I ask this because I encounter posts here from time to time where I click on the image (like this one on Sunday) to get a closer look at some detail, and it doesn’t pop up to full size. And sometimes there’s no gray border, or the image is not centered. There’s a technical reason for that, which I’ll get into after the jump. Am I the only one who clicks on images?
Here’s the same image that can’t be enlarged. What’s the difference? Well, it’s all in the Writer’s Guide, but since we seem to have a steady infusion lately of new contributors and I keep running into non-enlarging images, let me refresh you on the details to make sure they do.
When you upload an image, before you insert it into the post, check these two settings. If either of these settings in the Attachment Display settings (in the yellow and red highlighted boxes) are set at None, then the result is an image that will not be properly centered, and more importantly, will not pop up when clicked on, because it’s not linked to the full sized image in the Media Library.
This is how those two settings should look. And here’s the key thing: If you set these on the first image you upload/inset, then the system should remember that, and they will become the default settings for you going forward. And you never have to worry again about whether your images will pop up. or me sending you an email about them.
Sorry to bore all of you readers about this, but it’s the best way to get this to all our many contributors. Please check your posts, and if your images don’t pop up, you can go back in and fix them, or just make the proper settings going forward. Thanks.
I for one do like to click on images every so often. Do you?
I frequently click on images to enlarge them and subsequently make sure that all images in my posts can be enlarged 🙂
I do like to enlarge images to look at them….I’ll double check my posts with my IT department involved if needed (my 15 year old son).
Well, I enjoyed looking at the full-size version of Jason Shafer’s chameleon picture this morning…
…seriously, though, thanks for bringing this up. It’s an easy thing to overlook when piecing together these posts, but having the full-size images available does improve the viewing experience, and I find myself clicking through to full-size images quite a bit.
On a related (and somewhat tedious) topic, another little detail to keep in mind when writing posts is to set the “Featured Image.” It’s likewise easy to forget, but the featured image ends up as the thumbnail on CCs mobile version, and it having the featured image selected makes the mobile site look much more interesting. Just my 2¢ worth…
This. Yes, I’m glad you mentioned this. I always make sure I select a Featured Image, at least for full-length and capsule posts. And I don’t even use the mobile site, but that’s only because I like to see the little comments widget on the side of the desktop site (otherwise the mobile site is excellent).
I too will occasionally enlarge a picture to glory in some odd bit of esoterica. One problem I have experienced lately is that I grab some of my pictures from backups on Flickr, which does not seem to keep them in the same large size of their original form. They enlarge when clicked upon, just not as much. I need to work on that.
I click all the time, and more so as I get older. It is particularly helpful in studying image details, especially of interiors ( I love the fonts on the old gauges, and the dash details from the Art Deco period), and it is essential when reading the wonderful vintage car reviews. Thank you for helping to make certain that this feature will continue.
Yes, I routinely click images. And now I’m going to go back to every CC post I’ve ever written and make sure these options are set correctly,
if I can figure out how to do so retroactively. Update: It’s easy![Edit post], click image, little tool palette appears below it. My images are already centred; click the centred-image icon if yours isn’t. Then click the pencil icon to edit the image, and then you get a pop-up with the “Link to” menu; select “Media file” and save it. Then if you want to be extra-friendly to readers (especially if the image is a scan of a magazine page or something else that bears close study) click the image again, click the chain-link icon at the top of the editor (“insert/edit link”), click the gear icon at the right edge of the resultant pop-up, click “open link in a new tab” in the resultant control panel, and click Update. Do all those in the article, then click “Update” over on the right side of the screen to save the article.
I’ll only enlarge a picture periodically, but have tried to be diligent in making sure they are set as a media file.
The featured image is a much bigger issue for me. Looking at my stuff recently, one had a featured image that I had taken out of the article itself. Nice. I’ve since been remembering (mostly) to set a featured image early on.
I’m embarrassed to say that I consistently forget to check my featured images.
I’ve always wondered what it is and am frightened by it and thus have never, ever set one 🙂 And now at this point so many years in I am far too ashamed to ask so thanks for giving me this opening…
I just looked again and finally for the first time ever(!) clicked on “Set Featured Image”. It takes you to the Media place and I assume you just click on one you want from there. I’ll do it from now on.
Can the code be adjusted so that the “featured” is automatic?
Knowing they will enlarge is info that I keep in my back pocket. Having it there means I will click when there’s an image that begs to be seen in all its glory.. When I put photos up, I size all my images to be 1200 dpi wide in Photoshop, upload, then resize them for the body of the post. Right?
Barry the size setting will automatically resize the photo that goes into the post, you don’t need to do anything there.
Paul, I apologise if I messed up on the article these photos came from. I didn’t check to make sure the media source was selected – it usually is by default.
No problem; I wasn’t trying to pick on you.
BTW, it l looks like your most recent 3-4 posts all have the same problem. Somehow the default must have been reset back to None (attachment). Once that happens, they will all be like that until it’s reset.
Cheers Paul, I may have changed it for a specific image
Yes, sometimes I really like to click and enlarge, especially if I’m looking for more detail, like the radio in that 1930s Mercedes cabriolet last week. Also if I’m reading on my phone.
Depends on the image.
I do, especially when interior/dash details are involved.
Yes I regularly enlarge images, and often save them to my own computer under directories I have set up for the major manufacturers. Later, I will scroll through them all on my hard drive to see the styling changes from year to year. It’s a hobby of mine, and it’s one of the main draws that first led me to CC. I was googling for images of a certain year and model car and the best ones were on this site.
I click on these images all the time! I so often see something interesting in the background and can’t quite make out what it is. Makes CC all the more enjoyable, especially when the photo is a Clue.
Thanks for this, Paul.
I noticed recently while using the search function that there are a few articles of mine from a while ago that have images set as Attachment Pages or whatever. Which is bizarre because I don’t recall fiddling with the images at the time, I’m sure I just uploaded and inserted as I’ve always done. Nevertheless, there exist a few articles that have these attachment pages and not expandable images and I need to set aside some time to fix them.
I don’t like to blame technology, especially considering I’m hardly the most technologically proficient guy, but I’m sure I didn’t change the settings at the time… Oh well, I’ll fix it.
I don’t know what to tell you. But I have seen some issues with older articles where some of the images a wonky. it might have to do with all of the many new versions of WP that keep happening. Makes me a bit worried about 20 years from now.
20 years from now, seriously that is a concern. This site has become a massive repository of everything on the road in the last 75 years or so. So much wonderful writing, so many wonderful photos. Be an awful shame to lose it. I wonder how wide the shelf would be if CC was in book form.
There is the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, It does seem to have backed up most CC articles, but I don’t know how deep it goes. I’ll take a look when I get more time.
Actually WP isn’t a bad choice for long-term storage, since they keep updating the basic software. And it’s widely enough used that if you do need to export the content at some point, someone will have written an extension to help.
All the time.
I too click on ’em quite often.
I will enlarge a lot of images depending on what they are. Some I’ve found to be great for my computer wallpaper. And at the beginning of each new year I create a new folder for automotive images and use them to change the background every day.
Variety is the spice of life!