How do I caption a single image?
Go to your Media Library and switch it to list view (the list icon at the top left, next to the grid icon). Hover over an image row and click “Generate alt text.” Altwright writes a description and saves it.
How do I caption a lot of images at once?
Two easy ways. In the Media Library list view, tick the images you want, then choose “Altwright: generate missing alt text” from the Bulk actions menu. Or go to Media → Altwright Audit and click “Generate alt text for all missing images” — one click handles your entire library, however many images that is. There’s no batch limit: it works through everything in the background while you carry on, with a progress bar on the Audit page and a Stop button if you change your mind.
Can it really handle thousands of images?
Yes — that’s exactly what it’s built for. The audit pages stay fast at any size (they show 20 items per page with paging controls), and the background captioning works through any number of images a few at a time, so it never overloads your site or your AI account. If an individual image can’t be processed — a broken file, an unsupported format — it’s automatically set aside so it can’t stall the run, and it stays visible in the Missing list for you to handle by hand. Stopping and restarting is always safe: everything already written is kept.
How long will a big library take?
Be prepared: it’s a background job, not an instant one. The pace depends on your hosting — roughly several hundred to a couple thousand images per hour on a typical site — so a library of many thousands can take several hours. That’s by design: it processes a few at a time so your site stays fast and your AI bill stays predictable. You don’t need to watch it; leave the page, come back later, and the progress bar will tell you where things stand. On very quiet sites WordPress’s scheduler only runs when someone visits — if progress seems slow, ask your host about setting up a “real cron job” (most support teams do this in a minute).
I started a big batch and nothing seems to be happening. Why?
Altwright processes in the background using WordPress’s built-in scheduler. On a busy site this moves steadily; on a brand-new or low-traffic site it can be slow, because the scheduler only runs when someone visits. The Audit page shows live progress and refreshes itself. See “How long will a big library take?” above.
Does it overwrite descriptions I’ve already written?
No. Bulk captioning skips any image that already has a description. It only fills the blanks. You’re always in control of anything it changes.
How do I see and fix duplicates?
Media → Altwright Audit lists every image that’s missing a description and every group of images sharing the same one. You can edit any description right there in a box and save. (Automatically rewriting duplicates so each is unique is a Pro feature — see below.)
Where do the descriptions actually get saved?
Into WordPress’s own “Alternative Text” field for each image — the standard field you’d see if you opened an image in the Media Library. That means every other tool you use (Yoast, Rank Math, accessibility checkers, your theme) reads them automatically.
Does it work alongside my SEO plugin?
Yes. Altwright doesn’t replace anything — it improves the standard field your SEO and accessibility tools already rely on.