image alt tag vs title tag

LifeIsABeach · 2018-07-03 02:14:27

Is there a way of using the metadata from "Title" or some other metadata field to populate the image "alt" tag rather than the "title" tag.

Everything I've learned and read about the "title" tag in terms of SEO is that is has no real juice. It's the "alt" tag that counts and that tag should have thoughtful non-spammy content.

Thanks for any assist.

pj

Matthew · 2018-07-03 06:09:17

Presently, we populate the 'alt' attribute with the image file name, mostly to ensure it is never empty, as many users do not include captions. The best way to ensure this attribute is useful then, is to craft descriptive file names for your images.

Additionally, images are wrapped in a FIGURE element, which also contains a FIGCAPTION element, containing whatever information you've configured for the "Caption" setup in your album template, ensuring that your caption is paired with your image for SEO purposes.

LifeIsABeach · 2018-07-03 09:16:29

I am currently changing over old modified CE galleries that I had mildly modified for SEO purposes. The site did extremely well for many years, #1 for the most part in all of the SERPs, and then for whatever reason, it died in the ranks. Not sure why, but it doesn't matter. I had to move away from CE.

It would look better if we were able to have the ability to use plain text for the alt field if it is available. In CE days, that's either the way it was, or, I modified the template page(s) so that's the way it was -- I can't remember which. And it worked great and looked great in Google Image search results.

I did this because of how Google images will display the alt info when you are browsing. I don't like using a file name there. I want plain text. It looked better, and based on the tests I've done, is preferred by Google.

If this isn't possible or is not something you want to consider, then what would I need to modify to accomplish this?

Isn't there a way to have a custom metadata template for LR? For example, I have an Instagram third party plug-in for LR that provides a field for #hashtags. It would be nice to have a template that would allow us to have these few additional fields to use for something like "alt" tags, wouldn't it?

Thanks for your time.

pj

LifeIsABeach · 2018-07-05 01:43:20

Is there a file I can modify to change the content of the "alt" tag to the content in the img "title" tag?

Are there any other fields available in metadata that I might identify and use for the "alt" tag?

Matthew · 2018-07-05 05:19:05

The files are in backlight/modules/pangolin-album/fragments. You should back up a file before making edits. And we do not actually endorse users making such changes. It's not entirely a violation of warranty situation, but support issues relating to such modifications, we may choose not get involved in.

I will earmark this for future consideration, and see whether there's a reasonable way of expanding this without turning the UI or the underlying code into spaghetti.

LifeIsABeach · 2018-07-06 04:06:25

Many thanks, Matthew. Greatly appreciated.

Let me take this opportunity to say the ability to publish within Lightroom and use the engine you have created is an excellent combination for me. Frankly, I would be lost without it. I publish a lot of images over a variety of channels on a regular basis. Having looked at your coding in these various elements and the HTML it generates, I've been impressed with the code and your programming skills. As a result, I've been a loyal customer for quite a few years. As expressed in these forums over the years, I always want to be comfortable with the idea that I won't have to switch gears too often. I'm always in hope you will continue to support this product for the years to come. Thank you for what you do.

pj

Matthew · 2018-07-06 07:13:12

Thanks! We plan to keep it up, and Backlight 2 is progressing nicely, so definitely some life left in us. ;-)

LifeIsABeach · 2018-07-07 04:23:16

Follow up question:

Does Okapi and Pangolin differ in terms of how the img alt and title tags are populated?

rod barbee · 2018-07-07 04:40:33

comparing the two, it looks like they handle the alt and title tags the same:

alt="<thp>echo $img_alt</thp>" title="<thp>echo $img_title</thp>"

LifeIsABeach · 2019-10-20 11:51:48

Hello Matthew? Just wanted to say I still am in need of being able to use different content for the alt tag for SEO. Older modified pages of versions of CE performed better with plain text vs filename content. In my case, using content from the title tag works. I don't want to go back to hacking the code to make this work. I am a long time used of TTG products. Please consider option.

Thank you!

tgalex · 2019-10-20 12:05:06

Matthew and Rod - in light of Daniel’s information regarding ADA compliance in this Backlight 2 post today: http://community.theturninggate.net/vie … p?id=10509
it would seem even more appropriate to find a way to allow plain text for the alt tag on photos - i.e. the Title field, as this is one of the ADA compliance points cited.

Thanks.

Last edited by tgalex (2019-10-20 12:06:47)

rod barbee · 2019-10-20 14:56:22

That would be for Matt and Ben, they are the developers. I’m just a user with way too much time on my hands

LifeIsABeach · 2019-10-21 03:05:55

I might as well ask this now in case this next version doesn't address this issue with the alt tag:

Does anyone know which of these files I need to hack to change the alt tag content to whatever is in the meta "title"? Any other info appreciated.

backlight/modules/pangolin-album/fragments

Thank you!

pj

Last edited by LifeIsABeach (2019-10-21 03:08:19)

Daniel Leu · 2019-10-21 06:54:44

Do you use backlight or backlight 2. With the later, you can replace the entire gallery with phplugins and the API function album_top(). This way you don't have to hack any files and can change the 'alt' attribute to your liking.

LifeIsABeach · 2019-10-22 03:23:54

Excellent! I use Backlight 2.

Any chance I can get the specifics on what I need to change/add?

THANK YOU!

pj

Daniel Leu · 2019-10-23 03:09:48

Since you are using Backlight 2, this thread should be in the Backlight 2 forum. I'll move it over.

This is an example how you can customize single page view: https://lab.danielleu.com/blog/customiz … page-view/. The work necessary will be very similar for your gallery. Which gallery type do you use? Do you have a link? I'll try to see if I can get you a basic example. But this might take a week or two as I'm busy preparing a show.

Matthew · 2019-10-24 11:47:14

Ooookay. Because conversations are difficult to track when split between tickets, I'm going to close this thread.

If'n yous want to discuss ADA compliance, please follow up here:
http://community.theturninggate.net/vie … p?id=10509

I'll make a post there to sort of attempt to direction conversation into something I find personally useful.

Community @ The Turning Gate

#1 2018-07-03 02:14:27

image alt tag vs title tag

#2 2018-07-03 06:09:17

Re: image alt tag vs title tag

#3 2018-07-03 09:16:29

Re: image alt tag vs title tag

#4 2018-07-05 01:43:20

Re: image alt tag vs title tag

#5 2018-07-05 05:19:05

Re: image alt tag vs title tag

#6 2018-07-06 04:06:25

Re: image alt tag vs title tag

#7 2018-07-06 07:13:12

Re: image alt tag vs title tag

#8 2018-07-07 04:23:16

Re: image alt tag vs title tag

#9 2018-07-07 04:40:33

Re: image alt tag vs title tag

#10 2019-10-20 11:51:48

Re: image alt tag vs title tag

#11 2019-10-20 12:05:06

Re: image alt tag vs title tag

#12 2019-10-20 14:56:22

Re: image alt tag vs title tag

#13 2019-10-21 03:05:55

Re: image alt tag vs title tag

#14 2019-10-21 06:54:44

Re: image alt tag vs title tag

#15 2019-10-22 03:23:54

Re: image alt tag vs title tag

#16 2019-10-23 03:09:48

Re: image alt tag vs title tag

#17 2019-10-24 11:47:14

Re: image alt tag vs title tag

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