WP Strip Image Metadata hooks into wp_handle_upload and the image-editor pipeline to remove EXIF, IPTC, and XMP blocks from JPEGs, PNGs, and WebP files as they are uploaded. The plugin does not add custom tables. Attachments still live in wp_posts with post_type=attachment, and image metadata that WordPress stores about them sits in wp_postmeta under _wp_attachment_metadata.

The default Media library shows attachments as a grid of thumbnails or as a basic list with title, author, and date. There is no view that surfaces file size, MIME type, dimensions, or whether the file still carries embedded metadata. SleekView reads wp_posts and joins the related postmeta directly, so each attachment becomes a row with file size, dimensions, format, and stripped state as columns.

Inline edits to title, alt text, caption, and description route through the standard WordPress attachment APIs, so the changes propagate to every image block, gallery, and front-end render exactly as if edited through the Media library detail screen.

WP Strip Image Metadata does the right thing at upload time: every new file gets cleaned of EXIF and IPTC blocks before it lands in the uploads folder. The harder question is what is already in the library. Sites that installed the plugin years into their life have thousands of pre-plugin uploads still carrying GPS coordinates, camera serials, photographer names, and other metadata that should have been stripped.

The default WordPress Media library cannot answer that question. It shows thumbnails, not file sizes, not metadata status, not alt text coverage. SleekView turns the attachment post type into a real grid.

Filename, size, dimensions, format, alt text, and stripped state become sortable columns and saveable filters. Privacy leads audit for embedded GPS data. Editorial teams triage missing alt text.

Performance engineers find oversized files. Each role gets its own saved view scoped to the uploads they own. WordPress and WP Strip Image Metadata still do the upload handling.

SleekView just makes the media library legible at the scale long-running sites actually carry.