Batch/Bulk edit description, caption

This looks like the same question I’ve just answered in another topic. Please see my response there and let me know if that’s the case:

Description field for quick edit view in media library assistant

Let’s continue the discussion in this topic to keep it separate from the unrelated issues in the above-referenced topic. Thanks.

Julian,

I am answering you in this topic to keep our discussion separate from the unrelated issues raised in the “Description field…” topic. Please respond in this topic.

Your latest post reads:

Hi David,

thank you for the detailed answer. I’m sorry about the double post. Wasn’t sure which one was the right one.

I guess the main issue we face is in the Media Manager Modal Window. Not being able to search for tags creates a big problem. We will literally have 10’s of thousands of pictures and even filtering it down will not really help that much. So the only solution is to search for the images. But you can’t search for tags but for descriptions and captions.

So my thought would be to bulk edit the description and caption (because we have lets say 10 images that have the same description/caption) so one could search for them in the Media Manager Modal Window. Or if there is a way to implement a search for tags in the Modal window.

The IPTC/EXIF mapping sounds interesting and I’ve looked at it. Am I right in the assumption one would need to bulk edit the IPTC/EXIF data offline so it would map when uploading them? Or is there a way to map the tags one bulk edits in MLA to the description and caption?

If you have some idea how to solve this problem I would appreciate it greatly. Thank you so much for your help.

Julian

I agree that searching on taxonomy terms such as Att.Tag is the right way to meet your requirements, and I am thinking about this for a future MLA version. In the interim you can use the IPTC/EXIF mapping to add tag information to one of the searchable fields.

Pick one of the Standard fields, e.g., Alternate Text, Caption or Description. On the Settings/Media Library Assistant IPTC/EXIF tab, enter something like this in the text box under the “EXIF/Template Value” column:

template:(tag values: [+terms:attachment_tag+])

This is a Content Template that will fill the Standard field with the literal “tag values: ” followed by the Att. Tag values for any attachment that has them. If there are no tag values for a given attachment, no changes will be made to the Standard field.

Once the rule is in place, you can update all of your attachments by clicking the “Map All Attachments Now” buttons on the IPTC/EXIF tab. Since you have so many attachments, you might want to use the Bulk Edit area of the Media/Assistant screen, pick the attachments you want to update and use the “Map IPTC/EXIF metadata” button to map their values in smaller groups.

This is a crude solution to your requirements, but it may work for you. Let me know how it goes and if you have any further problems or questions.

Hi David,
thanks for the work around. I’m sorry, I’m having a little bit of a hard time understanding how to set up the mapping so the tags maps to the caption.

This is what I did:

Field Title: Caption
IPTC Value: – None
Exif/Template Value: template:(tag values: [+terms:attachment_tag+])
Priority: IPTC
Existing Text: Keep

This does not do anything for me. Any way you can help me figure this out. Thank you for your help.
Best, Julian

I’m sorry you are still having trouble with this approach. Here are some things to look for.

1. My example assumes you are using the “Att. Tags” taxonomy. If you are using another taxonomy, such as WordPress “Tags” you will have to change attachment_tag to the appropriate taxonomy slug, e.g., post_tag.
2. Make sure the taxonomy you use is supported for attachments, i.e., the “Support” box is checked on the Settings/Media Library Assistant General tab.
3. Make sure you have values assigned to attachments for the taxonomy you’re using. You can see them on the Media/Assistant submenu table if you display the taxonomy column.
4. Make sure your Caption values are empty, since you’re using “Existing Text: Keep”. You could try changing this to “Replace” temporarily and mapping one attachment to force the mapping. Use the Media/Edit Media screen to map just one attachment.

I’ve just re-tested this on my system and it’s working properly for me. I’m sure we can make it work for you, too. Let me know if the above suggestions are helpful and how it goes from there.

It has been a month since your last post on this topic. If you are still having trouble with this, let me know.

If I don’t hear anything further, I will assume you have found a solution and I will mark this topic resolved.

Hi David,
sorryI haven’t replied. The IPTC mapping worked to an extent. Not really the ideal solution. The best would still be the ability to search for tags in the picture modal window. If you ever get a change implementing that let me know. Thank you for your great work. Much appreciated.
Thanks

Thanks for the update. I’m glad the IPTC mapping helped, but I agree that searchable tags and categories would be a much better solution.

I am planning to work on that for a future MLA version. I will leave this topic unresolved for now and I will post an update when I have progress to report. I appreciate the good words and your patience.

Regarding your question about bulk-edit for Title and Description values, please have a look at this earlier topic:

Bulk Edit

I have a test version of MLA that supports bulk edit of several additional fields. If you’d like to help test this feature, contact me through our web site. Thanks for your interest.

I have released version 1.80, which adds the fields you requested (and a few more) to the Bulk Edit Area. Please let me know if have any bulk edit problems with the new version.

I will leave this topic unresolved until I can address the original issue about searching on by tag values. Thank you for your patience.

The searching by tags idea has come up again and I am actively thinking about how to implement it. Have a look at this new topic, then post an update here with any feedback you have; thanks:

MLA search images by tag

I have released MLA v1.90, which includes the new “Terms Search” feature and adds “Terms” to the list of fields for the Search Media box. These features are available on the Media/Assistant submenu and in the Media Manager Modal Window.

I am marking this topic resolved, but please give the new features a try and let me know if you have any problems, questions or suggestions for further improvement. Thanks for motivating an enhancement to the plugin!