What Is a WordPress featured image and how to add it?

A WordPress featured image is a visual representation of a blog post or a page that appears on the homepage, archive pages, or social media platforms when the post or page is shared. It is also known as a post thumbnail or a featured thumbnail. A WordPress featured image can help attract readers’ attention, improve the aesthetics of the website, and enhance the SEO performance of the content.

There are three ways to add a WordPress featured image to your website: using the default WordPress editor, using a plugin, or using a theme. In this guide, I will explain each of these methods in detail and provide step-by-step instructions on how to add a WordPress featured image.

Method 1: Using the Default WordPress Editor

The default WordPress editor allows you to add a featured image to any post or page with a few clicks. Here are the steps to follow:

• Log in to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to the post or page editor where you want to add the featured image.
• On the right sidebar, under the Document tab, find the Featured Image section and click on the Set featured image link.
• A media library window will pop up, where you can either upload a new image from your computer or select an existing image from your media library. You can also edit the image by cropping, resizing, or rotating it.
• Once you have chosen the image, click on the Set featured image button at the bottom right corner of the window. The image will now appear in the Featured Image section of the sidebar.
• You can preview how the image will look on your website by clicking on the Preview button at the top right corner of the editor. You can also change or remove the featured image by clicking on the Replace image or Remove image link in the sidebar.
• When you are satisfied with your featured image, click on the Publish or Update button to save your changes and make them live on your website.

Method 2: Using a Plugin

If you want more control and customization over your featured images, you can use a plugin that adds more features and options to your WordPress editor. There are many plugins that can help you with this, but here are some of the most popular ones:

• [Featured Image Pro]: This plugin allows you to create dynamic and responsive featured images with hover effects, captions, overlays, sliders, galleries, and more. You can also use shortcodes to display your featured images anywhere on your website.
• [Featured Image Caption]: This plugin allows you to add captions to your featured images that appear below or over them. You can also style and position your captions using CSS classes and custom fields.
• [Featured Image From URL]: This plugin allows you to use an external image as your featured image without uploading it to your media library. You can also use images from other posts or pages as your featured images.
• [Smart Slider 3]: This plugin allows you to create beautiful and responsive sliders with your featured images. You can also add animations, transitions, layers, buttons, and more to your sliders.

To use any of these plugins, you need to install and activate them from your WordPress dashboard. Then, you can follow their respective documentation and settings to add a WordPress featured image using their features.

Method 3: Using a Theme

Another way to add a WordPress featured image is to use a theme that supports different layouts and sizes for your featured images. Some themes also allow you to customize the appearance and functionality of your featured images using their options panel or customizer. Here are some of the best themes that offer these features:

• [Divi]: Divi is one of the most popular and powerful WordPress themes that comes with a built-in drag-and-drop page builder. You can use Divi to create stunning and unique websites with different types of featured images, such as full-width, grid, masonry, slider, video, parallax, and more.
• [Astra]: Astra is a fast and lightweight WordPress theme that works well with any page builder. You can use Astra to create beautiful and responsive websites with different options for your featured images, such as layout, alignment, width, height, margin, padding, border, and more.
• [OceanWP]: OceanWP is a versatile and customizable WordPress theme that offers many features and extensions for your website. You can use OceanWP to create elegant and professional websites with different styles for your featured images, such as overlay, zoom, lightbox, popup, slider, carousel, and more.
• [GeneratePress]: GeneratePress is a simple and fast WordPress theme that focuses on performance and usability. You can use GeneratePress to create clean and minimalist websites with different settings for your featured images, such as location, size, aspect ratio, alignment, container width, padding, and more.

To use any of these themes, you need to install and activate them from your WordPress dashboard. Then, you can follow their respective documentation and options to add a WordPress featured image using their features.

We hope this guide has helped you understand what is a WordPress featured image and how to add it in three ways. If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below. Thank you for reading!

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