Uplink Media Bridge for Etch 2.0 is a substantial rewrite of the way media is browsed, inspected, edited, and maintained inside WordPress. The collection bridge is still at the center of the plugin, but the surrounding tools now make it practical to manage a large media library without dropping back into several separate WordPress screens.

The plugin remains compatible with native Etch Collections, Wicked Folders, and HappyFiles. Existing collection assignments and the internal plugin slug remain unchanged, so version 2 installs as an update to the existing plugin.

Inspired by Bricks Builder’s upcoming asset manager, the Media Bridge for Etch is now a next level interface for managing media on the backend of an Etch website.

A new media workspace

The Etch Collections manager now uses a compact toolbar and a full-height media workspace. You can switch among list, grid, and masonry layouts, resize thumbnails, search the library, and choose automatic scrolling or numbered pagination.

Filtering is available without taking over the main workspace. Filters cover media type, MIME subtype, uploaded by, attachment status, upload date, image dimensions, file size, and missing alternative text. Active filters are easy to see and can be cleared together from the filter panel.

Collection work is still direct. Create, rename, move, reorder, and delete collections; select individual items or ranges; drag media into a collection; and apply bulk collection changes. Parent and child collections continue to follow Etch’s two-level collection model.

One attachment editor

Selecting an item opens a full-screen Media Bridge editor instead of sending you to the standard WordPress attachment screen. The same modal handles the preview, title, alternative text, decorative status, caption, description, file information, collection membership, and optional EXIF information.

File Info and EXIF have their own tabs. Previous and next controls make it possible to review a set of images without closing the editor each time. An EXIF indicator appears only when the selected image contains supported camera metadata.

Media Health

The new Health workspace checks the library for:

Selecting a Health category displays a short definition below the category list. The summary shows the number of healthy attachments and when the library was last scanned. Media Bridge invalidates its cached results after relevant attachment changes, and a manual rescan is available when files have changed outside WordPress.

EXIF and GPS data for Etch

Version 2 can expose normalized image metadata to Etch. Supported fields include camera and lens details, aperture, focal length, ISO, exposure time, capture date, credit, copyright, and other values WordPress extracted during upload.

Some WordPress installations create a scaled derivative and strip its embedded metadata. When that happens, Media Bridge checks the retained original image. GPS coordinates have a separate setting and remain off by default because location data may be sensitive.

Inside a loop or template context, use the active image object. For example:

{item.image.exif.camera_model}
{this.image.exif.aperture_display}

For a specific attachment outside a loop, use the global option namespace with the WordPress attachment ID:

{options.upm.img[123].exif.camera_model}
{options.upm.img[123].exif.gps.latitude}

The contextual props form applies to an Etch Object prop that receives the enriched image object. A scalar prop does not gain EXIF fields.

The earlier featured-image-only EXIF alias is not included in version 2. Sites that used it should move those references to the current image object or the options.upm.img[ID] lookup.

A better media selector

The Etch Collections tab in WordPress’s Select or Upload Media frame now shares the appearance settings used by the manager. Its collection browser, cards, filters, selection controls, and attachment editor support Auto, Light, and Dark modes.

When Instant Images is active, its uploader remains available as a peer tab. Provider changes no longer cause the media frame to jump between layouts, and monochrome provider marks adapt to the selected color scheme.

Appearance and accessibility

The settings screen now includes separate, validated colors for light and dark modes, including icon colors used on accent backgrounds. Media Bridge rejects saved combinations that do not meet its interface contrast requirement and restores an accessible default.

Version 2 also improves keyboard focus, control names, target sizes, modal focus handling, and contrast across the manager and media selector. The goal is WCAG 2.2 AA conformance for the plugin interface.

Uplink Ops Center integration

Trusted server-side tools can now direct attachment edits and collection assignments through the uplink_mbe_execute_media_command filter. Supported operations update attachment fields, add or remove attachments from a collection, and clear Media Bridge collection assignments.

Commands use WordPress capability checks. Media Bridge also fires post-operation hooks after attachment edits and collection changes, which gives Uplink Ops Center and other integrations a reliable way to react to completed work.

Settings and documentation

The 2.0 settings screen groups related controls into tabs and includes built-in documentation for galleries, shortcodes, and Etch EXIF data. The plugin can still make the Etch Collections manager the default Media screen, change the manager label, control cleanup behavior, and configure optional folder synchronization.

Before updating

Version 2 requires WordPress 7.0 or newer, PHP 8.3 or newer, and an active Etch installation. Back up the site before updating, particularly when Wicked Folders or HappyFiles synchronization is active.

After updating, open Media > Uplink Media Bridge and review the appearance, EXIF, GPS, pagination, and cleanup settings. Run a Media Health scan, then verify a few collection assignments and attachment edits before using the updated manager on a production library.