How to Tag Images in WordPress With Media Library Assistant

Running a large site like WPBeginner means our media library has grown to tens of thousands of images. Without a good organization system, finding one specific file from years ago can feel nearly impossible.

If you’re also struggling to manage a growing collection of images, you know how much time can be wasted scrolling through endless thumbnails. This can seriously disrupt your workflow, whether you’re running a blog, a portfolio, or an online store.

A powerful way to fix this is by adding categories and tags to your media files, just like you do with blog posts. It’s a simple change that makes finding what you need incredibly fast.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to easily tag images in WordPress using a free plugin we’ve tested for the job.

Why Should You Tag Images in WordPress?

By default, there’s no way to add tags or create categories for images in WordPress. This can make it difficult to organize your files, so it may take longer to find the image you want to use.

This can be a big problem for photographers, designers, and other people who need to add lots of images and photo galleries to WordPress.

It can also be an issue for online stores that have thousands of product images.

The good news is that it is possible to add categories and tags to your images. This will make it easier to organize your files, so you can always find exactly the right image no matter how many files you upload to WordPress.

With that said, let’s see how you can easily add image tags in WordPress. You can use the quick links below to navigate through the tutorial:

Step 1: Install the Media Library Assistant Plugin

The easiest way to create image tags in WordPress is by using Media Library Assistant. This free plugin lets you create an unlimited number of image categories and tags using the familiar WordPress tools.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the Media Library Assistant plugin. For more details, please refer to our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

The plugin works right out of the box, so you can start organizing your images immediately. For advanced users, it also comes with a comprehensive settings page, but you won’t need to worry about that for this tutorial.

Step 2: Create Image Categories and Tags in WordPress

To create an image category, go to Media » Att. Category in the WordPress dashboard and type in a name for the category.

Using clear and descriptive category titles is a great habit for organization. It helps you and your team quickly understand what a group of images is about, making content creation faster and more efficient.

While these specific media categories don’t directly boost your site’s SEO like post categories do, a well-organized workflow is always a win for your content strategy.

For more on this topic, please see our guide on SEO best practices for sorting your content.

When you’re done, go ahead and create the category by clicking on the ‘Add New Att. Category’ button.

To add more categories to your WordPress website, simply follow the same process described above.

Media Library Assistant also allows you to create image subcategories. Simply go to Media » Att. Category, but this time, open the ‘Parent Att. Category’ dropdown menu.

You can now choose the category that you want to use as the parent.

After that, type in some information about the category and click on the ‘Add New Att. Category’ button.

To create image tags on your WordPress blog or website, you need to go to Media » Att. Tag.

You can now type in the title, slug, and description you want to use. To make the tag live, click on the ‘Add New Att. Tag’ button.

Step 3: Add Tags and Categories to WordPress Media Files

After creating all your categories and tags, you’re ready to add them to your images. If you want to add some images first before doing that, then you can do this at this stage.

Now, go to Media » Assistant. Here, find the image where you want to add tags or categories and click on its ‘Quick Edit’ link.

In the ‘Att. Tags’ box, go ahead and type in all the tags you want to add to the image.

You can also select one or more categories from the ‘All Categories’ box.

When you are done, simply click on the ‘Update’ button to store your changes.

How to Search Image Tags and Categories in WordPress

Now that you’ve organized your files, you can now search for them using image tags and categories.

All you need to do is go to Media » Assistant in the WordPress dashboard. This is the plugin’s enhanced view of your media library. From here, click on the ‘Search Media’ button to open the search tool.

This opens a popup where you can type in the category or tag that you want to search for.

Simply enter the term and then click on ‘Search.’

The plugin will now find all the images that have this tag or category.

How to Let Users Search Images Using Image Tags or Categories

Besides asking about how to tag images, some WPBeginner readers are also curious if it’s possible to let visitors search for images using tags and categories.

Yes, you can! The easiest way to do this is with the SearchWP plugin. It’s the best custom search plugin for WordPress and lets you decide exactly what content visitors can search for on your site, including your new image tags and categories.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the SearchWP plugin. Once that’s done, go to SearchWP » Settings in your dashboard to enter and activate your license key.

Next, navigate to the SearchWP » Algorithm tab.

Here, you will see your default search engine settings. To add your new image taxonomies, simply click the ‘Sources & Settings’ button.

In the popup that appears, find the ‘Media’ section. Now, just check the boxes next to ‘Att. Categories’ and ‘Att. Tags’ to add them to the search index.

Once you’ve selected them, click the ‘Done’ button to save your changes. SearchWP will now include these tags and categories when visitors use the search feature on your site.

Now, you can continue building your custom search engine by reading these articles:

• How to Create a Custom WordPress Search Form (Step by Step)
• How to Customize the Search Results Page in WordPress
• How to Improve WordPress Search with SearchWP (Quick & Easy)

Frequently Asked Questions About Tagging Images in WordPress

Here are some of the most common questions our readers have about organizing images and other media files in WordPress.

1. Can I add tags to other media files, like videos or PDFs?

Yes, the Media Library Assistant plugin lets you organize any file type in your media library. This includes videos, audio files, PDFs, and more, not just images.

2. What is the difference between image tags and image alt text?

Image tags are used for your own internal organization to help you find files faster within the WordPress dashboard. Alt text, on the other hand, describes the image for search engines and visually impaired users, which is important for SEO and accessibility.

3. Can I tag images in WordPress without a plugin?

By default, WordPress does not have a built-in feature for adding categories or tags to media files. You need a plugin like Media Library Assistant to add this functionality.

4. Will adding lots of image tags slow down my website?

No, adding tags and categories should not have any noticeable impact on your website’s performance. These are simply lightweight taxonomies stored in your WordPress database, similar to post tags.

5. Can I bulk-edit tags for multiple images at once?

Yes, the Media Library Assistant makes this easy. Simply go to Media » Assistant, check the boxes next to the images you want to edit, and then choose ‘Edit’ from the ‘Bulk Actions’ dropdown menu to add tags to all of them at once.

Additional Resources for Managing WordPress Images

Now that you know how to organize your media library, you might find these other guides useful for working with images on your WordPress site.

• How to Add a Gallery in WordPress with a Lightbox Effect – Learn how to create beautiful, interactive image galleries for your visitors.
• How to Optimize Images for Web Performance – Discover how to speed up your website by properly compressing your images without losing quality.
• Beginner’s Guide to Image SEO – A complete guide to getting more traffic from search engines through your images.
• Best WordPress Slider Plugins – Our expert picks for the best slider plugins to showcase your images and other content.

We hope that this article helped you learn how to tag images in WordPress with Media Library Assistant. You may also want to check out our guide on how to add a gallery with a lightbox effect in WordPress and our expert picks of the best WordPress slider plugins.

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