Title: Make Photos – The team behind the WordPress Photo Directory, a directory of free, publicly-contributed, CC0-licensed photographs. --- [ ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/coreyhall93/) [Corey Hall](https://profiles.wordpress.org/coreyhall93/) 3:44 pm _on_ October 2, 2026   # 󠀁[Proposal: Document the AI-generated image rule](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/2026/10/02/proposal-document-the-ai-generated-image-rule/)󠁿 I was doing some research to see whether the Photo Directory accepts AI-generated images. I couldn’t find an answer in the [guidelines](https://wordpress.org/photos/guidelines/) or the [handbook](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/handbook/), but it has come up a few times in the [Photos Slack channel](https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C0337A01LHW): * In November 2023, [@lanche86](https://profiles.wordpress.org/lanche86/) and [@otto42](https://profiles.wordpress.org/otto42/) [replied](https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C0337A01LHW/p1700563759198529?thread_ts=1700555795.967929) that generated images aren’t photos, so they aren’t accepted. * In April 2026, a contributor [asked how to appeal](https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C0337A01LHW/p1775669844380449) a “Not a photo” rejection and offered their RAW files. There was no reply. * Later in April, [@yamchhetri](https://profiles.wordpress.org/yamchhetri/) [asked contributors](https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C0337A01LHW/p1776330373671699) not to submit AI-generated images, only original photos. * In August 2026, [@yamchhetri](https://profiles.wordpress.org/yamchhetri/) [noted more AI-generated submissions](https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C0337A01LHW/p1785910721762419?thread_ts=1785910721.762419) and asked for real photos only. * Also in August, a contributor who said their photo was declined for AI [asked how to appeal](https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C0337A01LHW/p1786411245037949?thread_ts=1786411245.037949). [@otto42](https://profiles.wordpress.org/otto42/) pointed them to photos@wordpress. orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. [https://wordpress.org/](https://wordpress.org/), and [@nilovelez](https://profiles.wordpress.org/nilovelez/) asked for samples, since the image is deleted when a photo is rejected. The rule is clear in SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform [https://slack.com/](https://slack.com/). The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at [https://make.wordpress.org/chat/](https://make.wordpress.org/chat/), but AI isn’t named anywhere a contributor sees before submitting, from what I can find: * The guidelines say a submission must be a photograph and not a screenshot or digital art, with no mention of AI. * The upload checklist says “Photo is an actual photograph and not a screenshot or digital art.” * The “Not a photo” rejection email says “We do not accept screenshots, digital art, or other non-photographic images,” with nothing specific to AI. * The handbook and the [FAQ](https://wordpress.org/photos/faq/) don’t cover AI or how to appeal a rejection. **I’d like to propose four changes.** They cover fully generated images. AI editing, like upscaling or generative fill, is a separate question. * **Guidelines:** change “Avoid submitting screenshots, digital art, or some other kind of non-photographic image” to “Avoid submitting screenshots, digital art, AI-generated images, or some other kind of non-photographic image.” * **Upload checklist:** change the checkbox to “Photo is an actual photograph and not AI-generated, a screenshot, or digital art.” This could fold into the [August discussion](https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C0337A01LHW/p1785978661104319) about simplifying the checklist. * **Rejection reasons:** either add AI to the existing “Not a photo” reason, so the email reads “We do not accept screenshots, digital art, AI-generated images, or other non-photographic images,” or add a separate “AI-generated” reason if moderators want to track it on its own. * **Appeals:** add a line to the FAQ’s “Why was my photo declined?” entry saying contributors who think a rejection was a mistake can reply to the rejection email and attach the photo, since the image is deleted on rejection. Two questions for the team: * Do these match how you moderate today? * Is there anything you’d word differently? The checklist and rejection reasons live in the Photo Directory code, so those two changes need a MetaMeta Meta is a term that refers to the inside workings of a group. For us, this is the team that works on internal WordPress sites like WordCamp Central and Make WordPress. TracTrac Trac is the place where contributors create issues for bugs or feature requests much like GitHub.[https://core.trac.wordpress.org/](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/). ticket or a pull request to WordPress/wordpress.org. I’m happy to open it once the wording settles, if you’d like. * [Login to Reply](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fmake.wordpress.org%2Fphotos%2F2026%2F10%2F02%2Fproposal-document-the-ai-generated-image-rule%2F%23respond&locale=en_US) [ ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/michelleames/) [Michelle Frechette](https://profiles.wordpress.org/michelleames/) 5:00 pm _on_ February 2, 2024   # 󠀁[Alt Text for WordPress Photos](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/2024/02/02/alt-text-for-wordpress-photos/)󠁿 Our goal is for the WordPress Photo Directory to be as accessible as possible, making it easy for anyone using a screen reader to understand what each photo is, as well as providing good alt text for those using any photos on their own sites and projects. Alt text provides a description of an image that is read aloud to anyone using a screen reader for any reason. In the past, some photo contributors have provided descriptions that include feelings or feel more story-like. (Like “waking up on a beautiful morning” or “a great day for a cup of coffee.”) These are not descriptive and are not generally helpful for people relying on screen readers to describe a photo. In order to help you provide better descriptions when you submit a photo to the directory, we’ve compiled some information to make it easier. (Many thanks to [@alexstine](https://profiles.wordpress.org/alexstine/) and [@joedolson](https://profiles.wordpress.org/joedolson/) for their expertise and input.) **I think we can all agree that there is alt text that’s too short, but are there times when something is too descriptive?** Alex Stine: Sometimes ALT Text can be too descriptive in that it can provide more information than what people could actually see in the image. The experience should be equal, not more or less. Joe Dolson: There’s a balance to strike. For the purpose of the photo directory, some assumptions need to be made. First, the audience and the author do not have a common knowledge base. For alt text, that means that personal information or specific knowledge of the scene should be omitted. Alt text is highly contextual, and in this case the context is “share the photo with strangers who will use it for their own purposes.” So the alt text should be strictly kept to information that is visible in the image. There are exceptions, however; well-known landmarks can and should be named. If it’s a picture of the Statue of Liberty, it would be disingenuous to omit that information. That’s a judgment call for the submitter, since “well known” is not strictly definable. **Some people think that adding colors to a description isn’t necessary, and others argue that it is. Should submissions to the photo directory include colors? Are there times when it should vs. when it shouldn’t? (Like describing clothes, or a building.)** Alex Stine: I think descriptions of color are okay since you would visually get this detail when looking at an image. People without vision may not fully understand the concept of color if they haven’t had vision before. For people like myself, I have had vision, so I may still be able to get something from knowing the colors. Joe Dolson: Descriptions don’t need a detailed description of colors, but prominent or dominant colors should be mentioned. Again, it’s a judgment call how much detail to add. But colors should absolutely be mentioned. There are several reasons: one is because screen reader users aren’t necessarily blind and/or may have once had color vision; a second is because color-blind users will benefit from being told what colors are in a picture; and the third is because the photo directory search queries alt texts, so this enables searching for color. **How in-depth should a description be? For example, is “German Shepherd puppy” a good enough description, or would “German Shepherd puppy sitting on a wooden floor looking at the camera” be better?** Alex Stine: In this case, the second description (“German Shepherd puppy sitting on a wooden floor looking at the camera”) would be better. It allows me to more accurately understand the scene. Joe Dolson: Object, action, and environment are the three primary characteristics that should be conveyed in some way. Anything else is bonus, but ensuring that those three characteristics are communicated is a good way of making sure that the description is roughly equal to the image. **When is including the location of a photo important? Is “mountains” enough or is “mountains in the Himalayas” better?** Alex Stine: This could easily fall in the categoryCategory The 'category' taxonomy lets you group posts / content together that share a common bond. Categories are pre-defined and broad ranging. of “too much information” as that information is not available to people with vision simply by looking at the image. Unless it is clear what the mountain range is by looking at it, this information should not be included in the description. Joe Dolson: I think I addressed that above; essentially, it’s a question of how common this knowledge would be, or how significant. I will argue slightly with Alex on this because of the purpose of the photo directory – if somebody specifically is looking for pictures of the Himalayas, that should be possible. If the photo directory had any filtering or tagging, I’d say that information should be a tag, rather than an alt text, but, since it isn’t, I think that information should be available. But it’s only particularly important to include in cases where the image is of something that most people would actually recognize. A purposeful image of Mount Everest should probably say what it is. A pretty scene of some mountains that happen to be the Himalayas? Maybe not so relevant. I want to also add that alternative text should be literal. You should describe what’s in the scene, and not make assumptions. Just to pick a random example: [https://wordpress.org/photos/photo/33465a66b7/](https://wordpress.org/photos/photo/33465a66b7/) While it may or may not be valuable that this specifies Himalayas (I’d argue not, since there’s nothing distinct), the biggest weakness here is the word ‘Trekker’. It could also mean a Star Trek fan, and if a blind user included this expecting a person hiking with a backpack but it was actually a person in a Star Trek uniform… **Are there tools or resources that you would recommend for evaluating alt text quality and ensuring online content accessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Accessibility)?** Alex Stine: Test with a screen reader, that’s the best way. I also like the Accessibility Checker pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress. org Plugin Directory [https://wordpress.org/plugins/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/) or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party.. Joe Dolson: Alt text quality is heavily contextual. No tools required, just read the text and look at the image and decide whether it seems appropriate. * [Login to Reply](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fmake.wordpress.org%2Fphotos%2F2024%2F02%2F02%2Falt-text-for-wordpress-photos%2F%23respond&locale=en_US) [ ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/mdburnette/) [mdburnette](https://profiles.wordpress.org/mdburnette/) 2:38 am _on_ October 14, 2024   # 󠀁[Announcing the New WordPress Photo Directory Team Representatives](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/2024/10/14/announcing-the-new-wordpress-photo-directory-team-representatives/)󠁿 Thank you to everyone who took the time to nominate and vote for your next Photo Directory team representatives! Your participation plays a vital role in shaping the future of the Photo Directory project. We are excited to announce the three newly elected team representatives for the upcoming term: * Nilo Velez * Bigul Malayi * Michele Butcher-Jones Each of these individuals brings a unique set of skills, passion, and commitment to the project, and we look forward to seeing the positive impact they will have on the Photo Directory. Their leadership will help guide the team toward continued growth and success. Here’s a look at the final voting results: ![Bar chart showing the vote percentages for the next Photo Directory team representatives. Nilo Velez leads with 30.56% (55 votes), followed by Bigul Malayi with 25.56% (46 votes), and Michele Butcher-Jones with 15.00% (27 votes). Other candidates include Sam Alderson (13.33%, 24 votes), Roy Tanck (12.22%, 22 votes), and Gale Wallace ( 3.33%, 6 votes). Total votes: 180.](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/files/2024/ 10/Screenshot-2024-10-13-at-10.32.30%E2%80%AFPM.png) * Nilo Velez received 30.56% of the vote with 55 total votes. * Bigul Malayi followed with 25.56%, gathering 46 votes. * Michele Butcher-Jones rounded out the top three with 15.00%, receiving 27 votes. The current representatives would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the entire Photo Directory community. It has been a privilege to serve as your representatives, and we are confident the new team will carry the torch forward with great energy and enthusiasm. We will continue to be around to help usher in the new representatives and ensure a smooth transition. Please join us in congratulating [@nilovelez](https://profiles.wordpress.org/nilovelez/), [@mbigul](https://profiles.wordpress.org/mbigul/), and [@m_butcher](https://profiles.wordpress.org/m_butcher/)! We’re excited to see the direction they will take as they step into their new roles. Thank you once again to everyone who participated in this important process. Your involvement continues to make the Photo Directory a vibrant, collaborative community. * [Login to Reply](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fmake.wordpress.org%2Fphotos%2F2024%2F10%2F14%2Fannouncing-the-new-wordpress-photo-directory-team-representatives%2F%23respond&locale=en_US) [ ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/mdburnette/) [mdburnette](https://profiles.wordpress.org/mdburnette/) 5:10 pm _on_ August 15, 2024   # 󠀁[Call for Photo Directory Team Representatives](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/2024/08/15/call-for-photo-directory-team-representatives/)󠁿 The Make WordPress Photo team is in need of two-to-three new Team Reps to assume this role. After 2+ years serving in this role and discussing our current availability at length, [@katiejrichards](https://profiles.wordpress.org/katiejrichards/), [@topher1kenobe](https://profiles.wordpress.org/topher1kenobe/), and [@mdburnette](https://profiles.wordpress.org/mdburnette/) are ready to pass the proverbial torch. ### What is a Team RepTeam Rep A Team Rep is a person who represents the Make WordPress team to the rest of the project, make sure issues are raised and addressed as needed, and coordinates cross-team efforts.? Ideally, all Make WordPress teams should have at least two representatives, allowing them to share responsibilities, divide tasks, and cover each other when needed. Team Reps work with other teams across the project, share key updates across all contributor teams, and generally help to support the team as a whole. * Team Rep is an organizational role that is mostly administrative in nature; it is not a Lead role. * Letting go of the Team Rep title is not a loss of status, just a handing off of responsibilities. * Someone who is a leader in a team can lead whether they are doing the team rep job or not. ### What to Expect in the Role? Expectations vary from team to team, but here are some of what to expect: * Prepare meeting agenda by requesting updates from Photo Directory working groups * Conduct the team’s monthly meetings on the Make Photos SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform [https://slack.com/](https://slack.com/). The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at [https://make.wordpress.org/chat/](https://make.wordpress.org/chat/) channel * Document meeting notes and share updates with other teams as necessary Additional information can be found in [the Photo Directory handbook](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/handbook). ### What are our Next Steps? * **Call for Nominations**: Anyone can nominate a Photo Directory team rep! (Yes, you can nominate yourself!) The deadline for nominations is _Friday, August 30th_. * **Voting for Team Reps**: Nominees will be officially announced on _Monday, September 2_, and a poll for voting will be available the same day. It will stay open until _Friday, September 13th_. After that, the new team reps will be announced on Contributor DayContributor Day Contributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of [https://make.wordpress.org/](https://make.wordpress.org/) There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. [https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/](https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/) at WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. [Learn more](https://central.wordcamp.org/about/). US (and here on the Make Photos blog) on _September 17_! **Are YOU interested in contributing? Just provide a name in the comments section of this post.** Please nominate people for Photo Directory team rep in the comments of this post by _Friday, August 30_. Self-nominations are welcome. Remember, a best practice before nominating someone is to check in with them first! If you are nominated, you do not have to say yes. Only people who respond positively to a nomination will be added to the poll, so please feel free to decline if you don’t feel that being team rep is the right fit for any reason. If you have any questions, please do ask those in the comments! [ ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/michelleames/) [Michelle Frechette](https://profiles.wordpress.org/michelleames/) 5:42 pm _on_ February 2, 2024   # 󠀁[January Stats for the WordPress Photo Directory](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/2024/02/02/january-stats-for-the-wordpress-photo-directory/)󠁿 2024 is starting off strong for the Photo Directory! Our goal is to moderate photos as quickly as we can. And with our bigger team, we’ve been working through photos even faster. Please do remember we are all volunteers and work through the list as we are able to in the event there is a backlog. (And during photo events like [WordPress Photo Festival 2024](https://events.wordpress.org/kerala/2024/photo-festival/) where there is an influx of photography we will work as quickly as we can, but submitters need to be patient.) If you’d like to contribute photos to the directory, you can do that at [WordPress.org/photos](https://wordpress.org/photos/). If you’d like to join the moderators team, you can do that at [make.wordpress.org/photos/handbook/moderating-photos](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/handbook/moderating-photos/). Current stats for the project as of today, February 2, 2024: NUMBER OF PHOTOS: 13,250 PENDING PHOTOS: 45 REJECTED PHOTOS: 2242 PHOTOS SINCE THE LAST MEETING: 888 PHOTOS REJECTED SINCE THE LAST MEETING: 212 NUMBER OF CONTRIBUTORS: 1647 Top Contributors: 🥇 mbigul: 845 photos 🥈 topher1kenobe: 841 photos 🥉 shelob9: 453 photos 🏅 mdburnette: 436 photos 🏅 bhuwanroka: 384 photos 🏅 michelleames: 287 photos 🏅 jenniferbourn: 270 photos 🏅 sharankrishna: 198 photos 🏅 kafleg: 191 photos 🏅 chrisedwardsce: 175 photos Categories: NATURE: 8934 ARCHITECTURE: 2605 FOOD-DRINK: 1271 ANIMALS: 1124 OBJECTS: 1087 ARTS-CULTURE: 891 TRANSPORTATION: 783 INTERIORS: 378 PATTERNS: 303 TECHNOLOGY: 215 PEOPLE: 207 FASHION: 103 ATHLETICS: 32 Landscape: 8258 Portrait: 4715 Square: 277 * [Login to Reply](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fmake.wordpress.org%2Fphotos%2F2024%2F02%2F02%2Fjanuary-stats-for-the-wordpress-photo-directory%2F%23respond&locale=en_US) [ ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/michelleames/) [Michelle Frechette](https://profiles.wordpress.org/michelleames/) 3:33 pm _on_ December 1, 2023   # 󠀁[November Photo Directory Update](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/2023/12/01/november-photo-directory-update/)󠁿 November has come and gone! Let’s take a look at the numbers. We have added even more new members to the moderator team! Our goal is to moderate photos as quickly as we can. **_And we’ve been crushing it!_** Please do remember we are all volunteers and work through the list as we are able to. If you’d like to contribute photos to the directory, you can do that at [WordPress.org/photos](https://wordpress.org/photos/). If you’d like to join the moderators team, you can do that at [make.wordpress.org/photos/handbook/moderating-photos](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/handbook/moderating-photos/). Current stats for the project as of today, December 1, 2023: Number of photos: 11520 PENDING PHOTOS: 1 REJECTED PHOTOS: 1878 PHOTOS SINCE THE LAST MEETING: 1168 PHOTOS REJECTED SINCE THE LAST MEETING: 223 Top contributors 🥇 topher1kenobe: 817 photos 🥈 mbigul: 667 photos 🥉 shelob9: 439 photos 🏅 mdburnette: 428 photos 🏅 michelleames: 287 photos 🏅 jenniferbourn: 270 photos 🏅 chrisedwardsce: 175 photos 🏅 kafleg: 170 photos 🏅 sharankrishna: 156 photos 🏅 javiercasares: 152 photos NATURE (7782) ARCHITECTURE (2278) FOOD-DRINK (1045) ANIMALS (1029) OBJECTS (980) ARTS-CULTURE (814) TRANSPORTATION (716) INTERIORS (345) PATTERNS (294) TECHNOLOGY( 185) PEOPLE (181) FASHION (92) ATHLETICS (25) Landscape: 7198 Portrait: 4066 Square: 257 * [Login to Reply](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fmake.wordpress.org%2Fphotos%2F2023%2F12%2F01%2Fnovember-photo-directory-update%2F%23respond&locale=en_US) [ ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/michelleames/) [Michelle Frechette](https://profiles.wordpress.org/michelleames/) 3:39 pm _on_ November 1, 2023   # 󠀁[October Photo Directory Update](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/2023/11/01/october-photo-directory-update/)󠁿 October is in the books! Time for an update on all things Photos. We have added new members to the moderator team! Our goal is to moderate photos as quickly as we can. Please do remember we are all volunteers and work through the list as we are able to. If you’d like to contribute photos to the directory, you can do that at [WordPress.org/photos](https://wordpress.org/photos). If you’d like to join the moderators team, you can do that at [make.wordpress.org/photos/handbook/moderating-photos](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/handbook/moderating-photos) Current stats for the project as of today, November 1, 2023: Number of photos: 10,530 Pending photos: 58 Rejected photos: 1665 Photos since the last meeting: 952 Photos rejected since the last meeting: 161 Number of contributors: 1456 Top contributors 🥇 topher1kenobe: 810 photos 🥈 mbigul: 531 photos 🥉 shelob9: 425 photos 🏅 mdburnette: 424 photos 🏅 michelleames: 287 photos 🏅 jenniferbourn: 270 photos 🏅 chrisedwardsce: 175 photos 🏅 javiercasares: 125 photos 🏅 kafleg: 119 photos 🏅 mburridge: 113 photos Categories NATURE (7084) ARCHITECTURE (2080) ANIMALS (979) OBJECTS (956) FOOD-DRINK( 931) ARTS-CULTURE (769) TRANSPORTATION (681) INTERIORS (319) PATTERNS (291) TECHNOLOGY( 168) PEOPLE (165) FASHION (70) ATHLETICS (24) Landscape 7969 Portrait 4238 Square 303 * [Login to Reply](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fmake.wordpress.org%2Fphotos%2F2023%2F11%2F01%2Foctober-photo-directory-update%2F%23respond&locale=en_US) [ ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/michelleames/) [Michelle Frechette](https://profiles.wordpress.org/michelleames/) 10:36 pm _on_ August 28, 2023   # 󠀁[August Photo Directory Update](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/2023/08/28/august-photo-directory-update/)󠁿 It’s almost the end of August! Time for an update on all things Photos. **Contributor Days** this year have gone really well. We’ve onboarded many photographers into what kinds of photo subjects are acceptable, how we evaluate photos for inclusion in the photos directory, and what makes a good photo in general. We’ve also begun **onboarding new members** to the photo moderators team. If you’d like to **contribute photos to the directory**, you can do that at [WordPress.org/photos](https://wordpress.org/photos/). If you’d like to **join the moderators team**, you can do that at [make.wordpress.org/photos/handbook/moderating-photos](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/handbook/moderating-photos/) **Current stats for the project as of today, August 28, 2023: Number of photos: 8892 Pending photos: 0 Rejected photos: 1385 Photos since the last meeting: 1170 Photos rejected since the last meeting: 283 Number of contributors: 1282 Top contributors: 🥇 [@topher1kenobe](https://profiles.wordpress.org/topher1kenobe/): 791 photos 🥈 [@mdburnette](https://profiles.wordpress.org/mdburnette/): 424 photos 🥉 [@shelob9](https://profiles.wordpress.org/shelob9/): 285 photos 🏅 [@jenniferbourn](https://profiles.wordpress.org/jenniferbourn/): 270 photos 🏅 [@michelleames](https://profiles.wordpress.org/michelleames/): 243 photos 🏅 [@mbigul](https://profiles.wordpress.org/mbigul/): 239 photos 🏅 [@chrisedwardsce](https://profiles.wordpress.org/chrisedwardsce/): 175 photos 🏅 [@mburridge](https://profiles.wordpress.org/mburridge/): 113 photos 🏅 [@roytanck](https://profiles.wordpress.org/roytanck/): 106 photos 🏅 [@javiercasares](https://profiles.wordpress.org/javiercasares/): 88 photos Categories: NATURE: (5907) ARCHITECTURE: (1786) OBJECTS: (869) ANIMALS: (837) FOOD- DRINK: (774) ARTS-CULTURE: (659) TRANSPORTATION: (618) INTERIORS: (290) PATTERNS:( 267) TECHNOLOGY: (150) PEOPLE: (115) FASHION: (61) ATHLETICS: (23) Landscape: 5995 Portrait: 2671 Square: 226 * [Login to Reply](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fmake.wordpress.org%2Fphotos%2F2023%2F08%2F28%2Faugust-photo-directory-update%2F%23respond&locale=en_US) [ ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/mdburnette/) [mdburnette](https://profiles.wordpress.org/mdburnette/) 7:38 pm _on_ June 17, 2022 Tags: weekly-chat    # 󠀁[Recap of team meeting, June 2](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/2022/06/17/recap-of-team-meeting-june-2/)󠁿 [Slack Log](https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C0337A01LHW/p1654178498477299) ( Requires SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform [https://slack.com/](https://slack.com/). The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at [https://make.wordpress.org/chat/](https://make.wordpress.org/chat/) login to view. [Set one up](https://make.wordpress.org/chat/) if you don’t have a Slack account.) ## Welcome and links to documentation Attendance: [@katiejrichards](https://profiles.wordpress.org/katiejrichards/), [@topher1kenobe](https://profiles.wordpress.org/topher1kenobe/), [@mdburnette](https://profiles.wordpress.org/mdburnette/), [@kartiks16](https://profiles.wordpress.org/kartiks16/), [@eboxnet](https://profiles.wordpress.org/eboxnet/), [@meher](https://profiles.wordpress.org/meher/), [@krupalpanchal](https://profiles.wordpress.org/krupalpanchal/), [@kafleg](https://profiles.wordpress.org/kafleg/), [@st810amaze](https://profiles.wordpress.org/st810amaze/) Welcome to the newcomers joining the Photos channel (Slack usernames): [@roytanck](https://wordpress.slack.com/team/U02RVE7G0), [@jillbinder](https://wordpress.slack.com/team/U02S5FUKN), [@Melissa Ann Sorrells](https://wordpress.slack.com/team/U03G00E4GJU), [@krysal](https://wordpress.slack.com/team/U021153QW2X), [@Nav](https://wordpress.slack.com/team/U020NBGCCLB), [@Ryan Van de Kamp](https://wordpress.slack.com/team/U03FX3GJTL2), [@gwallace](https://wordpress.slack.com/team/U87V7MBFE), [@benlumia007](https://wordpress.slack.com/team/U03N970DY), [@Nomad Skateboarding](https://wordpress.slack.com/team/U036HHRABB8), [@Vagelis](https://wordpress.slack.com/team/U7HDFAS3S), [@Mira Padalia](https://wordpress.slack.com/team/U0398SCM3RP), [@Pratiksha](https://wordpress.slack.com/team/U02C7KUBB3K), [@Ugyen](https://wordpress.slack.com/team/U7B8WJNRZ), [@Jaed, @Krupal Panchal](https://wordpress.slack.com/team/U02R5CG7C3T), [@Shuvo](https://wordpress.slack.com/team/UQZBA0LQ5), [@chaion07](https://wordpress.slack.com/team/USCAXBWRM), [@fuddin](https://wordpress.slack.com/team/UFSRX0V9A), [@david111780](https://wordpress.slack.com/team/URACVL90C), [@tomeklach](https://wordpress.slack.com/team/UNNE32FN0), [@Afshana Diya](https://wordpress.slack.com/team/U5ANHKB53) **Special thanks to all that joined us for this meeting, as it was held on a different day than usual to coincide with WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. [Learn more](https://central.wordcamp.org/about/). Europe’s Contributor DayContributor Day Contributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of [https://make.wordpress.org/](https://make.wordpress.org/) There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. [https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/](https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/)– where [@topher1kenobe](https://profiles.wordpress.org/topher1kenobe/) and [@mdburnette](https://profiles.wordpress.org/mdburnette/) were present!** --- ## Project milestones This month, we have a few milestones to share since [our last meeting on May 6th](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/2022/05/12/recap-of-team-meeting-may-6/). It was another slower month, though some plans are in place to ramp up contribution. More on that in a minute. But first, the numbers for this month. As of this meeting, the directory includes over **2700** user-contributed photos, including passing numbers 2600 ([Indian Banyan](https://wordpress.org/photos/photo/754627d1db/)) and 2700 ([beautiful pink flower](https://wordpress.org/photos/photo/83862936f6/))! Green, brown, and blue dominate the most popular colors, outpacing the next 7 most popular colors combined. This is likely because of the vast number of outdoor landscape photos contributed. In addition, we’re nearing 300 individual contributors — clocking in at 293 as of this meeting! This continues to show us that, even with below-average submission counts, we’re still seeing a lot of new contributors. 🎉 Every month we’ll share some raw stats here as well. Here are a few stats for the month leading up to this meeting: * 300 photos were submitted in the last month * 61% have been approved * 32% are pending * 7% have been rejected for not meeting [conditions to be published](https://wordpress.org/photos/guidelines/) in the directory (_insufficient photo quality_ or the _inclusion of human faces_ being the most common reasons for rejection) --- ## Current issues ➡️ Our largest issue at the moment continues to be our backlog of moderator applications. The current moderators and team reps have held additional discussions to clarify how moderators need to be vetted and the process by which this will happen. We want to make sure folks are onboarded with all the tools and information they’ll need to hit the ground running. _If you submitted an application to become a Photo Directory moderator, you should have heard from us and we’ll begin onboarding new moderators soon!_ ➡️ Also, we’ve discussed partnering with meetupMeetup All local/regional gatherings that are officially a part of the WordPress world but are not WordCamps are organized through [https://www.meetup.com/](https://www.meetup.com/). A meetup is typically a chance for local WordPress users to get together and share new ideas and seek help from one another. Searching for ‘WordPress’ on meetup.com will help you find options in your area. organizers for Photo Directory promotion. A LearnWP [workshop video](https://learn.wordpress.org/workshop/finding-images-using-the-wordpress-photo-directory/) and [lesson plan](https://learn.wordpress.org/lesson-plan/how-to-use-and-contribute-to-the-wordpress-photo-directory-and-openverse/) exist for these meetups and we’re in talks with several organizers now. If you’re interested in sharing about the WordPress Photo Directory and would like to talk to us about it, please let us know in the [#photos](https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C0337A01LHW) Slack channel! ➡️ Finally, a quick chat was had about ALT text for images at submission. No clear plan of action was decided based on this discussion, though all parties agree that this is an important and necessary addition. --- ## Open discussion Due to the participation in WCEU Contributor Day, open discussion was light this time around. The only issue surfaced this time was surrounding better discovery of one’s own submitted photos — like a “My Profile” or “My Photos” link. All authors currently have pages with their photos, but these are not easily accessed for finding your own contributions. Two tickets were created by [@topher1kenobe](https://profiles.wordpress.org/topher1kenobe/) based on this conversation: * [https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6361#ticket](https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6361#ticket) * [https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6362#ticket](https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6362#ticket) --- ## Next Meeting * [[[Friday July 1 14:00 UTC](https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?iso=20260703T1400) Team meeting, first Friday of each month **You are welcome to join the team at any time!** If you are new to the Photos team, please introduce yourself in the [#photos channel](https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C0337A01LHW) before the meeting (or anytime!) and feel free to join us in the meeting and participate as you are able. --- ## Photos Team Mission The Photos team helps people use and contribute to the WordPress Photo Directory through creative commons licensed (CC0) photography that can be used without cost or attribution, for any purpose, via [wordpress.org/photos](https://wordpress.org/photos/). ## Getting Involved Everyone is welcome and encouraged to join in, comment on posts, and participate in meetings and on projects. * [Here’s what you need to know to get started](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/handbook/contributing-photos/) ## Team Links 1. [WordPress.org/photos](https://wordpress.org/photos) 2. [WordPress Photo Directory team handbook](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/handbook/) 3. [Our Team Blog](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/) [#weekly-chat](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/tag/weekly-chat/) * [Login to Reply](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fmake.wordpress.org%2Fphotos%2F2022%2F06%2F17%2Frecap-of-team-meeting-june-2%2F%23respond&locale=en_US) [ ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/topher1kenobe/) [Topher](https://profiles.wordpress.org/topher1kenobe/) 12:00 pm _on_ November 17, 2022   # 󠀁[The Road To 5000 Photos, A Retrospective](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/2022/11/17/the-road-to-5000-photos-a-retrospective/)󠁿 Back in December, when Matt announced the [WP Photos project](https://wordpress.org/photos/), I was tremendously excited. I had been thinking for about six months that something like this needed to exist, but I’m happy that it exists where it does now rather than somewhere else. I love looking at good photos, and having my beloved WordPress community uploading them sounded like heaven. I immediately applied to be a moderator, and after a month or two was accepted. Here we are eleven months later at **over 5000 images uploaded**. I didn’t moderate them all of course, we have an excellent team. But I _did_ add it to my RSS feedRSS Feed RSS is an acronym for Real Simple Syndication which is a type of web feed which allows users to access updates to online content in a standardized, computer-readable format. This is the feed., so I’ve seen all 5000, and let me tell you, there is some _amazing_ material in there. [Marcus Burnette](https://profiles.wordpress.org/mdburnette/) wrote a script to gather stats about the photos repo, let’s look at some about the last eleven months. ## WP Photos Statistics ![Stats: 5015 photos 57 Pending 620 rejected 634 since last meeting 78 rejected since last meeting 689 contributors](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/files/2022/ 11/CleanShot-2022-11-16-at-12.46.02@2x-943x1024.png) Our first set of numbers is about how many. Obviously, we know we’ve gone past 5000 photos, but there are some other interesting numbers here as well. 620 rejected photos out of 5015 isn’t bad, and in my experience it’s about 20% people uploading images they took from someplace else, and the rest are minor infractions of the rules. It’s surprising how often you don’t see a human face in a photo and just upload it. Sometimes it even makes it past a moderator. License plates have the same issue. I’m particularly pleased by **689 contributors**. The more we have, the less fragile the project is. It’s quite fun to be a WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally- organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. [Learn more](https://central.wordcamp.org/about/). contributor dayContributor Day Contributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of [https://make.wordpress.org/](https://make.wordpress.org/) There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. [https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/](https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/) and see delight on the faces of new contributors. ### Camera Models ![Top camera models IPHONE 13 MINI 224 NIKON D7200 199 PIXEL 3 157 IPHONE 11 124 IPHONE XS MAX 123 IPHONE 5 105 IPHONE 13 PRO MAX 102 IPHONE 7 PLUS 102 PIXEL 4A 88 IPHONE 12 PRO MAX 86](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/files/2022/ 11/CleanShot-2022-11-16-at-13.16.12@2x-1024x381.png) When this project started I was deeply curious about whether we’d mostly get photos from phones or from cameras. Personally I use only my phone, but I know many people that have nice DSLRs uploading to the project. I’m in the 13 mini camp. I think it’s easy to see that phones are dominating this box. I’m guessing based on that stat that the majority of the photos in the project are spontaneous, and I love that. It’s far more a picture of our world as it exists now. ### Camera Brands ![Photos by camera brand nikon 434 canon 526 sony 79 apple 1406 google 380 samsung 129](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/files/2022/11/CleanShot-2022-11-16- at-13.20.59@2x-1024x549.png) This isn’t a surprise, given the stat before it, but for camera aficionados it’s interesting. I’m not one of those, so I don’t know the significance of this breakdown. I’m particularly curious about the mainstream camera models. If you know if this is a good representation of general popularity please let me know in the comments. ### Milestone Photos Photo 1 – [Scott Reilly](https://wordpress.org/photos/author/coffee2code/) 05/28/ 2021 [[ Photo 100 – [Marcus Kazmierczak](https://wordpress.org/photos/author/mkaz/) 12/20/ 2021 [[ Photo 500 – [Michael Burridge](https://wordpress.org/photos/author/mburridge/) 01/ 25/2022 [[ Photo 1000 – [Michael Burridge](https://wordpress.org/photos/author/mburridge/) 02/04/2022 [[ Photo 2000 – [mdburnette](https://wordpress.org/photos/author/mdburnette/) 03/09/ 2022 [[ Photo 3000 – [mdburnette](https://wordpress.org/photos/author/mdburnette/) 06/14/ 2022 [[ Photo 4000 – [rafinkhan](https://wordpress.org/photos/author/rafinkhan/) 09/06/2022 [[ Photo 4100 – [Pierre Lannoy](https://wordpress.org/photos/author/pierrelannoy/) 09/11/2022 [[ Photo 4200 – [Pierre Lannoy](https://wordpress.org/photos/author/pierrelannoy/) 09/13/2022 [[ Photo 4300 – [Topher](https://wordpress.org/photos/author/topher1kenobe/) 09/16/ 2022 [[ Photo 4400 – [ChrisEdwardsCE](https://wordpress.org/photos/author/chrisedwardsce/) 09/20/2022 [[ Photo 4500 – [Irfan Nurhamid](https://wordpress.org/photos/author/aneirfan/) 10/ 04/2022 [[ Photo 4600 – [Jennifer Bourn](https://wordpress.org/photos/author/jenniferbourn/) 10/17/2022 [[ Photo 4700 – [Carlos Macías](https://wordpress.org/photos/author/cmacias/) 10/21/ 2022 [[ Photo 4800 – [Dan Knauss](https://wordpress.org/photos/author/dpknauss/) 11/01/2022 [[ Photo 4900 – [chiharu nagatomi](https://wordpress.org/photos/author/luchino_/) 11/ 09/2022 [[ Photo 5000 – [Roy Tanck](https://wordpress.org/photos/author/roytanck/) 11/12/2022 [[ ### Popular categories and colors ![Most popular categories nature (3200) architecture (943) objects (564) animals( 528) food-drink (418) arts-culture (334) transportation (334) patterns (186) interiors( 144) technology (102) fashion (39) athletics (15)](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/ files/2022/11/CleanShot-2022-11-16-at-13.42.37@2x-1024x541.png) ![Most popular colors green (2347) brown (2059) blue (2002) gray (1163) white (1129) orange (861) yellow (750) red (749) black (738) pink (351) purple (141) violet ( 75) silver (35)](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/files/2022/11/CleanShot-2022- 11-16-at-13.55.18@2x-1024x331.png) I put these two together because of how tightly together they’re tied. Any time I see a [Nature](https://wordpress.org/photos/c/nature/) photo, chances are at about 90% that it’s going to be tagged “[Blue](https://wordpress.org/photos/color/blue/), [Green](https://wordpress.org/photos/color/green/), [Brown](https://wordpress.org/photos/color/brown/)“. Those are the colors of our world. Add in [Gray](https://wordpress.org/photos/color/gray/) for cloudy skies and it explains why [Nature](https://wordpress.org/photos/c/nature/) dominates the Most Popular Categories. Case in point: ![Photo of a mountain under blue sky, tagged Blue, Brown, Green](https://make.wordpress. org/photos/files/2022/11/CleanShot-2022-11-16-at-15.54.20@2x-1024x990.png) ## World Photography Day This was a global event that happened in August, and we did a push to get people to upload photos from their part of the world. All in all it went quite well, and [we did a blog post about it,](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/2022/08/18/wordpress-world-photography-day-challenge-2022/) where you can see some of the [photos](https://wordpress.org/photos/t/worldphotographyday22/) that came from that specific event. ## What it’s been like It’s been a delight from the very beginning. Sure, there are 620 rejections, but I would venture a guess that _none_ of them were deliberate attempts to get around the rules. I have about a dozen rejected photos I’ve uploaded myself. We also haven’t a single “objectionable” photo yet. No one has been a jerk. At 5000 photos I find that to be impressive. Our moderation team could use a few more people, but we’ve been able to keep up just fine. The reasons we don’t have more on the team are many, mostly legal. There are far more obstacles than I would ever have imagined, and some very smart people are working hard on it. We’ll get there at some point. Until then we rarely get above 50 unmoderated posts, and we’re often at zero (or five of the most recent moderator photos and they can’t moderate their own). I’ve been thoroughly impressed with the quality of the photos being submitted. The fact that a majority are from phones is a testament to the quality of modern phone cameras. I’ll be curious to see if takes another eleven months to get to 10,000 photos. My guess is that we’ll get it about June. We’ll see. If you haven’t taken part, [please do so](https://wordpress.org/photos/submit/)! It’s fun, easy, and a great way to get into WordPress contribution. For those of you that already have uploaded, thank you very much. * [Login to Reply](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fmake.wordpress.org%2Fphotos%2F2022%2F11%2F17%2Fthe-road-to-5000-photos-a-retrospective%2F%23respond&locale=en_US) ## Post navigation [← Older posts](https://make.wordpress.org/photos/page/2/?o2_recent_comments=1&output_format=md)