TL;DR
What did u/noiram_1944 use Claude for?
Tired of paying for gallery hosting on top of web hosting, a wedding photographer directed Claude to write a WordPress plugin for big uploads, client proofing and watermarks. They say it has been running on their real site with real client galleries, including 1,000+ image galleries. Their flow: publish watermarked and locked, the client hearts picks, they delete the rest, then turn downloads back on. They released it free under the GPL on GitHub.
What they did
Over a few weeks they directed Claude to write a gallery plugin, tried each feature on their own live site and reported back what broke. It uploads a whole Lightroom export folder in chunks, skips duplicates, stores photos outside the Media Library, and adds client favorites, watermarks, a download lock and ZIP downloads.
How it went
They say it has been running on their real site with real client galleries, including 1,000+ image galleries. Their flow: publish watermarked and locked, the client hearts picks, they delete the rest, then turn downloads back on. They released it free under the GPL on GitHub.
Worth knowing
- They say they can't explain how the code works. It has only run on one host, the download lock is "not real security," there are no client logins, and there has been no security audit. A commenter warned about WordPress security for a core business tool.
- Price check: Claude: free plan; Pro: US$20/month, or US$17/month on a yearly plan (US$200/year) (checked Nov 1, 2026).
Paying for Claude? See cheaper Claude alternatives.
Try it yourself
Paste this into a chatbot, then add your own details underneath.
I'm a photographer, not a developer. Help me plan a WordPress plugin for client galleries: bulk folder upload of 1,000+ photos without using the Media Library, a client favorites button, watermarking and a download lock. List the parts, the risks for a non-developer, and what to build first.
Original post
See u/noiram_1944's original post on Reddit → (Sep 15, 2026)
Sources
- u/noiram_1944 on Reddit, Sep 15, 2026 — the original post
- Claude pricing — checked Nov 1, 2026
