This is a screenshot of the Identity Posts category from a previous class’s eportfolio. The students set featured images which appear  above the post titles.

WordPress themes display category posts in different ways, sometimes as a list, or in a tiled layout. Many display on the the title, or the title and a brief excerpt. Some, including this one (Pinboard), display post titles with an accompanying image. And others display only an image.

When using a theme that displays the post with or as an image, you have to set the image you that you wish to appear. This is called the “featured image.”

To set a Featured Image, look to the menu of items to the right of the text box where you have written the text of your post. Toward the bottom of the page you will see “Featured Image.” Click “Set featured image.” A new window will appear and you may select the image from the Media Library. Note: the image you select must be in the Media Library. If you are in the excellent habit of embedding images hosted elsewhere, say your Flickr account, you will need to upload an image to the media library to set a featured image. As with all images you upload to the media library, we recommend you reduce the file size.

Set Featured Image