=== IMG Alt Gen Pro - Bulk Alt Text Generator for WordPress & WooCommerce ===
Contributors: arcticfoxdev
Tags: alt text, alt text generator, accessibility, ai alt text, image seo
Requires at least: 6.0
Tested up to: 6.9
Requires PHP: 7.4
Stable tag: 3.0.8
License: GPLv2 or later
License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

Bulk-generate alt text for WordPress media libraries and WooCommerce product images with optional SEO and content context.

== Description ==
IMG Alt Gen Pro is a bulk alt text generator for WordPress and WooCommerce. It helps site owners, agencies, publishers, and online stores generate descriptive image alt text across media libraries, blog content, featured images, and product galleries without editing every image by hand.

Use it to generate alt text for individual images or process batches in bulk from a dedicated admin area. The plugin can optionally use context from posts, products, and supported SEO plugins to improve the relevance of generated alt text.

This is especially useful for:

- Large WordPress media libraries

- WooCommerce stores with many product images

- Agencies cleaning up client sites

- Publishers and bloggers with years of uploaded content

- Accessibility and SEO workflows that need a practical bulk fix

IMG Alt Gen Pro connects your WordPress site to the IMG Alt Gen hosted service. An IMG Alt Gen account with tokens is required to generate alt text. The plugin itself runs in WordPress, but the alt text generation is performed by the IMG Alt Gen service.

Service Terms: https://imgaltgen.com/terms  
Privacy Policy: https://imgaltgen.com/privacy

### Key features

- **Bulk alt text generation for WordPress**
  Generate alt text across batches of images instead of updating them one by one.

- **WooCommerce product image support**
  Use product context to generate more relevant alt text for product and catalogue images.

- **Single image generation**
  Generate alt text directly from the individual attachment edit screen.

- **Media Library workflow**
  Manage generation from a dedicated admin area built for bulk processing.

- **Published-content prioritisation**
  Focus first on images actually used in published posts, pages, and products.

- **Optional SEO context**
  Use supported SEO plugin data, such as keyphrases and metadata, to improve image descriptions.

- **Context-aware generation**
  Pull from titles, post context, taxonomies, and product information where available.

- **Role and capability controls**
  Restrict access to generation tools and settings using WordPress roles and capabilities.

- **Privacy-conscious admin workflow**
  No front-end widgets, tracking scripts, or public-facing changes are added by the plugin.

### Best for

IMG Alt Gen Pro is a strong fit for:

- WordPress agencies managing content-heavy client sites
- WooCommerce stores with large catalogues
- SEO teams fixing missing alt text across older image libraries
- Accessibility-focused site owners improving image descriptions at scale
- Content publishers with large archives of uploaded images

### How it works

1. Install and activate the plugin.
2. Link your WordPress site to your IMG Alt Gen account using a secure token.
3. Choose individual images or batches to process from the Media Library tools.
4. The plugin sends the required image and context data to the IMG Alt Gen API.
5. Generated alt text is written back to the standard WordPress `_wp_attachment_image_alt` field.

### External service requirement

IMG Alt Gen Pro is not a standalone alt text generator. It is a WordPress interface for the IMG Alt Gen hosted service.

An IMG Alt Gen account is required to generate alt text. Usage of the external service may involve token-based billing according to your IMG Alt Gen account.

If you do not want to use an external service for alt text generation, this plugin is not the right fit.

### Data sent to the external service

No data is sent to IMG Alt Gen until:

- You link your site to an IMG Alt Gen account, and
- You explicitly trigger an action that requires the service, such as generating alt text or checking token/account status

When you run a generation task, the plugin may send:

- The image URL and or image bytes
- Attachment title and basic image metadata
- Related post or product context, where available
- Optional SEO context, if enabled in the plugin settings

Examples of optional context include:

- Post or product title
- Categories or tags
- Product information from WooCommerce
- Supported SEO plugin fields such as metadata or focus keyphrases

Full details are available:

- Terms of Service: https://imgaltgen.com/terms
- Privacy Policy: https://imgaltgen.com/privacy

Site owners are responsible for ensuring they have a lawful basis to process images and any related personal data before using the service.

== Installation ==

1. Upload the plugin folder to `/wp-content/plugins/` or install it through **Plugins > Add New**.
2. Activate the plugin in the WordPress admin.
3. Go to **Media > AI Alt Text > Account & Tokens**.
4. Link your IMG Alt Gen account or create one if needed.
5. Once connected, you can:
   - Generate alt text for a single image from the attachment edit screen
   - Run bulk generation across batches of images
   - Configure optional context from WooCommerce and supported SEO plugins

== Frequently Asked Questions ==

= Does this plugin generate alt text inside WordPress only? =

No. IMG Alt Gen Pro is a WordPress interface for the IMG Alt Gen hosted service. The plugin manages the WordPress-side workflow, while the alt text generation itself happens through the external IMG Alt Gen API.

= Do I need an IMG Alt Gen account? =

Yes. You need an IMG Alt Gen account with available tokens to generate alt text through the plugin.

= Can I bulk-generate alt text for my WordPress media library? =

Yes. The plugin includes a dedicated admin area for bulk processing images in batches.

= Can I generate alt text for WooCommerce product images? =

Yes. When WooCommerce support is enabled, product data can be used as context to improve the generated alt text for product and catalogue images.

= Can I generate alt text for a single image? =

Yes. You can generate alt text directly from the individual attachment edit screen.

= Can I choose which images to process? =

Yes. You can process individual images or batches, and you can prioritise images that are actually used in published content.

= Does this overwrite existing alt text? =

By default, the plugin is designed to avoid overwriting useful non-empty alt text unless your settings allow it. Review your configuration before running large batch jobs.

= Does this work with SEO plugins? =

Yes. The plugin can optionally use context from supported SEO plugins where available, such as metadata or focus keyphrases, to improve relevance.

= What data is sent when generating alt text? =

When generation is triggered, the plugin may send:

- The image URL and or image bytes
- Attachment title and metadata
- Optional post or product context
- Optional SEO context if you have enabled supported integrations

The handling of this data is governed by the IMG Alt Gen Terms and Privacy Policy.

= Does this add front-end scripts or tracking? =

No. The plugin runs in the WordPress admin and does not inject tracking scripts or front-end widgets on your site.

= What happens if I run out of tokens? =

If your IMG Alt Gen account has no available tokens, generation requests will stop until you top up your account. The plugin will show a message in the admin area.

= Is this plugin free? =

The plugin itself is free to install and use as a WordPress interface. Alt text generation requires the external IMG Alt Gen service, which uses token-based billing.

= What happens if I deactivate or delete the plugin? =

Deactivating the plugin stops communication with IMG Alt Gen. Deleting the plugin can remove plugin-specific settings and cached data depending on your uninstall behaviour. Alt text already stored in the standard WordPress `_wp_attachment_image_alt` field will remain unless you remove it manually.

== Screenshots ==

1. Bulk alt text generation screen for processing WordPress images in batches.
2. Single attachment screen with alt text generation controls.
3. Usage history and generation activity screen.
4. Settings screen with WooCommerce and SEO context options.

== Changelog ==

= 3.0.8 =
- Improved role permissions for no-access roles.

= 3.0.7.5 =
- Compatibility updates for WordPress.org submission.
- Hardened database queries and improved sanitisation.
- Added clearer messaging around external service usage and privacy.
- Improved bulk processing and published-content scanning options.

= 3.0.7 =
- Enhanced image context detection for posts, pages, and products.
- Improved handling of large images and remote media.
- Added optional debug logging for troubleshooting.

= 3.0.6 =
- Performance improvements for bulk alt-text generation.
- Better error handling and clearer admin messages.

= 3.0.0 =
- Major refactor to use a token-based API client.
- Added new Media Library tools and account management screens.

== Upgrade Notice ==

= 3.0.8 =
Recommended update with improved permissions handling and ongoing compatibility improvements.