WordPress is a quality tool for website building that has accumulated thousands of users over the years. With its simple design and user-friendly interface, WordPress is a favorite among both novice and experienced website designers.

There are many things to consider in the building of your website. Themes, layout and content will all factor into the final result. Images are also a very important component in the look of your website. Strong images can help your website capture the attention of your readers and enhance your message.

One trend that is ever-growing is the use of mobile technology to access websites. This requires websites to be mobile-friendly and adaptable. One of the ways of accomplishing this is through the use of responsive images. These images can adapt in size to the device that is accessing or viewing them. There are several ways to make the most of responsive images through WordPress.

Background Images

Responsive image technology initially relied on CSS code to transform images into an appropriate size. This code can help make an image fit but it does not shrink the actual image file, only the size of the image. One of its drawbacks is that it can significantly slow down website function due to the long time it takes to upload the large image file. As a result, many different options have been devised.

One of these options is the use of background rather than markup images. Background images are formatted differently and require less adaptation than a markup image. This can decrease the load time that is required to view a website image from a mobile device.

Smaller Images

Another option is to use a smaller markup image along with a background image. This technique can help to cut down on load time as well, but it may be slightly more complicated in the formatting process. It will require the formatting of two different images to be compatible with mobile device viewing.

Javascript

Javascript is a great solution for image formatting. Compatible with mobile devices, it can help your website content to be easily translated to any screen. Although it can require greater processing and possibly more time for users to access your website, Javascript can solve image issues through URL solutions.

Adaptive Images

Adaptive Image techniques have been developed by several people. By using PHP, adaptive images address each separate image to optimize it for mobile viewing. These methods allow website builders to tailor their responsive images to their viewers, without sacrificing the efficient upload time they want their viewers to experience.

WordPress Plugin

If you are adapting your images for a WordPress-based website, the WordPress plugin can help you with the process. This plugin makes the images appear in a view that fits the screen. However, the actual size of the image is not altered. This is a great solution to the problem of creating responsive images. Users will not have to go through extended loading times, and the final result they see will resemble what would appear on a computer web browser. By using the WordPress plugin, you can achieve consistency for your website throughout different devices.

One picture is like a thousand words, or so they say. This applies whether it is content targeting adults or children. This is because research suggests that 90% of information that is relayed to the brain is visual and the brain processes visual signals 60,000 times faster than text. (more…)