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Images

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DonkeyCMS takes JPG, PNG and WEBP images of up to 2 MB each.

The featured image sits at the top of the post, on its card on your blog, and is the picture people see when the post is shared on social networks.

The Featured image box of the post editor: a dashed drop area, the word OR, and a Choose from Library button.12
  1. Drag an image here, or click the box to choose a file.
  2. Reuse an image you uploaded before (Pro plan).
  1. Under Featured image, drag an image from your computer onto the dashed box, or click the box to choose a file.
  2. On the Pro plan and above, Choose from Library beside the box picks an image you uploaded before. See Media Library.
  3. The box now shows the image: a small preview, its name and its size. Press Save post.

After saving, the box shows the saved file, for example "WEBP · 1200 × 630 · 29 KB".

  • Change image goes back to the dashed box so you can pick another one. Keep current image under the box takes you back without changing anything.
  • Delete image removes the featured image when you save. The post then shares your blog's default image, set under Settings, SEO & AI.

The picture social networks show

Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp and similar sites show a shared link's picture at 1200 × 630 pixels. DonkeyCMS makes a separate copy in exactly that shape for them, from the image you uploaded and at high quality. You do not have to do anything for it.

  • If your image has another shape, the copy is cut from its middle. Your blog keeps the whole image.
  • A larger image is scaled down to 1200 × 630. A smaller one is cut to the shape but never enlarged.

If the important part of your picture is not in the middle, crop it yourself:

Cropping (Pro plan)

Each time you choose a featured image, the focal-point cropping tool opens: your picture, with a dashed frame around the part social networks will show. Drag the image to move it and use the slider to zoom, or press Center Horizontal or Center Vertical. Press Crop to keep your choice, or Keep original to use the image as it is.

The focal-point cropping tool: a dashed 1200 × 630 frame around the part social networks show, a zoom slider and two buttons.123
  1. The part inside the dashed frame is what social networks show. Drag the picture to move it.
  2. Zoom in to cut closer.
  3. Crop keeps your choice. Keep original uses the image as it is.

Your original image is never changed: the crop is saved as a new image.

Tip: On the Pro plan the focal-point cropping tool is part of DonkeyCMS 1.07. Before that, Pro had a Crop to 1200×630 checkbox that always cut from the middle. If you still see the checkbox, update your blog: see Updates.

To crop a picture that is already in your library, in other shapes too, see Media Library.

Pictures in the text

  1. Put the cursor where the picture should go and press Image in the toolbar.
  2. In Insert Image, upload a picture, or on the Pro plan and above pick one from the Library. From URL shows a picture that lives on another website; if that website removes it, it disappears from your post too.
  3. Fill in Alt text (SEO): a short description of the picture. Width is optional; leave it empty and the picture shows at its own size, never wider than the text.

Tip: Alt text is read aloud to visitors who cannot see the picture, and tells search engines and AI tools what it shows. "Golden sourdough loaf on a wooden board" says more than "bread".

Taking a picture out of the text removes it from this post only. The file stays in your Media Library, because another post may use it.

Image Optimizer

Under Settings, Customizations, Features, the Image Optimizer switch saves every image you upload as WebP and makes very large images smaller (at most 1600 pixels wide or tall). Pages load faster, which visitors and search engines both notice.

  • It is on every plan. A blog installed with version 1.06 or later starts with it switched on; on an older blog, switch it on yourself.
  • Images uploaded before you switch it on stay as they are. On the Pro plan and above, Optimize all in the Media Library converts them in one go: see Media Library.
  • It also protects your privacy. A phone or camera writes hidden details into every photo: where it was taken, with which device, and when. While the Image Optimizer is on, the pictures you add to posts and to the Media Library are saved as new files without those details, so they never reach your visitors. With the switch off, a picture is stored exactly as you uploaded it, hidden details included.

Choosing the quality (Pro plan)

On the Pro plan and above the box adds a Quality slider with seven levels, from 40 to 95. Under it, two tiles show the file size to expect for a photo and for a graphic (a drawing, logo or screenshot) about 1200 pixels wide, and change as you slide. A higher level looks sharper and makes a larger file; 80 suits most blogs.

On the Free plan the quality is fixed at 80.

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