Today we are discussing the thumbnail feature for WordPress. WordPress has a number of amazing hidden tools and plugins that can make a world of difference for your site. Thumbnails is one of those interesting tools that perhaps is overlooked more than most.

Basically a thumbnail post is similar to an image being added to your post. The thumbnail option is called Featured Image through WordPress but has the same meaning. Basically you are creating an image for each individual post by adding a thumbnail or featured image to that post.

 

 

First off you want to find the Featured image option on the bottom of your screen’s post it should be located on the right hand of the screen once you scroll down a bit. After clicking on this option you simply click on Set Featured Image. This will then open the media uploader in which you can add an image from your library or from your computer and then set to save the featured image to your post.

Why use a Thumbnail with your post? This option is giving an individual image to include in your post instead of having just a photo gallery page where the images are accessible but not set for each individual post. Depending on your set theme the thumbnails may appear as a small image in your post at the bottom or they may have a bit larger layout to include with your post. Each individual theme will have a different appearance of their featured images.

 

Having a featured image with your page may be the color or nice feature your page is needing. This also gives you an opportunity to showcase your work and add on the image that goes with what you are wanting to represent for your site.

There is also a way to determine your thumbnail size depending on your theme it may not be large enough for what you are needing for your page. You can change your thumbnail size by going to Settings> Media> and then Set Thumbnail Size. From here you can determine the size for all your thumbnails for your site instead of sticking with the default size.

Creating a thumbnail can create a visual association for each one of your post or pages. Be aware that thumbnail support must be enabled within your theme, and if it isn’t you can also add it with different plug in options online. There are many plugins to choose from when adding a thumbnail option it depends on what interface you prefer with your page. This is a useful visual effect to add to each one for your post and can help identify with your pages individually. Depending on the simplicity you are looking for in creating thumbnails for your page you can just as easy use the default settings and add a simple thumbnail to each post as an extra visual association. Either way this is another useful tool to use through WordPress to be taken advantage of.