Title: Schedule attachment
Last modified: August 21, 2016

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# Schedule attachment

 *  Resolved [Ruriko](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ruriko/)
 * (@ruriko)
 * [12 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/schedule-attachment/)
 * Since you can schedule posts so I’m wondering if you can add the ability to schedule
   attachments in this plugin?
 * [http://wordpress.org/plugins/media-library-assistant/](http://wordpress.org/plugins/media-library-assistant/)

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

 *  Plugin Author [David Lingren](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dglingren/)
 * (@dglingren)
 * [12 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/schedule-attachment/#post-4541726)
 * Thanks for this interesting suggestion. I’d like to learn a bit more about what
   you have in mind?
 * Publishing posts and pages is performed by logic within WordPress that uses the
   combination of post_date and post_status fields to distinguish between “publish”
   and “future” posts. Attachments use post_date as the upload date and always set
   post_status to “inherit” (or “trash” if you enable trash for attachments). There’s
   no logic in WordPress for scheduling attachments.
 * What would that mean, exactly? Are you trying to control the date and time at
   which the attachment would be uploaded (tough to do) or when it starts appearing
   in `[gallery]` and `[mla_gallery]` displays?
 * If you want to schedule “display” date and time, I can consider an enhancement
   to `[mla_gallery]` that would support the “Date Parameters” found in the [WP_Query class](http://codex.wordpress.org/Class_Reference/WP_Query#Date_Parameters)
   on which `[mla_gallery]` is based. I have never had a request for this feature,
   but perhaps it’s time (so to speak).
 * Depending on what you want to do, you might be able to use the filters provided
   by MLA to remove “future” attachments from gallery display based on a date/time
   value stored in a custom field. I could sketch this out if that would work for
   you.
 * If I have not understood your question, please give me some additional details
   so I can consider an enhancement that would meet your needs. Thanks for your 
   interest in the plugin.
 *  Thread Starter [Ruriko](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ruriko/)
 * (@ruriko)
 * [12 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/schedule-attachment/#post-4541733)
 * I want to control on which attachments can start appearing in [mla_gallery] or
   to the public
 *  Plugin Author [David Lingren](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dglingren/)
 * (@dglingren)
 * [12 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/schedule-attachment/#post-4541793)
 * Thanks for supplying the additional detail. I can work on a solution that will
   let you control which attachments appear in the `[mla_gallery]` output. I am 
   not sure what else you mean when you say “**_or to the public_**“.
 * I have done some initial work on this, but I concluded that it will require upgrading
   the `[mla_gallery]` parameters, the gallery filters or both. I will work on this,
   but it may take some time, since I will be out of the country and away from my
   development system for two weeks.
 * I will post an update to this topic when I have progress to report. Thanks for
   your patience and your understanding.
 *  Plugin Author [David Lingren](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dglingren/)
 * (@dglingren)
 * [12 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/schedule-attachment/#post-4541846)
 * Thank you for your patience while I’ve been away from home. I am happy to report
   that you can use the current MLA version to control the visibility of Media Library
   items based on date. First, you must define a custom field and make it available
   for editing:
    1.  Navigate to the Settings/Media Library Assistant “Custom Fields” tab.
    2.  Make sure the “Enable custom field mapping when adding new media” box is checked.
        If not, check the box, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click “Save
        Changes”.
    3.  Scroll down to the “Add a new Field and Mapping Rule” area.
    4.  In the first text box, give your field a name, e.g., “Archive Date”
    5.  From the Data Source dropdown list, select “upload_date”. This is the date 
        and time the item was added to the Media Library. It will be the default value–
        you can change it for any particular items later.
    6.  In the “Existing Text” dropdown list, select “Replace”.
    7.  In the “Format” dropdown list, select “Native”.
    8.  Click the “MLA Column”, “Quick Edit” and “Bulk Edit” check boxes to make the
        field available in the Media/Assistant submenu table, the Quick Edit area and
        the Bulk Edit area.
    9.  In the “Option:” dropdown list, select “Text”.
    10. Click the “Delete NULL Values” checkbox.
    11. Click the “Add Field and Map All Attachments” button to save your work and 
        create the “Archive Date” value for the items already in your Media Library.
 * Once you’ve set up the custom field, you can use the Quick Edit and Bulk Edit
   areas to change the value from the upload date and time to some point in the 
   future (or past). Go to the Media/Assistant submenu table, then click the Quick
   Edit rollover action to edit one item or use the checkboxes to select several
   items, select “Edit” from the Bulk Actions dropdown list and click “Apply”. For
   bulk editing, the Archive Date text box will be blank. Make sure the date and
   time you enter is in the proper format (YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS).
 * You can use the `meta_query` parameter to filter your `[mla_gallery]` items by
   the Archive Date custom field. For example, to display all items uploaded after
   2013-06-30 you can code:
 *     ```
       [mla_gallery post_parent=all orderby="date DESC" meta_query="array( array( 'key' => 'Archive Date', 'value' => '2013-06-30', 'compare' => '>' ) )"]
       ```
   
 * You can code just the date, or the complete date and time if that’s important.
   Complete documentation of the “meta query” syntax can be found in the WordPress
   [Codex documentation for WP_Query](http://codex.wordpress.org/Class_Reference/WP_Query#Custom_Field_Parameters).
 * If you want to automatically filter all of your `[mla_gallery]` shortcodes based
   on the current date and time you will need to use one of the “MLA Gallery Filters
   and Actions (Hooks)”, described in the Settings/Media Library Assistant Documentation
   tab. You can add your code to the sample plugin that comes with MLA or put your
   filter in your theme’s `functions.php` file.
 * Here is an example that adds a parameter to **_every_** `[mla_gallery]` shortcode:
 *     ```
       public static function mla_gallery_query_arguments_filter( $all_query_parameters ) {
   
       	$now = date( 'Y-m-d H:i:s'); // current date and time, e.g., 2013-07-01 10:05:18
       	$all_query_parameters['meta_query'] = "array( array( 'key' => 'Archive Date', 'value' => '{$now}', 'compare' => '<=' ) )";
   
       	self::$all_query_parameters = $all_query_parameters;
       	return $all_query_parameters;
       } // mla_gallery_query_arguments_filter
       ```
   
 * The first line of the filter creates a string version of the current date and
   time in the same format as the values stored in the Archive Date custom field.
   The next line adds the `meta_query` parameter to the array containing all the
   other parameters you coded in the `[mla_gallery]` shortcode. This code will eliminate
   any item with an Archive Date value in the future from the gallery display. You
   might want to add some code that does not add the parameter to any shortcode 
   that already has one; let me know if you need help with that. Don’t forget the`
   add_filter` statement that registers the filter with WordPress. In the example
   plugin, it looks like:
 *     ```
       add_filter( 'mla_gallery_query_arguments', 'MLAGalleryHooksExample::mla_gallery_query_arguments_filter', 10, 1 );
       ```
   
 * I hope this gives you the “schedule posts” (attachments) logic you need for your
   application. I am going to mark this topic resolved, but please update it if 
   you have any problems or further questions. Thanks for your interest in the plugin
   and for a question that many people should find interesting.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

The topic ‘Schedule attachment’ is closed to new replies.

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 * 4 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [David Lingren](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dglingren/)
 * Last activity: [12 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/schedule-attachment/#post-4541846)
 * Status: resolved