Jerry Bates: First off, before we get into the media library, how long have you been a WordPress user?
User 6: For about 5 years
User 6: maybe a bit more
Jerry Bates: Do you remember the version you started with?
Jerry Bates: For me it was 2.7 or something like that. 2007 🙂
User 6: I was just looking, maybe John Coltrane? 2008?
Jerry Bates: Cool. Time flies when you’re having fun, no?
User 6: Yes! I remember cracking up that they were named after jazzers
Jerry Bates: What about your site? How often do you write posts? What kind of topics do you write about?
User 6: I develop, not just write
Jerry Bates: Nothing wrong with that. 😉
User 6: I have a private blog I keep on WP and I write everyday.
User 6: Otherwise, I build them for others
Jerry Bates: Nice! How often do you find yourself on the Media Library page in your dashboard?
Jerry Bates: Frequently, occasionally, almost never, or not at all?
User 6: Frequently, especially when working with clients. A lot of times, they will upload images into the library so I can use them
User 6: OR if they don’t get that far, I upload for them
Jerry Bates: I see. So what are you trying to accomplish there typically?
User 6: Depends, sometimes, I get logos for headers in there, other times it’s for posts or featured images
User 6: it’s a place to store images for the whole site, not just the posts and pages
Jerry Bates: How about when you upload media to a site? Do you use the Media > Add New page for that, or the “Add Media” button in the editor
User 6: both
Jerry Bates: Depending on the situation?
User 6: depends what I am doing
Jerry Bates: What kinds of things do you tend to use the Add New Media page for?
User 6: If I am going to upload a lot at a time, pdf’s that need to be available, stuff like that
Jerry Bates: Gotcha. How much media do you have in your Media Library? Thousands of files, Hundreds of files, or just a few
User 6: depends on the site, some have thousands, some less
Jerry Bates: What type of media makes up the majority of files in your library? Images, Video, Audio, Documents (Word, pdf, etc.) or an even mix?
User 6: mix of images and pdf files, I haven’t ever hosted video on any sites, I use youtube or vimeo, and no docs
Jerry Bates: No audio either?
User 6: I have done one site with audio, but only one
User 6: that was hard
User 6: confusing, rather
Jerry Bates: You mean in context to the library?
User 6: And I don’t think I used the library to house them
Jerry Bates: I see, so just confusing, because audio
Jerry Bates: How do you find things in the Media Library? Do you tend to scan visually for the thumbnails, focus on the titles, look for where the media is “Uploaded to”, or something else?
User 6: scan and search, although searching isn’t so good. focus on dates
Jerry Bates: So when you say dates, do you use the filters at the top, or click the columns in the list to re-sort your view?
User 6: usually I re-sort, I don’t remember using filters very often. But I also have re-uploaded because I couldn’t find what I was looking for.
Jerry Bates: I have done that too.
Jerry Bates: Do you edit your media titles frequently?
User 6: No
Jerry Bates: What about captions? Do you often caption images?
User 6: no
User 6: I tell people to do so for SEO but I don’t usually
Jerry Bates: Right. So the description field and alt tag, you don’t use those much either?
User 6: No, again, I tell people to do it and some do and some don’t – depends on the amount they need to do it for
Jerry Bates: Makes sense. Are there any tasks you find difficult to accomplish in the library currently?
User 6: No, not really, I just wish the media were more like a custom post type. It had taxonomies!
Jerry Bates: Interesting, to that leads into my next question: Are there any tasks you wish the Media Library would allow you to do currently?
User 6: That’s it!
Jerry Bates: If I can ask a follow-up, how would you see yourself using taxonomies in the library?
User 6: A few things, you are looking for the image that goes with a recipe, if it had the taxonomy of beef, you could narrow your search. Also, you could use a taxonomy of images for a portfolio, for instance.
User 6: Also, another use before I forget: if you have a ton of forms as docs or pdf, you could link them in the menu as pages – post types.
User 6: That’s what I meant by post type = media. Can you program that with pods do you think?
User 6: Or as a plugin?
Jerry Bates: Possibly. It is not something we considered that I am aware of, but I can see how it would be useful
User 6: I have seen other CMS use media that way, and it really made sense
Jerry Bates: Right, so when you say media as a post type, you mention adding it to custom menus (more easily anyway) but what about other uses?
User 6: it could be it’s own page, easier,
User 6: but I guess the main easy is the menu.
User 6: portfolios, and collections, like a tumbler?
Jerry Bates: Gotcha. Well thanks for bringing that idea up!
Media Grid 