media_external

This module provides a new media source that can be used to import external media as local media items using the media library. External sources for images can be added using plugins. The module ships with plugins for the open source image libraries Pexels and Unsplash.

Using the module

• Configure the API keys for Pexels and/or Unsplash using settings.local.php.
  

  $settings['media.external_provider.unsplash.access_key'] = 'YOUR_UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY';
  $settings['media.external_provider.pexels.api_key'] = 'YOUR_PEXELS_API_KEY';
  

• Create a new media type choosing "External media" as the source.
• In the source configuration, select the provider plugin you want to use for the media type.
• Save the media type, the source field that stores the external media ID will automatically be created.
• To improve performance, it is recommended to create extra custom fields to store API data.
  • Go to the "Manage fields" page and create a separate text field to store the image URL.
  • Go to the "Manage fields" page and create a separate text field to store the image alt text.
  • Edit the media type and map the "File URL" and "Alt text" field to the created custom fields.
  • Since the custom fields are now automatically filled when media items are created, it is fine to remove them from the different form displays. The alt text can still be shown if editors prefer to override the alt texts provides by the external media provider.
  • Using the imagecache_external module, you can apply an image style to the custom text field containing the mapped image URL.