Attachment Taxonomies
by Felix Arntz · Media
Also makes 11 other plugins · 17.2K+ installs across the portfolio →
This plugin adds categories and tags to the WordPress media library - lightweight and developer-friendly.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
A 86/100
no flags
Active installs
1K+
≈1.2K estimated
Momentum
+1%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “categories”, “media” and “tags” aren't earning a slot. You list them, but you're not in the first 24 results for those searches. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.
86 health vs 62 average across 3,286 Media plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →1.3%
of downloads still active
At least 1K of 78.4K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Media plugin keeps 0.8%, across 2,320 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Media plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
This plugin shipped 2 releases in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.
Details
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Excellent listing optimization
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 78 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
4.6★ over 10 reviews, smoothed to 4.18★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
39
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.3
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
21%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-0.1
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| taxonomies your tag | #3 | #7 | down 1 |
| attachment your tag | #4 | #10 | down 1 |
| attachment categories | #2 | #4 | 0 |
| attachment id | #2 | #5 | 0 |
| attachments | #11 | #21 | down 3 |
| all taxonomies | #7 | #14 | 0 |
| media attachment | #11 | #18 | up 1 |
| custom taxonomies | #20 | #23 | down 2 |
| categories your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| media your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| tags your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
36 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 8 listed. 28 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 3 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “categories”, “media” and “tags” aren't earning a slot. You list them, but you're not in the first 24 results for those searches. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,489 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 3.1K · peaks are release surges
Directory rank vs rivals
wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
Release cadence
Occasionally updatedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
2
releases in the last 12 months
3mo ago
latest release · v1.2.2 · 15 Aug 2026
7
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 69% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “1K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 3 months ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just over 1K.
At the current install trend, crossing 2K+ in roughly 1213 days.
Install history since 2 Mar 2018
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Martin Sauter6.0y ago
Taxonomies for media items are so basics that I will never understand why they are still not part of the WordPress core. This plugin adds this functionality, and it does it in a clean, very WordPress-like way. However, there are two issues which bother me in my daily work: 1. Categories can be organised in hierarchies, but these hierarchies are not always visible – sometimes categories are presented as a flat list. 2. The image picker of the Divi page builder does not show these taxonomies (which may be an issue of Divi, not of this plugin).
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ OrangeDesign8.2y ago
To rank a large number of image, it’s a great plugin!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Dinamicore8.7y ago
This plugin does the job. The plugin does something other similar plugins dont: it integrates fine with WordPress media library, and displays categories when you want to manage them uploading within other plugins.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ sagiet8.9y ago
Looking forward to playing with this possibility. 🙂 tnx for updating the plugin to work width media press. This topic was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by sagiet.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Daniel Menȝies9.2y ago
Now this is a piece of art! No bloat, no hassle. Well done Felix!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ kungfunefar9.3y ago
Ein sehr sehr cooles Plugin, da es so schlicht und nicht so aufgebläht ist wie andere ähnliche Plugins, so wie es beschrieben ist. Eine Kleinigkeit fehlt meiner Meinung noch und zwar die Massenbearbeitung von Attachments, wenn man mehrere Dateien einer Kategorie zuordnen möchte. Aktuell können Kategorien und Schlagwörter nur direkt im Post/ Attachment zugewiesen werden, das ist sehr mühsam wenn man viele Dateien in der Mediathek hat. Und es wäre noch klasse wenn man beim Upload neuer Dateien direkt eine Kategorie zuweisen könnte. THUMBS UP, solche Plugins wünscht man sich !!!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ wellbeingtips9.8y ago
Thanks for this plugin.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Kaelri10.1y ago
Does exactly what I expect, simply and flawlessly. The only improvement I’d like to see is bulk management, as is available for other post types.
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 6.3.2
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 5 languages, 0 at 90% or more
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
7 of 8 pass · checked 28 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "This plugin adds categories and tags to the WordPress media library - lightweight and developer-friendly."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 7 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 7 of 7 read like questions a user would type.
- ✓ Names who it is for Names its audience or use cases ("if you have", "for developers").
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ✓ Headings and lists 2 headings and 2 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,535 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 5 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-08-09 900+ → 1K+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2026-08-07 1K+ → 900+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2026-08-06 900+ → 1K+ up after 104 days in tier
- 2026-04-24 1K+ → 900+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2026-04-23 900+ → 1K+ up after 5 days in tier
- 2026-04-18 1K+ → 900+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2026-04-16 900+ → 1K+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-04-15 1K+ → 900+ down after 1 days in tier
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
-
Media Library Assistant 70K+ installs · 4.8★ · 3 shared tags A - W WP Required Taxonomies – Categories and Tags Mandatory 1K+ installs · 4.0★ · 3 shared tags A
-
Media Library Categories 20K+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags A - P Post Tags and Categories for Pages 20K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags B
- V Visual Term Description Editor 10K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags C
-
Essential Widgets 10K+ installs · 3.8★ · 2 shared tags B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Attachment Taxonomies into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/attachment-taxonomies" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Attachment Taxonomies — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Attachment Taxonomies: 1K+ active installs, 4.6★ (10 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/attachment-taxonomies
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