FluffAlt — Auto Alt Text for Images

Description

FluffAlt automatically generates the alt text (the alt attribute) for your images using a vision AI model, so every picture on your WordPress site has a meaningful text description. Better image SEO, better accessibility (WCAG), and you never have to write alt text by hand again.

It can fill in alt text the moment you publish a post, right after you upload an image, or in bulk for hundreds of images you uploaded before. It also adds a one-click “Generate alt text” button to the Media Library and the Gutenberg Image block.

You bring your own API key. The plugin talks to any OpenAI-compatible chat API, so you can pick the option that fits your budget:

• OpenAI — gpt-4o-mini and other vision models. The most reliable quality; pay-as-you-go.
• OpenRouter — a single key for many models, including free vision models. Set the model to auto-free and the plugin picks a working free one.
• Cloudflare Workers AI — a free tier with the open LLaVA model. Simpler alt text, no card needed to start.
• Custom URL — any other OpenAI-compatible endpoint (self-hosted models, regional proxies, and so on).

Every request sends only a downscaled copy of the image plus a short prompt, and asks for a low-detail reading, so the token cost per image stays tiny.

What it does

• One-click generation — a “Generate alt text” button in the Media Library and in the Gutenberg Image block, right under the alt field.
• On publish — when a post goes from draft to published, the plugin scans the content and orders alt text only for the images that actually ended up in the article. You pay only for what you use.
• On upload (optional) — generate as soon as an image is added to a post.
• Bulk generation — a settings-page tool for sites that already have hundreds of images: choose a post type, category or tag, see how many images have no alt text, and run the job in the background (Action Scheduler or WP-Cron). You can close the tab, come back later, watch progress, or stop it.
• Error log with retry — failed images are listed on the settings page with “Retry” and “Dismiss” buttons.
• Fill attachment fields (optional) — put the same text into the attachment title, caption and description.
• Language setting — pick the output language from a dropdown (English, Russian, German, French, Spanish and more; defaults to the site language). Works regardless of the prompt language.
• Skip decorative images — by minimum size, or by filename fragment (icon-, logo, sprite, and so on).
• Delay for auto-generation — authors add and remove images while writing; the plugin waits a configurable number of minutes before generating.
• Clean uninstall (optional) — a checkbox to remove all plugin settings and internal data when the plugin is deleted. The alt text on your images is standard WordPress data and always stays.
• Translation-ready — English by default, with a Russian translation bundled (ru_RU).

External services

This plugin sends images to a third-party AI service to generate alt text. No request is made until you enter an API key and choose a provider, and a request happens only when alt text is generated (manually, on upload, on publish, or in bulk).

For each generation the plugin sends: a downscaled copy (or URL) of the image, and a short text prompt. It receives back the generated alt text. No personal data, post content, or user information is sent.

The provider is whichever one you select in the settings:

• OpenAI — https://api.openai.com — Terms · Privacy
• OpenRouter — https://openrouter.ai — Terms · Privacy
• ProxyAPI — https://proxyapi.ru — Terms · Privacy
• Cloudflare Workers AI — https://api.cloudflare.com — Terms · Privacy
• Custom URL — the endpoint you enter yourself.

Compatibility

Tested with PHP 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3. Tested with WordPress up to 7.1.

License

This plugin is licensed under the GPLv2 or later.