EXIF Meta Manager

EXIF Meta Manager lets you embed EXIF metadata directly into JPEG and WebP image files from your WordPress admin. Unlike plugins that only store metadata in the database, this plugin physically writes metadata into the image file itself using the PEL (PHP Exif Library) — so the data travels with the image wherever it goes.

It also automatically converts every uploaded image to WebP format at full quality, improving page load speed without any quality loss.

Key Features

• Inline EXIF Editing — Click the “Edit EXIF” button in the media sidebar to expand fields directly in place. No popup, no new tab. Works in the standard Media Library, Elementor editor, ACF image fields, Gutenberg, WooCommerce, and any WordPress media modal
• Attachment Edit Screen — Full EXIF Metadata metabox with all fields on the attachment editor page (Media > Edit)
• Bulk Edit — Switch to List View in the Media Library, select up to 50 images, and apply shared Author/Copyright/Keywords plus per-image Description and GPS in one save operation
• Auto WebP Conversion — Every uploaded image (JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP) is automatically converted to WebP at quality 100 (lossless). The original file is replaced and all WordPress thumbnails are generated from the WebP source
• GPS Location Search — Built-in location search powered by Nominatim/OpenStreetMap. Type a city or address, select from the dropdown, and GPS coordinates are filled in automatically. Runs entirely in the browser — no server-side requests
• Default Author and Copyright — Pre-configure default values that pre-fill the EXIF form for every new image. Override per image at any time
• Auto Backup — Optionally creates a backup copy of the original file before any EXIF write (e.g. image_exif_backup_1234567890.webp)
• Settings Page — Full settings page at Settings > EXIF Meta Manager with toggles for all features

EXIF Fields Supported

• Author — Written to the standard EXIF Artist tag
• Copyright — Written to the EXIF Copyright tag. Travels with the file permanently
• Description — Written to the ImageDescription tag
• Keywords — Written to the XPKeywords tag (UTF-16LE encoded, semicolon-delimited internally)
• GPS Latitude and Longitude — Written as DMS rational values to the GPS sub-IFD. Decimal degrees are converted automatically

WebP Conversion Details

• Converts: JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF
• Skips: WebP (already converted), SVG, PDF, video, audio, and all non-image files
• PNG transparency (alpha channel) is fully preserved in the output WebP
• GIF animations are converted as the first frame (static WebP)
• Conversion runs at quality 100 — maximum quality, no lossy compression, no visual difference
• Works on browser uploads, REST API uploads, WP-CLI sideloads, and programmatic uploads
• Can be toggled on/off at any time from the Settings page without affecting already-converted images

Compatibility

• Elementor Free and Pro — Edit EXIF works directly inside Elementor’s media browser without leaving the editor
• Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) Free and Pro — no metabox conflicts
• Gutenberg block editor
• WooCommerce product image uploads
• WordPress 6.0 to 7.0
• PHP 8.0 to 8.3

Security

• All user input is sanitized and unslashed before processing
• File paths are validated against the WordPress uploads directory using realpath checks with trailing slash protection
• Nonce verification on all REST API endpoints, AJAX handlers, and metabox saves
• Per-attachment ownership check: users can only edit attachments they have permission to edit (current_user_can(‘edit_post’))
• GPS coordinates are range-validated (lat -90 to 90, lng -180 to 180) before any file write
• No outbound server-side HTTP requests — GPS search is browser-only
• WP_Filesystem API used for all file read/write operations

Bundled Libraries

This plugin includes PEL (PHP Exif Library) by Martin Geisler, licensed under GPL-2.0. PEL is a required server-side dependency for reading and writing binary EXIF data in JPEG and WebP files. It is not available via CDN or as an external service — it must run server-side.

External Services

This plugin connects to the Nominatim geocoding API provided by the OpenStreetMap Foundation to perform GPS location searches.

What it is used for

When a user types a place name or address into the Location Search field in the EXIF edit panel, the plugin sends a search query to Nominatim to retrieve matching GPS coordinates. This is a user-initiated action only.

What data is sent

The search query text typed by the user (a place name or address string). No other data is sent. No image data, no user account information, no site data.

When it is sent

Only when the user actively types in the Location Search field and a debounce timer fires (400ms after the user stops typing). No data is sent automatically or in the background.

Important

This request is made directly from the user’s browser — no data passes through your server.

Service provider: Nominatim / OpenStreetMap Foundation

• Service URL: https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org
• Terms of Use: https://nominatim.org/release-docs/latest/api/Overview/
• OpenStreetMap Privacy Policy: https://osmfoundation.org/wiki/Privacy_Policy
• Nominatim Usage Policy: https://operations.osmfoundation.org/policies/nominatim/