Featured Images and How To Use Them

A featured image is usually a photo or image graphic that appears at the top of every post or page (if that setting is checked in the customizing area of the website). 

A featured image is set from inside a post or a page, or in the customize section of the website. It will always display automatically until you remove it.

For more information, WordPress.com Support has a good article on featured images .

How to Set a Featured Image: Getting Started

Only users with certain permissions will be able to access the backend (the editing side) of the website to set a featured image.

  1. Navigate from within the portal to the website using the app drop-down menu on the dashboard. (Your list of apps may look different from the one below.)

  2. Go to the WordPress dashboard by hovering over your site name to display the drop-down menu. Click on Dashboard.

  3. Click on Posts to add a featured image to the top of a post, or click on Pages to add a featured image to the top of a page.

Set the Featured Image in a Post or a Page

  1. The process for setting a featured image is the same whether you're putting it in a post or a page. We'll describe how to set one in a post, and you can follow the same instructions for setting one into a page.
  2. Click on Posts in the WordPress dashboard. (see image above).
  3. Select which post you want to add a featured image to. 

  4. In the post, in the Featured Image module, click on "Set Featured Image."

  5. In the next screen, you can either select an image from the Media Library or you can upload your own. The image you select will be outlined and checked. Click the blue "Set featured image" box to save your selection.

  6. Back on the Post page, you'll see your selected image in the Featured Image module.

  7. Note that when you want to remove the featured image, click on "Remove featured image" in the module.

  8. To see what your featured image looks like on your post, click Preview (see above screenshot). 

  9. Your featured image will always display at the top of that post until you remove it in the module. (Again, this is if the setting is checked in the Customize section of the website. Don't worry about this setting for right now.)