Hi @martychc23,
Attachments pages are there because they serve as WordPress Post objects. This means they can easily be accessed via the Post API, have metadata stored in the database, etc.
Within the attachment’s metadata, there’s a “post parent” stored. WordPress controls this value, and we use it to get the redirect link.
The “post parent” value is shown under the attachment details overview, at “Uploaded To”. When the post no longer exists, or when no “Uploaded To” link is shown, then the attachment page is accessible.
Using the solution you linked from StackExchange, internal links from (automatically) inserted attachments in the content will lead to 404 pages. With that, you’ll have a worsened internal linking structure. It will also cause extra load on your server when you use caching.
That said, the Origin extension only does the one thing it promises. In combination with the default-set noindex option for attachment pages in TSF, I believe no attachment pages will be hit by visitors accidentally.
To further ensure everything’s working as intended, consider signing up for Google Analytics or any alternative thereof.
I hope this explanation alleviates your concerns 🙂 Cheers!
Thread Starter
Anonymous User 14978628
(@anonymized-14978628)
Hi Sybre,
Thanks for your detailed response. That StackExchange code didn’t work for me but for anyone else who wants to remove attachment pages this plugin did work (https://wordpress.org/plugins/smart-attachment-page-remove/)
However, after reading your comment, I think your solution is probably best. Noindex and redirect to parent page.
The initial appeal of removing attachment pages was to remove unnecessary bloat in the database, but i realize the solution for removing attachment pages doesn’t actually remove them. It just returns a 404 response for them. So they are still there, just no longer accessible.
Personally, i don’t see the use of attachment pages. I would never link to them or make use of them in any way intentionally. For an image heavy site, this seems like a lot of unnecessary urls to be creating!
Hi @martychc23,
You don’t have to worry about the many “URLs” being created. Through WP Query, almost all URLs are generated dynamically. The corresponding page is fetched as a result thereafter if matched.
Users generally don’t stumble upon an URL when not linked to, so all the data set for the attachment is dormant.
Through the technology of SSDs and cheaper RAM, this shouldn’t be an issue regarding performance; provided that the queries are built correctly.
If you require any further assistance, feel free to contact me again 🙂 Have a great weekend!
