A feature image sets the tone of your post and is a great tool to enhance the presentation of your site. But, featured images are used in more places than just the top of your post. Depending on your theme, they can show up across your site and even outside of it.
You’ll commonly see featured images at the top of a blog post, on blog or news listing pages, and in social media previews when your link is shared.
To Set a Featured Image:
- Open the editor of the post or page you want to display the Featured Image
- Locate the Featured Image module on the bottom right
- Click Set Featured Image
- The uploading screen will pop up
- Select to Upload Files or select an image from your Media Library
- You may add a Caption or Alt Text on this screen
- Click the button Set Featured Image
- Finally, click the Update button on your post or page to save your changes
To Change/Remove a Featured Image:
- Re-open the post or page editor
- Locate the Featured Image module on the bottom right
- Click the image to edit or update the current featured image
- Click Remove featured image link to remove the image
- Finally, click the Update button on your post or page to save your changes
Understanding Featured Image Sizing
When you upload an image to WordPress, it automatically creates multiple sizes of that image. Your theme then selects which size to use depending on where the image appears.
There are two common types of cropping:
Aspect Ratio Crop
Images are resized to fit a specific shape, like a rectangle or square. The size may change, but the proportions stay consistent.
Fixed Crop
Images are cropped to an exact width and height every time. No matter what you upload, the final image will always be the same dimensions.
When using fixed crop featured images, it’s important that the original image you upload is larger than the crop size. If it’s too small, the image can appear stretched, blurry, or poorly cropped.
One advantage of fixed crop images is consistency. Because every image is the same size, your blog listings and pages will look more clean and uniform across your site. To keep everything consistent, it’s important to know what your theme expects for featured image size.
Featured images do more than fill space. They shape how your content is seen across your site and beyond.
Take a few minutes to understand your theme’s image sizing and start uploading images that match. It’s a small change that makes your site look more consistent and professional.
Updated April 22, 2026
