Search Media by Custom Field

Thanks for your question, which came up a while back in this earlier topic:

Searching on custom fields

That topic inspired the creation of the “MLA Custom Field Search Example” plugin, which is included in the current MLA release. I just ran a quick test and discovered that the plugin works fine in the Media/Assistant Search Media box but does not run in the “Add Media” popup window (Media Manager Modal Window). I found and fixed a small bug and have an updated version on my system. I would also like to make some improvements such as making it easier to set a default custom field name.

In the earlier topic I describe why adding a checkbox would be impractical and why I took the approach I did. Have a look at the topic and, if you like, try out the current version (in the Media/Assistant screen). If you think this will work for your application I will make a few improvements and get you a version that works in the Add Media window.

I will leave this topic unresolved for now. Thanks for your interest in the plugin.

Yes, I did look at that plugin you did but wasn’t quite what I wanted.

The problem for me is I can’t really use the Media Library Assistant page because it’s just so slow – takes 3 or 4 minutes just to load the page. I usually use Media Assistant for the iptc mapping and the additional search things in the Add Media page. I actually originally installed your plugin years ago so I could find orphan media files that we weren’t using anymore. The plugin has some great features that I wish were in core wordpress but it’s just too slow for me.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by IceDarkness.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by IceDarkness.

Thanks for your update.

You wrote “I did look at that plugin you did but wasn’t quite what I wanted. Fair enough, but if it worked in the Add Media popup window and I added a few features like an ability to search multiple custom fields, would it work well enough to be useful.

You wrote “I can’t really use the Media Library Assistant page because it’s just so slow“. The usual cause of slow performance on the Media/Assistance page is the work required to update the “where used” columns. If you don’t need those you can disable them on the Settings/Media Library Assistant General tab and get much better results. Years ago, these features were enabled by default but I have since changed that for performance reasons.

I am going to do some work on the “MLA Custom Field Search Example” plugin. Let me know if you would be willing to try an improved version.

I have released MLA v2.94, which includes a substantially upgraded “MLA Custom Field Search Example” plugin. The new example plugin includes more powerful search capabilities, settings to configure its operation and a “Documentation” tab explaining its features and operation.

I am marking this topic resolved, but please update it if you get a chance to try out the new example plugin and have any problems or further questions regarding it. Thanks for inspiring this MLA improvement.