I've been managing 200+ NGG galleries and ran into these two issues.

Sharing what worked for me.
If you're frustrated by the new Imagely 4.x admin interface, here are two undocumented workarounds that might save you a lot of time.

Tip 1: Open a Gallery Edit Page Directly via URL

The Problem

Since Imagely 4.0, the gallery list screen has been rebuilt as a React SPA (Single Page Application). Every time you finish editing a gallery and return to the list, any sorting or search filters you had applied — by ID, title, slug, etc. — are completely reset. For users managing a large number of galleries, having to re-sort the list every single time makes sequential editing extremely tedious.

The Solution

You can open the legacy gallery edit screen directly by inserting the gallery's gid (Gallery ID) into the following URL:

https://your-site.com/wp-admin/admin.php?page=nggallery-manage-gallery&mode=edit&gid=YOUR_GALLERY_ID

Example (for gid = 284):

https://your-site.com/wp-admin/admin.php?page=nggallery-manage-gallery&mode=edit&gid=284

Open this link with Ctrl+click (or Cmd+click on Mac), or right-click → Open in new tab, to edit the gallery in a new tab without losing your sort order in the list screen.

How to Find Your Gallery ID

• The ID number displayed in the Imagely Galleries list is the gallery ID.

Taking It Further: Automate with a Plugin

By reading gid, title, and slug from the wp_ngg_gallery database table, you can build a WordPress plugin that auto-generates these direct-edit URLs — complete with sortable columns (ID, title, slug), keyword filtering, and one-click access to each gallery's edit screen in a new tab.

Notes

• Tested on: NextGEN Gallery / Imagely 4.2.2, WordPress 7.0
• This is an undocumented legacy URL. It may stop working in a future version of the plugin.

Tip 2: Restore the Legacy Album Management Screen

The Problem

I wanted to move a gallery to a specific position in an album, but couldn't figure out how. While trying different things, the old album management screen appeared out of nowhere — and I was miraculously able to do exactly what I needed. But I had no idea how it happened, and couldn't reproduce it. I started to wonder if I had dreamed the whole thing.

It was quite a while later that I finally learned the method.

Since Imagely 4.0, the album management screen was also rebuilt as a SPA. Galleries are now split across multiple pages, and it is no longer possible to move a gallery from one page to another within the album. In the legacy interface, you could freely drag and drop galleries into any order — making this a significant step backwards in usability.

The Solution

Access the following URL to open a hidden settings page that does not appear in the regular admin menu:

https://your-site.com/wp-admin/admin.php?page=imagely-settings&tab=hidden

On this page, you will find a "Show legacy admin pages" toggle. Turn it on and refresh the page — a "NextGEN Gallery" menu will appear in the left sidebar alongside the existing Imagely menu. From there, you can access the legacy album management screen and freely drag and drop galleries into any position within an album.

Notes

• Tested on: NextGEN Gallery / Imagely 4.2.2, WordPress 7.0
• The tab=hidden page is undocumented and not accessible from the regular settings menu. It may be removed in a future version of the plugin.
• This method has been shared by Imagely support staff in some WordPress.org support threads.

Hope this helps someone. Feel free to ask if you have any questions.