Images should default to not linking

[melchoyce]

For the reasons discussed in this Slack conversation: ​https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/core-flow/p1424973816000003

In conversation with developers and users there is a general feeling of frustration about the default "link to" for images and image galleries being set to Attachment Page. Users generally don't understand what this is and few theme developers bother to build a template for it — @mor10

I would LOVE if the default link for images was none. That confuses my students every time. They add a picture and have no idea why it's linking to the Attachment page and what an attachment page even is. I think linking should take action, not unlinking — @liljimmi

same here. also there is an issue where i see people naming an image and a post the exact same slug and this shows the attachment page of the image instead of the post they were expecting. — @andrea_r

I agree — changing the default to not link is the expected behavior for the vast majority of people. Let's turn off linking by default.

[joedolson]

Yes, yes, yes. That would be fabulous.

[liljimmi]

Sets image_default_link_type to none on install. Removed "selected" from file option field and added it to none.

[liljimmi]

I couldn't figure out how to bump "None" up to the first option on the drop-down because of all the conditionals, but this sets none as the default after a new install.

[janhenckens]

Puts "none" in first place in the dropdown, making it the default for images

[janhenckens]

My patch bumps the "None" up to the top of the dropdown if the file in question is an image, fixing this for existing installs.

[ryan]

Agreed. Linking to the attachment page (as well as linking to bare images) results in confusion. It's particularly cumbersome on mobile devices. As mentioned in the chat, we should consider baking something along the line's of wp.com/Jetpack's Carousel into core. We should be able to swipe through galleries on mobile out of the box. Access to full-width images should be straightforward. Diving in and out of attachment pages or bare images is not a good experience. This ticket seems a good step 1.

[SergeyBiryukov]

also there is an issue where i see people naming an image and a post the exact same slug and this shows the attachment page of the image instead of the post they were expecting.

Related: #24612

[helen]

Suggest taking a look at the image_default_link_type option. There's more than meets the eye here. :)

[krogsgard]

I don't disagree with the ticket and agree with @ryan that it's a great first step. But perhaps we should look at the bigger picture (pun intended!).

I posted on the Make Flow blog about support for a new option (and perhaps default) entirely.
​https://make.wordpress.org/flow/2015/02/26/core-support-for-wordpress-images-to-open-in-a-modal-window/

[DrewAPicture]

See comment:9 for a suggestion on how to approach a new patch.

[mor10]

Yes to all of this. I have nothing useful to add other than that.

[eherman24]

Sets image_default_link_type to none on install. Removed "selected" from file option field and added it to none. Puts "none" in first place in the dropdown, making it the default for images. Introduces new filter to allow override of image_default_link_type.

[DrewAPicture]

@eherman24: I think introducing the new filter falls out of scope of this ticket.

[helen]

Doesn't need a new filter, all options have filters.

[ryan]

There's also a reference to image_default_link_type in wp-admin/includes/media.php.

wp-admin/includes/media.php
1182:			'html'       => image_link_input_fields($post, get_option('image_default_link_type')),

Link To in the Image Details modal may also need to be reordered to put None at the top.

Is the image_default_link_type option exposed in UI anywhere?

In the image modals, the last Size used is remembered. Should the last Link To used also be remembered?

[johnbillion]

Patch needs updating to incorporate the image details modal as per Ryan's comment.

[DrewAPicture]

The latest patch still includes the filter which is out of scope. Basically comment:9 and comment:17 sort of outline the pitfalls of this UI change because there's an option and a user setting in play and we have to make sure we don't change an existing expectation. Punting to a future release.

[melchoyce]

Let's get some movement back in this ticket. What needs to happen next?

[janhenckens]

Whoops, I lost track of this one! I'll add a new patch that includes @ryan's remark and report back here.

[wonderboymusic]

31467.diff​ makes this work - the user setting will override the default prop. Not sure why these were switched previously

[azaozz]

Looking at 31467.diff, there is no point in doing

getUserSetting( 'align', 'none' ) || defaultProps.align

getUserSetting() takes two args: the setting's name and default value. If it's not set, it will return the default value, and defaultProps.align can never be reached.

If we still want to use defaultProps.align as default value, can do:

getUserSetting( 'align', defaultProps.align ) || 'none'

(the || 'none' bit ensures we have a setting in case defaultProps.align is not set.)

[wonderboymusic]

Replying to azaozz:

If we still want to use defaultProps.align as default value, can do:

getUserSetting( 'align', defaultProps.align ) || 'none'

(the || 'none' bit ensures we have a setting in case defaultProps.align is not set.)

Yeah, that makes sense

[wonderboymusic]

In 33729:

Media:

When inserting an image into a post, the values in wp.media.controller.Library should not default to linking the image when no user settings are present.

The default display setting value for link is now none. User settings persist and will override or confirm this value based on user actions.

Props liljimmi, janhenckens, eherman24, wonderboymusic.
Fixes #31467.