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Significance of WordPress Default Featured Image
The Default Featured Image plugin stands as a vital tool for WordPress. Suppose you’re unfamiliar with WordPress and its applications. In that case, this plugin assigns a default image to act as the featured image for pages or posts on your site that do not already have one set.
When constructing a website, it’s crucial to consider the aesthetics. WordPress themes often rely heavily on featured images for various display functions. Therefore, absent featured images could make your website appear incomplete or unpolished. That’s where the plugin comes to the rescue.
Functionality of WordPress Default Featured Image Plugin
This user-friendly plugin adds a selection in your WordPress settings, permitting you to designate a default featured image. After setting your preferred image, the WordPress Default Featured Image plugin will automatically assign this image as the featured image for all posts, pages, or custom post types without an expressly set featured image.
Why is the WordPress Default Featured Image Plugin a Time-saver?
Managing a WordPress website involves a multitude of tasks, one of which includes manually adding a featured image to every single post. This can be time-consuming and arduous. With this plugin, this process is simplified. The plugin automatically applies your chosen image to all posts without a specified featured image, potentially saving you valuable time and effort.
Who Can Benefit from This Plugin
This plugin is primarily for people who don’t apply images for each post or forget to do so. If you believe that it will not happen to you or you know that you will use unique images for each post, then you don’t need this plugin.
Installing WordPress Default Featured Image Plugin
Use the WordPress Plugin Installation Guide article of our Complete SEO Guide Box.
Search for: Default featured image By Jan Willem Oostendorp.
Setting Up the Plugin
Image preparations:
It should be a 300px * 300px cubic (1:1 ratio) image.
Match the background of your image to the background of your site. Omit this step if your image is transparent.
Optimize your image for the Web.
Setting the Default Featured Image for WordPress:
Login to your WordPress Dashboard.
On the left side menu bar, click on [Media].
On top of the “Media” page, click [Add New].
Drop in the box or [Select] the image file you want to appear as the default featured image.
Click the image to change its Title and other attributes if you like.
The Title can be: <Your Site Name> Default Featured Image.
Close the edit window if you clicked the image.
On the left side menu bar, hover the mouse cursor over [Settings], then click on [Media].
On the “Default featured image” row, click [Select default featured image].
Select your 300×300 image.
On the right bottom of the window, click [Set default featured image].
On the bottom of the “Media” settings page, click on [Save Changes].
Changing The Default Image
The process is not straightforward if you need to change the WordPress Default Featured image using the plugin. When you replace the file name of the default image with a new one (uploading a new image with a new file name and selecting it in the plugin), this approach only affects future posts. Therefore, all your existing posts will face a significant issue: the old image file name will result in a 404 error, as the original image no longer exists under that name. You can check it with the Link Doctor Broken Links Checker Tool.
A user-friendly method involves exchanging the old image for the new one with the same file name.
Exchange WordPress Default Featured Image with the Same File Name
On the left side menu bar, click on [Media].
Click on your Featured default image.
Find the “File URL:” text box.
Check what is the path and the name of your image. Example:
https://www.yourdomain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/your-domain-name-featured.jpg
Prepare your new featured image on your local computer.
Rename your new file so it should be called:
your-domain-name-featured.jpg
Use the WP File Manager WordPress plugin.
Click on [WP File Manager] on the left side menu bar.
In the file manager, navigate to the path from the old image “File URL”:
wp-content/uploads/2023/11
Drag and drop your newly prepared default image to this location.
You will be asked if you want to overwrite the image. Click yes.
Clear all the caches.
This method ensures a seamless transition across both new and old posts, maintaining the visual consistency of your website without the headache of broken links.
Updating All the Posts
It’s a less practical approach, but when you hit [Update] on each post, the image also updates to the new one.
If you find any mistakes or have ideas for improvement, please follow the email on the Contact page.