Possibility to insert and customize ALT text for photos

sdb · September 12, 2018

As suggested, I insert the request in this section.

Since it's very important for the images SEO, it's a big lack for a site like SM, aimed at the photos. It's essential that you can customize it.

At the moment the Alt text is taken from the first words readen in the captions (if the text is long, the rest of the caption text is not used). This if you've entered captions, otherwise you don't have Alt text in the photos.
Anyway it's not the same thing since the optimization and structure of the Alt text is different from the captions.

It would be fundamental to have the possibility to insert Alt text in a separate box, apart from the caption box.

Thank you.

annnna8888 · September 12, 2018

Sebastian, let me clarify what is used for alt text and how you can control it:

No title or caption - image filename is used as alt text
Caption, no title - caption used as alt text
Title, no caption - title used as alt text
Title and caption - title used as alt text

I hope this helps!

Ana
SmugMug Support Hero

sdb · September 12, 2018

Thank Ana for the summary. Yes I know it, from my dialogues with the support and from tests done, inserting Title and/or Caption and then analyzing the gallery.

What I would like to say and clarify is that the way in which the Captions/Titles are written are different from how the Alt text is written. Caption/Title is a text that should be read, describing the photo to a person. The Alt text is written differently, must describe it to google.

Just to give an example regarding my job: you're a wedding photographer and the photos are about a wedding in Tuscany. In you want in the Caption/Title you describe the places, the emotions, tips about the venue and everything you want. All interesting text but that doesn't help google images to understand that you are a wedding photographer who works in Tuscany for weddings. In the Caption/Title fields it's bad to write phrases like: "wedding photographer tuscany" or "tuscany reportage wedding photographer" or "professional wedding photography in tuscany". These are example sentences that can be written in the text Alt, to help SEO. Writing the Alt text in the Caption/Title means making oneself ridiculous in front of possible clients who see the photos and read those texts, which are clearly not meant to be read.
In this sense, it's not possible to control or insert a valid Alt text.

Hope I've explained well this matter. I don't think I'm the only one who thought about it.

A solution could be, if feasible, that if you write texts in the Caption/Title field and choose to hide them in the lightbox, these are used as Alt text even if not displayed on the site/lightbox. For now it's not so, since if you've written Caption/Title and hide it from the lightbox, the text Alt also disappears from the structure of the gallery web page.

Hikin' Mike · September 12, 2018

Would be nice to "copy" what WordPress does. Images include a title, caption, description and alt tag.

sdb · September 12, 2018

@Hikin' Mike said:
Would be nice to "copy" what WordPress does. Images include a title, caption, description and alt tag.

Exactly, the same principle existing on Wordpress, where Captions are separated from Alt tag.

Possibility to insert and customize ALT text for photos

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