomain' ),         /* more labels here... */     );     protected $args = array(         'hierarchical'      => true,         'query_var'         => 'location',         /* more arguments here... */     ); }  add_action(     'plugins_loaded',     function() {         Attachment_Taxonomies::instance()->add_taxonomy( new Attachment_Location() );     } );

To remove one of the default attachment taxonomies you should call the method remove_taxonomy( $taxonomy_slug ) of the class Attachment_Taxonomies.

Example Code (removes the attachment taxonomy “Category”):

<?php  add_action(     'plugins_loaded',     function() {         Attachment_Taxonomies::instance()->remove_taxonomy( 'attachment_category' );     } );

To accomplish that, first you need to remove the two taxonomies that the plugin adds (attachment_category and attachment_tag). See above for instructions on how to do that.

Then you can simply use the WordPress Core function register_taxonomy_for_object_type() and specify 'attachment' as the second parameter. As an alternative, you can create your own instance of the Attachment_Existing_Taxonomy class provided by the plugin. Then you can add it using the method add_taxonomy( $taxonomy ) of the class Attachment_Taxonomies, as seen in the example below.

Example Code (makes the regular category and tag taxonomies available for attachments):

<?php  add_action(     'plugins_loaded',     function() {         Attachment_Taxonomies::instance()->add_taxonomy( new Attachment_Existing_Taxonomy( 'category' ) );         Attachment_Taxonomies::instance()->add_taxonomy( new Attachment_Existing_Taxonomy( 'post_tag' ) );     } );

The [gallery] shortcode can now be passed taxonomy attributes. They have to have the attachment taxonomy slug as the attribute name and a comma-separated list of term slugs or term IDs as value. You may also specify a new “limit” attribute to limit the amount of images shown. This is especially recommended if the attachment taxonomy term you are querying for contains a lot of images. As of version 1.2.0, the plugin furthermore supports an optional “tax_relation” attribute, which you can set to “AND” in order to show only images that satisfy all of the taxonomy attributes provided on the shortcode.

Example Code (shows images with attachment categories 1 or 2 or attachment tag 5 with a limit of 20 images shown):

[gallery attachment_category="1,2" attachment_tag="5" limit="20"]

Example Code (shows images with attachment categories 1 or 2 and attachment tag 5):

[gallery attachment_category="1,2" attachment_tag="5" tax_relation="AND"]

Note that there is currently no UI in the backend for this, and the preview in the editor will not work properly. It will show up correctly in the frontend though.