Basic WordPress training: Using the media library
Whenever you add an image to a post or page, WordPress automatically transfers that file to the media library. Let’s take a look at using the media library to edit images.
Editing through the media library
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Go to Media>Library.
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You will now see a list of every piece of media you’ve uploaded to your Wordpress site. This area works in a very similar way to the All Posts page. You can search for images in the search box, filter the list of results by date using the dropdown menu and perform bulk actions, such as deleting groups of images.
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Next to each image you’ll see its name, the user who uploaded, the page or post name that the image appears in, and the date on which it was uploaded.
To edit an image in the media library, hover over the image name in the list and click on ‘Edit’.
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This is a great way to clean up the meta data of the image (this is the data used by search engines to identify what the subject of the image is). Often images are given obscure file names by cameras or various software programmes; it’s always better that the image has a unique and descriptive title (this helps users and search engines alike). You can edit the title in this window.
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You can also edit the alternative text, description and caption here. Learn why these fields are important in the Basic SEO tutorial.
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To manipulate the image itself within WordPress (as you would in a programme like Photoshop) click on the ‘Edit Image’ button.
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Here you can crop the image by clicking on it and dragging the corner of the box that appears to the required size. You can also drag this box to show a different portion of the image by clicking inside of it and moving the four-way cursor wherever you like.
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You can enter specific sizes for the crop box (in pixels) in the ‘Selection fields’ (width:height).
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Once you are happy with the size and position of the crop box, click the Crop icon.
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You can also Rotate the image:
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or flip it.
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Once you’re happy with the image, click ‘Save’. This will now update wherever the image appears on your site.
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