Unattached images – WHY??

Attachments have value when it comes to galleries (by default a gallery on a post/page contains all attached images for that post/page), imports (there is an option to automatically import all attached images when importing a WordPress export file), and several plugins.

Being able to quickly view Unattached images for housekeeping purposes is very valuable to all above scenarios. Ideally, all images should be attached to something.

For housekeeping purposes this would be valuable. But it isn’t. Since it doesn’t work.

If one blogger uploads twelve different images to a post and then uses only one of them, the other eleven images wouldn’t be detected as “unattached” and therefor you can’t use that filter for housekeeping purposes.

Many of the bloggers on my sites are blogging via the mobile app and the images uploaded throught that are all considered “unattached”.

With housekeeping I assume you mean cleaning out unused images. But how would you use this filter in that purpose? You will have situations where unused images are considered “attached” and truly used images that are considered “unattached”.

In my meaning, this filter is useless for housekeeping purposes. What you would need is a “used/unused” filter.

If I’m wrong, please let me know.

Just because it doesn’t work for one person’s definition of housekeeping doesn’t mean it won’t for another’s. ??

By housekeeping, I mean ensuring that images are properly attached for plugin functionality and proper export/import, which seems to be what most of the bloggers I know care about.

I can see your point too, I just think this will have to be one of those agree-to-disagree things, unless you have a better patch to contribute and the core developers implement it of course: https://make.www.ads-software.com/core/handbook/testing/reporting-bugs/

WordPress now powers 26.2% of the known web https://w3techs.com/technologies/history_overview/content_management/all/y so it’s never going to be “all things for all people” but it’s sure going to do its best to be “the best thing for most people.” ??

Of course it doesn’t. I’m fine with that.

There a few things in WordPress that I would do in a other way. But still I can understand why some people like it this way.

But this filter I cannot find the reason for keeping. You haven’t convinced me ??

The term used is one big problem. “unattached” will have people think an image is not connected to any post/page and therefor safe to delete. And you don’t have to search long enough to find plenty of those cases unfortunately.

So bloggers prefer proper export/import before a clean media library you say? I find it hard to believe. But I’m ok with agree-to-disagree here.

But with my few points of proof that unused images are considered attached and truly used images are considered unattached you wouldn’t get a proper export/import since depending on where the image is uploaded and not if it is actually used.

I’m in a export/import situation now where I’m about to rebuild one site and would love it if I could use this filter in a valuable way. The site has some 800 posts with one featured image to every post. The media gallery contains 1000 images. So approximately 200 images are unused. (But 900 images are unattached…) I want to find out which ones are safe to delete.

Is this a housekeeping purpose where this filter could be used?

But this filter I cannot find the reason for keeping. You haven’t convinced me.

It’s not really something that needs convincing one way or another. It’s just something that is until the developers decide differently, or someone at least submits a patch to change the behavior.

You just asked why it was that way, and I offered an explanation, that’s all. I’m not saying either one of us is right or wrong, just confirming what is and why it came to be that way.

Ok. Let’s agree to disagree there as well.

My original question was why this filter was still here and why anyone would ever want it. What the purpose is. You haven’t convinced me there is a valuable purpose.

You mentioned proper import/export. But if a proper import/export depends on whether an image is considered attached or not the filter is even worse than expected.

I have twelve pages of images now moved, however, they all came through as unattached. How do I attach every single one of them (as they were before) without doing a massive job manually? Can this be done more easily than going through 12 years of posts (probably 3,000) and finding each image and attaching? I’d have to hire someone willing to spend many hours doing this. There must be a better way!