Attract readers before they even see your headline
Images have become as much an integral part of web content as the words of an article themselves. A clever image selection can enhance a readers understanding of your content or provide context for content that cannot be achieved quickly with words alone.
Apart from all social media channels relying heavily on imagery when sharing content, images are a great way to let your reader know of the message of your article even before they have read your headline or content.
Embedding WordPress Images
There are usually two main types of images you will want to use in your content with WordPress: featured images and content images.
Featured WordPress Images
When content is published in WordPress it is common to declare a “featured” image. This image is often used as your thumbnail in article indexes, and as the first image of an article, and it can be used as the go-to image when sharing your content on social media.
While the process of uploading an image as a featured image is the same as a normal image, the location of setting this featured image is different.
In the right hand column of your WordPress content editor screen is a panel titled “Featured Image”. Selecting “Set featured image” will display an image selection dialogue that will allow you to either select an existing image, or upload a new one from your computer or the web.
Using an existing image
- If you wish to use an image you had previously used in another article, select the “Media Library” tab. Here you will see a listing of all the images and videos you have previously used in other posts or pages.
- To choose an image to be your feature image, select the image you wish to use. Once selected, you will see details about the image in the right hand column.
- To insert the image as your feature image, select the “Set featured image” button and you have now set the image to use.
Uploading a new image
If you wish to use a new image saved to your computer, you can choose the “Upload Files” tab.
- Select the “Upload Files” tab reveal the file upload screen.
- Choose the “Select Files” button to open your computer’s file browser and select the image you wish to upload. Take note of the file size limit for your site (each site can be different); in this case, we are limited to files that are smaller than 32 MB.
- Once you select your file and WordPress uploads the file automatically, select “Set featured image” to set that image as the main image of your content.
Content WordPress Images
Apart from setting an image as your featured image, you can also use the WordPress image capabilities to embed images within your content itself.
The process is almost identical to the process listed above, however the process starts with you selecting the “Add Media” button above your content editing area.
- Insert your cursor where you want the image to be inserted.
- Select the “Add Media” button.
- Select or upload an image as described in the “Feature image” section above.
How to align your images in your content
The main difference between setting content images and featured images is the ability to wrap text around your images. Some images will be large and will be displayed full width, while others you will want to align left or right and have your content “wrap” around the image.
To align an image when inserting it into your content, use the “Alignment” drop down menu found in the right hand column when selecting an image. Here you can see you have the option of aligning your image to the left or right, and have your content wrap accordingly.
Images that have their alignment set to Centre or None will not have text wrapped around them but will align on screen according to your selection.
After you have chosen your alignment, select “Insert into post”, and WordPress will insert the image into your content for you to continue editing.
How about reading our article about turning images into GIF.