Title: Heirloom Gallery – Private Media Archive
Author: adamsisco
Published: <strong>September 30, 2026</strong>
Last modified: September 30, 2026

---

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# Heirloom Gallery – Private Media Archive

 By [adamsisco](https://profiles.wordpress.org/adamsisco/)

[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/heirloom-gallery.1.0.0.zip)

 * [Details](https://wordpress.org/plugins/heirloom-gallery/#description)
 * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/plugins/heirloom-gallery/#reviews)
 *  [Installation](https://wordpress.org/plugins/heirloom-gallery/#installation)
 * [Development](https://wordpress.org/plugins/heirloom-gallery/#developers)

 [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/heirloom-gallery/)

## Description

Heirloom Gallery is a self-hosted WordPress plugin for organizing, preserving, and
sharing your photo collections with complete privacy. Your photos stay on your server.
No cloud uploads, no data collection, no tracking.

Keep your family photos secure and organized with:
 – Unlimited photo uploads – 
Smart people tagging and album organization – EXIF data extraction (date + camera
info) – Private shareable galleries with access control – User permission management–
Photo restoration from trash – Bulk image actions and management – Gallery analytics
and engagement tracking

All data stays on your server. No external cloud services or API calls. No fees 
beyond hosting.

#### Free Features

 * Upload and organize unlimited photos
 * Create albums and manage collections
 * Tag people in photos for easy discovery
 * Set gallery visibility to private or public
 * Restore deleted photos from trash (within a time window)
 * User role management (3 user roles)
 * Advanced user role management with capability overrides
 * Responsive design for mobile viewing
 * View engagement analytics (views, likes, comments)

#### Add-Ons

Extend Heirloom Gallery with powerful add-ons:

**[Custom Fields Add-on](https://checkout.freemius.com/product/35405/)**
 Add unlimited
custom metadata fields to your Heirloom Gallery photos. * Create unlimited custom
metadata fields (text, textarea, number, dropdown) * Position fields above or below
standard image metadata * Drag-and-drop field reordering * Full field management
via admin dashboard

**[Engagement Add-on](https://checkout.freemius.com/product/36370/)**
 Add likes
and comments to your Heirloom Gallery photos. * Enable likes and comments on photos*
Track engagement analytics (views, likes, comments) * User permissions via role-
based access control * Users can edit and delete their own comments

#### Security & Privacy

 * All photos stored locally on your WordPress server
 * No external API calls or cloud syncing
 * WordPress permission system integration
 * Nonce-based AJAX request protection
 * User access control basid on user capabilities
 * Proper file type validation
 * Prepared SQL statements throughout

### Support

For detailed help and documentation:
 – Visit our [Knowledge Base](https://wpheirloom.com/gallery/docs/)–
Report issues on [GitHub](https://github.com/adamsisco-hash/heirloom-gallery)

### License

This plugin is licensed under the GPL v2 or later. See LICENSE.txt for details.

### Dependencies

**Third-Party Libraries:**
 – **Dropzone.js** (v5.x) – JavaScript file upload library–
License: MIT – Repository: https://www.dropzonejs.com/ – Included as: `/assets/js/
dropzone.min.js` (minified) – Source: https://github.com/dropzone/dropzone

**Plugin Source Code:**
 – All plugin JavaScript files (`dashboard.js`, `gallery.
js`, `gallery-admin.js`) are non-minified source code included directly in the plugin
for transparency and maintainability. – All PHP source code is unobfuscated and 
available within the plugin directory. – No build tools are required; the plugin
works directly from the included source files.

## Screenshots

[⌊Main gallery view⌉⌊Main gallery view⌉[

Main gallery view

[⌊Single image view with metadata⌉⌊Single image view with metadata⌉[

Single image view with metadata

[⌊Organize Library⌉⌊Organize Library⌉[

Organize Library

[⌊Sharing section⌉⌊Sharing section⌉[

Sharing section

[⌊Manage Users - customize user's capabilities⌉⌊Manage Users - customize user's 
capabilities⌉[

Manage Users – customize user’s capabilities

[⌊Settings and configuration options⌉⌊Settings and configuration options⌉[

Settings and configuration options

## Installation

 1. Download the plugin from the WordPress plugin repository
 2. Upload to `/wp-content/plugins/` or install through WordPress admin
 3. Activate the plugin through the WordPress Plugins menu
 4. Navigate to the new “Gallery Manager” page to get started uploading and organizing
    your photos

## FAQ

### Will my photos be backed up to the cloud?

No. Heirloom Gallery keeps all your photos on your server only. We don’t upload,
sync, or backup photos anywhere else.

### Can I share galleries with others?

Yes! You can share individual photos, albums, or personal albums. Each share gets
a unique private link that you can send to anyone to view those images. You can 
deactivate shares at any time to stop access.

### What photo formats are supported?

JPG, PNG, WebP, and GIF are fully supported. Note: iPhone photos often come in HEIC
format, which has limited compatibility across browsers and devices. Convert them
to JPG or PNG for best results.

### What metadata can I track for photos?

Heirloom Gallery tracks comprehensive metadata for each photo including title, caption,
date taken, location, certainty level, albums, and people tags. For users who need
additional custom fields, the Custom Fields Add-on allows you to create unlimited
custom metadata fields.

### Is there a file size limit?

By default, the WordPress file upload limit applies (usually 32MB). Admins can adjust
this in Settings.

### How do I restore deleted photos?

Deleted photos go to trash. Go to the Trash section in your dashboard and restore
them. After a certain period, they can be permanently deleted.

### Can multiple people manage the gallery?

Yes! Heirloom Gallery includes role-based user management. You can add multiple 
users and customize what each role can see and do. Restrict specific capabilities
like uploading, deleting, sharing, or editing to maintain control over who has access
to what.

### Can I perform bulk operations on photos?

Yes! Bulk actions save time when managing large collections. You can select multiple
photos and quickly add an album, tag people, add location data, or set the date 
taken all at once.

### What happens to the EXIF data in my photos?

Heirloom Gallery automatically extracts and uses certain EXIF data from your photos,
including the date taken and camera information when available. You can disable 
EXIF data extraction in the plugin settings if you prefer.

### Does the plugin work on mobile?

Yes! Heirloom Gallery is fully responsive and works on all devices including mobile
phones. However, managing the gallery is typically easier on a tablet or larger 
screen. Viewing shared galleries works great on mobile.

### Do I need the add-ons to use Heirloom Gallery?

No! Heirloom Gallery is a fully functional plugin on its own with everything you
need to organize, tag, and share your photos. The add-ons (Custom Fields Add-on 
and Engagement Add-on) are optional enhancements for power users who want additional
capabilities.

### Do you offer support?

For detailed documentation and help, visit our knowledge base at https://wpheirloom.
com/gallery/docs/

## Reviews

There are no reviews for this plugin.

## Contributors & Developers

“Heirloom Gallery – Private Media Archive” is open source software. The following
people have contributed to this plugin.

Contributors

 *   [ adamsisco ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/adamsisco/)

[Translate “Heirloom Gallery – Private Media Archive” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/heirloom-gallery)

### Interested in development?

[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/heirloom-gallery/),
check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/heirloom-gallery/),
or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/heirloom-gallery/)
by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/heirloom-gallery/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).

## Changelog

#### 1.0.0

 * Initial release
 * Full-featured photo organization with smart people and album tagging
 * Private shareable galleries with complete user permission control

## Meta

 *  Version **1.0.0**
 *  Last updated **22 hours ago**
 *  Active installations **Fewer than 10**
 *  WordPress version ** 5.8 or higher **
 *  Tested up to **7.1.2**
 *  PHP version ** 7.4 or higher **
 * Tags
 * [albums](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/albums/)[archive](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/archive/)
   [photo gallery](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/photo-gallery/)[private](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/private/)
 *  [Advanced View](https://wordpress.org/plugins/heirloom-gallery/advanced/)

## Ratings

No reviews have been submitted yet.

[Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/heirloom-gallery/reviews/#new-post)

[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/heirloom-gallery/reviews/)

## Contributors

 *   [ adamsisco ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/adamsisco/)

## Support

Got something to say? Need help?

 [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/heirloom-gallery/)