Media LibrarianEnhanced Media Library alternative
Switch from Enhanced Media Library and keep every category.
Media Librarian is a maintained fork of Enhanced Media Library 2.9.4. It reads your existing media categories, tags and settings, so switching takes two clicks and nothing needs exporting.
Why people are switching
Enhanced Media Library is used on tens of thousands of sites. Its last release, 2.9.4, came out in July 2024, and its support forum has had no reply from the author since May 2024. The latest news on the author's website, announcing a 3.0 beta, is also from July 2024. On WordPress 7.0 and later its filter bar spills into extra rows.
Media Librarian carries on from 2.9.4 under its GPL licence, with fixes for current WordPress and a lot more speed. Thanks to wpUXsolutions for over a decade of work on the original.
How to switch
- Install Media Librarian from Plugins → Add New Plugin and activate it. It pauses itself while Enhanced Media Library is active.
- Click Deactivate Enhanced Media Library in Media Librarian's notice.
- Your categories are all there. A welcome message counts what carried over and offers to delete Enhanced Media Library.
Don't use Enhanced Media Library's "delete all data" option. It removes the media categories you want to keep. Deleting the plugin from the Plugins screen is safe.
Full details, including how to switch back: switching guide.
What's different
Media Librarian keeps the features you use and the way they work. These are the changes.
| Enhanced Media Library 2.9.4 | Media Librarian 1.0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Filter bar on WordPress 7 | Spills into extra rows | Fits neatly, search on the right |
| Tested with | WordPress 6.5 | WordPress 6.6 to 7.1, PHP 8.3 |
| Opening the media library (10,000 images) | ~1,060 queries | 34–46 queries |
| Saving a ticked category | 2.2–2.5 s | ~0.2 s |
| Each 80 images loaded while scrolling | 10.8 MB | 87 KB |
| Editing tags in the media popup | Could replace an image's categories with its tags | Fixed |
| Category counts in filters | Count one level of child categories | Count every level |
| Counts after ticking a box | Update on page reload | Update straight away |
| Requests to outside servers | Checks its author's server for notices every 12 hours | None |
| Premium options | Greyed out in the free version | None shown; PRO settings are kept |
| Support | No author replies since May 2024 | Active, on the WordPress.org forum |
Speed figures come from a test site with 10,000 images and 500 categories on WordPress 7.1.3, with both plugins on the same data.
If you used EML PRO
Your categories and settings carry over, and PRO-only settings are kept rather than deleted. PRO features such as bulk editing aren't in the free version. A Media Librarian Pro is planned, with an offer for EML PRO owners: read more.
Questions
Will my theme and galleries keep working?
Yes. Taxonomy names such as media_category don't change, so anything that uses them keeps working.
Can I go back?
Yes. Deactivate Media Librarian and reactivate Enhanced Media Library. Both use the same data.
Is Media Librarian connected to wpUXsolutions?
No. Media Librarian is an independent fork, as the GPL licence allows.