Update image alt text without having to replace images on posts and pages

  • From my reading of WP and other articles it sounds like for search engines to be able to use or recognise image alt text, this should be added to the Media file before the image is placed. This means that when I want to update image alt text, I would have to “re-place” the image(s) when alt text has been updated.

    Please correct me if my understanding of this workflow is incorrect.
    Has anyone found a sleeker / less onerous process for updating alt text, that doesn’t require re-placement of images?

    My concern is that I will miss instances of an image, if it’s used multiple times on a site, and won’t benefit from the updated alt text.

    • This topic was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Jan Dembowski.
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  • Moderator bcworkz

    (@bcworkz)

    Sorry for the slow reply. You may have already come to the following conclusion, but here it is anyway.

    The alt text seen in the media library should be thought of as a default value. It should be assumed that end users might frequently alter the alt text in specific instances, so you cannot assume all instances of an image should all have identical alt text. This is why alt text is saved in post content, it could vary in every post or even in every instance.

    It is feasible to create a script that queries for all posts with a specific image and updates the alt text to a specific value. But because end users may not want all instances updated, such a script should probably only update if the existing alt text is a certain value, such as the current default. If it’s not the default value, the end user wanted something different and it shouldn’t be updated with a new default value.

    Of course, for your own site where you’re responsible for all content, if you want to force the same alt text everywhere, that’s your prerogative.

    Thread Starter marelise

    (@marelise)

    @bcworkz Thank you, I appreciate the response, and the background / context for why the alt text updates / works the way it does.

    I will be looking for / commissioning a script like that, at least to find all instances of an image of a site, if not to “bulk update” alt text. That would be exactly what I’m looking for in this case. ??

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