Working with Images

Give your content a visual identity without turning every upload into a separate design project.

Images have different jobs on a website. A featured image introduces a Post or Page. An image inside an article supports a particular point, often with a description or caption. The media dashboard helps administrators inspect the files already uploaded.

VerdinCore handles these jobs separately. This guide walks you through the practical workflow: choose a featured image, insert an image into the editor, adjust its text, and check the published result.

What you'll do

Prepare an image for upload.
Assign a featured image to a Post or Page.
Insert an image within the content, with alternative text and an optional caption.
Edit an image already placed in the article.
Review the published result and inspect uploaded assets.

Before you begin: Sign in to the Dashboard with permission to edit the relevant Post or Page. Have a sample article ready and two images you are permitted to publish: a strong photograph for the cover and a second image that illustrates a specific passage. You can complete the steps with just one image, but using two makes their different roles easier to see.

1. Prepare the image

VerdinCore's Post and Page upload controls accept JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, and GIF images. In the audited configuration, uploads are limited to 20 MB and source dimensions of 12,000 × 12,000 pixels. A different deployment or later version may have different limits; the upload form and validation response are the final authority.

Choose your source image with its intended use in mind:

Intended use	What to look for	What to avoid
Featured Post image	A clear subject that remains recognizable in wide landscape crops	Important details or text right against the edges
Featured Page image	A composition with enough space to accommodate different header shapes	A composition that only works at one exact aspect ratio
Image inside the article	Readable detail and a useful relationship to the surrounding text	Decorative images that interrupt the explanation without adding value

You do not need to export the featured image manually in every target size. VerdinCore generates the configured variants. However, it cannot make a poorly composed source image meaningful: choose a photograph that still works when the layout changes.

Practical rule: Decide what the image is for before deciding where to upload it. The featured-image panel and the content editor are different workflows.

2. Assign a featured image

Open Dashboard → Posts, then select a Post to edit. The same overall process is available when editing a Page through Dashboard → Pages.

Find the Featured image panel in the right sidebar.
Select Choose image, or drag your file onto the image area.
Allow the upload to finish. The panel displays a preview when the upload succeeds.
Check that the chosen image suits the article.
Select Save in the Post or Page editor to retain the new association with that publication.

((Screenshot from VerdinCore Admin > Edit Post > Featured image: use a demonstration Post titled "A Better Way to Publish". Show a successful upload with the image preview inside the right sidebar, and keep the "Choose image" and "Clear image" buttons visible. Include a narrow portion of the Post title for context, but crop tightly enough that the panel is readable. Approximately 1400 × 950. Suggested caption: "Assign a featured image directly from the Post editor." Hide account information and private content.))

What happens after upload?

VerdinCore prepares image files suited to the selected content type. Posts and Pages have different featured-image presets; both include a version intended for link-sharing metadata. The public theme decides how and where the image appears.

This is why a featured image is not necessarily displayed at exactly the shape of the original upload. The configured cover variants use centered cropping to fit their target dimensions. If an important face, label, or object is close to an edge, inspect the actual result after publishing.

Important: Uploading a file and saving the publication are distinct steps. Wait for the image preview, then save the Post or Page. Do not assume that the presence of a preview means the content record has been saved.

3. Insert an image inside the article

A featured image introduces the publication; an inline image belongs to a particular place in the story. You insert it through the visual editor, not through the featured-image panel.

In Edit Post or Edit Page, click the intended insertion point in the Content editor, preferably between two paragraphs.
Select Insert image from the editor toolbar.
In the image panel, choose a file or drag it into the upload area.
Wait until the uploaded image appears in the preview.
Enter useful Alt text and, if appropriate, a Caption.
Select Insert image to place the image into the article.
Continue editing and select Save for the Post or Page.

((Screenshot from VerdinCore Admin > Edit Post > Content editor > Insert image: open a demonstration article with a paragraph before and after the insertion point. Show the image popover after a successful upload, including its preview, "Alt text", optional "Caption", and "Insert image" button. Suggested sample alt text: "A notebook and a laptop on a wooden desk". Suggested caption: "Planning the structure before publishing." Approximately 1600 × 1000; capture readable text and a small portion of the editor behind the popover. Suggested caption for the documentation: "Add an image with an accessible description and an optional visible caption."))

Write alternative text for the reader

Alternative text describes the information conveyed by an image when it cannot be seen. It is not a keyword field, and it does not need to begin with “Image of”.

Image	Better alt text	Why
Photograph of a work desk	`Notebook beside an open laptop on a wooden desk`	Describes the relevant scene
Screenshot of an interface	`Post editor showing the Featured image panel and upload controls`	Identifies the interface and the point of the screenshot
Decorative texture with no information	An empty description, where appropriate	Avoids unnecessary narration for assistive-technology users

A caption serves a different purpose. It is visible editorial text that can add context, credit a source, or explain why the image matters. Use it when it helps; leave it empty when it would merely repeat the paragraph.

VerdinCore renders an inline image within a figure, adding a caption beneath it when you supply one. It also prepares responsive image variants that preserve the source image's proportions instead of cropping it into a featured-image shape.

4. Correct an existing image

You do not need to delete and upload an inline image again just to improve its description.

Open the Post or Page in the visual editor.
Select the existing image in the content.
Open the toolbar's Insert image control. When an image is selected, the panel switches to Edit image.
Update Alt text or Caption.
Select Save changes in the image panel.
Select the publication's main Save action to persist the edited article.

((Screenshot from VerdinCore Admin > Edit Post > Content editor: select an existing inline image and open its image panel in editing mode. Show the image preview, an improved "Alt text" description, the optional "Caption" field, and the "Save changes" button. Approximately 1600 × 950. Suggested caption: "Update an image's description and caption without recreating the article." Do not capture private drafts or personal details.))

Two saves, two purposes: Save changes updates the selected image inside the editor. The Post or Page Save action stores the updated publication. Treat them as separate actions.

To replace an inline image with a different file, use the image panel's upload control while editing the selected image, then apply the change and save the publication. To remove an image from the article, select the image in the document and delete it as content before saving.

5. Check the public presentation

Once the Post or Page is Published, open its public URL and check the result at a comfortable desktop width and on a narrow screen.

Check the following:

Featured image: Does the subject survive the actual crop? Is it appropriate for the header or card layout used by this theme?
Inline images: Do they appear in the correct place, and are important details still readable?
Captions: Are they accurate, useful, and attached to the intended image?
Accessibility: Does the alternative text communicate what a non-visual reader needs to know?
Sharing: If the content is shared elsewhere, remember that a social platform decides how and when it refreshes its preview.

((Screenshot from a published demonstration Post on the public VerdinCore website: show the article title and featured image in its actual theme treatment, then the first inline illustration with a visible caption. If both will not fit legibly in a single screenshot, capture two views for one paired placement. Use a realistic desktop viewport around 1600 × 1000 and a clean, non-sensitive example. Suggested caption: "The published theme gives featured and inline images distinct presentation roles."))

A note on cropping: Featured images may be cropped to fixed proportions; inline article images are resized while retaining their proportions. If a cover crop hides an essential detail, choose a better-composed source file rather than assuming there is a manual crop-position editor.

6. Inspect uploaded images in Media

Open Dashboard → Media to inspect assets managed by VerdinCore. The All Media table includes previews, stored and original filenames, collection, alt-text metadata where available, uploader, and timestamps.

Use the available controls to narrow the list:

Filter or control	What it helps you find
Uploaded By	Files associated with a particular uploader
Collection	Featured Post, featured Page, article content, or other supported collections
Sort Order	Recent uploads, older assets, filenames, or collections

((Screenshot from VerdinCore Admin > Dashboard > Media: show the "All Media" list with several non-sensitive example uploads. Keep the "Uploaded By", "Collection", and "Sort Order" filters visible above the preview, File, Collection, Alt Text, and Created columns. Capture approximately 1700 × 950; hide personal usernames and sensitive filenames. Suggested caption: "Inspect and filter media records in the Dashboard."))

The current Media page is an inspection and filtering view. Do not confuse it with a universal picker for inserting any previously uploaded file into any article. For normal featured and inline image workflows, use the upload controls in the corresponding editor.

Replacing or clearing a featured image

To change a cover later, return to the Post or Page's Featured image panel and upload another file. To remove the current association, select Clear image, then Save the publication.

Clearing an image from a Post or Page does not imply that the underlying file is deleted immediately. VerdinCore has maintenance routines for unreferenced media, which are run separately from ordinary editing.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to check
The upload is rejected	Check the file's format, size, and dimensions. Use the message displayed by the uploader as your guide.
I uploaded an inline image, but it did not appear in the article	Wait for the preview, then select Insert image. An upload alone does not insert it into the document.
The image or updated caption disappeared after reopening the Post	Make sure you used the publication's Save action after editing.
The featured image looks poorly cropped	Try an image with more space around the subject; featured variants use purpose-specific crops.
My image does not appear where I expected on the public site	Check whether you uploaded it as a featured image or as inline content, and review the active theme's presentation.
I cannot select a past upload directly from the editor	The inspected editor uses upload controls; the separate Media dashboard is not an editor-wide reuse picker.

Finish with the reader in mind

For most publications, the entire image workflow should remain short: choose a source, assign its purpose, describe it when necessary, save, and inspect the result. VerdinCore takes care of generating the configured image outputs behind that workflow.

The point is not to hide the importance of photography or visual design. It is to remove repetitive file preparation so you can spend more attention on the images that deserve to be there.

Related documentation: Images & Media · The Visual Editor · Image Processing Pipeline · Write & Publish a Post