A featured image in WordPress is like a cover photo for your blog post or webpage. Think of it as the main picture that represents what your content is about – similar to how a book has a cover image or a magazine has a main photo for each article.
Featured images are sometimes called Post Thumbnails.
This image typically appears in a few important places:
- At the top of your blog post or page
- On your homepage when showing previews of different posts
- When someone shares your post on social media
- In search results on your website
It’s basically the “face” of your content that helps grab people’s attention and gives them a visual idea of what they’re about to read. You choose one main image to be the featured image when you’re creating your post, and WordPress will automatically use it in all these different places.
Adding A features image is not much different than adding another image.
Here’s how to add a featured image in both WordPress editors:
Classic Editor:
- Look on the right side of your screen for a box labeled “Featured Image”
- Click “Set featured image”
- Either upload a new image or pick one from your media library
- Select “Set featured image” after choosing your photo
- Remember to save/update your post
Block Editor (Gutenberg):
- Look in the right sidebar (click the gear icon at the top right if you can’t see it)
- Find “Featured image” in the Post settings
- Click “Set featured image”
- Upload or choose your image
- Click “Set featured image”
- Save/update your post
In both cases, you’ll see a preview of your featured image in the sidebar after you set it. You can also remove or change it anytime by clicking the “Remove featured image” or “Replace” options that appear in the same place.