Application of Category to Media Item Not Saving

Thank you for your report. I have been able to reproduce the problem on my system, and I will investigate further to see if I can correct it. Both Enhanced Media Library and MLA add taxonomy support to Media Library items. In the Media/Library Grid mode, Each plugin operates somewhat differently, and I want to make MLA as compatible with EML as possible.

Enhanced Media Library adds its own “Media Categories” taxonomy by default and creates a Media/Media Taxonomies admin page with options to assign other taxonomies to Media Library items and create additional custom taxonomies as well. EML adds checklist-style meta boxes to the Attachment Details area of the Media/Library Grid view. When MLA is active, the EML meta boxes do not work properly, and term assignments are not recorded. In fact, existing term assignments are deleted as well. This is the MLA defect I will work on fixing.

MLA adds its own “Att. Categories” and “Att. Tags” taxonomies by default. These are available in the EML Media/Media Taxonomies admin page, but MLA has its own option settings in the Taxonomy Support section of the Settings/Media Library Assistant General tab. When the “Support” box in this section is checked for any taxonomy, MLA takes over the job of handling it in the Media/Library Grid view. To avoid the term assignment problem, simply check the appropriate boxes in MLA’s Taxonomy Support section and let MLA handle the Media/Library Grid view.

You wrote “When I deactivate Enhanced Media Library only, I am able to apply Att. categories to items, but not in a user-friendly way.” To enhance performance, MLA delays loading and displaying taxonomy terms until you click the “<- Click to toggle” link in the Attachment Details area. I assume this is the “not user-friendly” behavior you are referring to; is that right? If so, you can configure MLA to more closely emulate the EML behavior by automatically filling and opening the taxonomy meta boxes when you select an item. To do that:

1. Go to the Plugins/Installed Plugins page and activate Media Library Assistant.
2. Go to the Settings/Media Library Assistant General tab.
3. Scroll down to the “Taxonomy Support” section.
4. Check the “Support” box and any other options that appeal to you. Maybe use the “Att. Categories” options as a guide.
5. Scroll down to the “Media Manager/Media Grid Enhancements” section.
6. Check the “Media Manager auto-fill meta boxes” and “Media Manager auto-open meta boxes” boxes to emulate the EML approach.
7. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click “Save Changes” to record the new settings.

As I wrote above, I am committed to making MLA and EML compatible and I will work on fixing the problem you’ve identified. I will leave this topic unresolved until I have progress to report. In the interim, I hope the alternative I outlined above will let you use MLA to assign terms in a user-friendly way and enjoy the other MLA benefits as well. Thanks for your interest in MLA.

I have uploaded a new MLA Development Version dated 20250101 that corrects the problem. You can find step-by-step instructions for using the Development Version in this earlier topic:

How to download & install the current development version of MLA

Once the Development Version is installed you can retest the handling of EML term assignments in the Media/Library Grid mode. Don’t forget to disable MLA support of the taxonomy if you followed the suggestions in my earlier post.

The fix will be part of my next MLA version, but in the interim it would be great if you could install the Development Version and let me know if it works for you. Thanks again for alerting me to this MLA defect.

Hi David,

Thank you for this plugin which is very practical (especially for my client who is a photographer and has a lot of photos).

Unfortunately I have the same problem as the person above and the beta version didn’t solve the problem. How can I solve it?

Thanks in advance.

Cédric

Thanks for your report, and for taking the time to install and try the Development Version. I’d like to know more about your experience so I can investigate further.

First, can you tell me the date of the Development Version you are using? You can find it in the Title of the Settings/Media Library Assistant admin page.

Second, can you tell me where the problem is occurring? Is it on the Media/Library “grid” view page or on some other page or popup window?

Third, is the problem with a taxonomy that does not have MLA support enabled? Have you tried enabling MLA support for the taxonomy (in the Taxonomy Support section of the Settings/Media Library Assistant General tab)?

Fourth, can you tell me which taxonomy is having the problem? Is it a flat (e.g. Tags) or hierarchical (e.g. Categories) taxonomy?

Last, what WordPress and Enhanced Media Library versions are you using?

Thanks for any additional information you can provide.

Hello David,

Sorry for the late reply, I’ve had a few problems. Anyway, thanks for your reply.

Good news: before replying, I updated the plugin (Media Library Assistant v3.24 (20250123)) and it works!

Thanks for your help!

Cédric.