Covers, pictures and storage
Add a cover and pictures to a post, which file types work, how to describe them, and how they count toward your storage.
- blog
- images
- cover
- storage
- alt text
A cover is the large picture at the top of a post. It also shows on the post's card on your blog's home, and it is the picture a link preview uses when the post is shared. A post with no cover borrows the first picture in the part of it everybody may read. Pictures inside the post are Image blocks and Gallery blocks.
Add a cover
Above the title, press Add cover and choose a picture. Point at the cover to see Change, Reposition and a delete button. To reposition, press Reposition, drag the picture up or down (or use the arrow keys) and press Done. The post and its cards crop the cover to fit, and this sets which part stays in view.
Describe it
Under the cover, fill in Describe the cover for screen readers. The same goes for pictures in the post: each Image block has a description field and an optional caption. The post's score checks that your pictures are described.
Add pictures in the post
Press / and pick Image or Gallery. See What you can put in a post.
Which files work
JPEG, PNG, WebP and GIF. Other formats, such as HEIC and AVIF, are refused with "That photo format is not supported here. Please choose a JPEG or PNG photo." Phones usually convert to JPEG when you pick a photo from the camera roll.
What counts toward your storage
Pictures in your posts are stored and counted with the rest of your uploads: covers, Image blocks, Gallery photos, a bookmark's picture, and author photos. Words cost nothing. If you are out of storage, a new picture is refused, and the message says so. See Storage: what counts and what does not.
Taking a picture out of a post does not delete the file, so it still counts toward your storage until you delete it. Once the post, including any unpublished changes, no longer shows it, an old version does not keep it in use: it shows as Unused in Settings, then Storage, where the owner or an admin can delete it for good. If you restore an old version that showed a picture you deleted, that picture's spot comes back empty, and undo in the editor will not bring it back. Deleting the post frees all its pictures.
Pictures that come across in an import are copied into your storage and count too. See Bring your old blog over.
A post with no cover
Drry uses the first picture in the part of the post everybody may read: the first Image block, or the first photo of a Gallery, in reading order. Columns read column by column. A bookmark's picture belongs to another site and is not counted. A post that is for members only never lends a picture from below its members-only line.
That picture is what a link preview shows, and it fills the post's card on your blog's home, category and author pages, related posts, your blog's search, the Latest posts section, your Bio Link's blog items, the new content email to your members and the member iPhone app's lists. The post itself still shows only its cover, so nothing appears twice. A post with no picture in its free part is shared with your community's own card, and its cards show no picture.
Common questions
Do I need a cover?
No. A post with no cover uses the first picture in the part everybody may read, and only a post with no picture there is shared with your community's own card, in your colours and logo with the blog's name on it. A cover lets you choose the picture and how it is cropped. See Search results and link previews.
Can my assistant upload pictures?
Yes. It can add a picture to a post from a public address or the picture itself, set a post's cover and set an author's photo. It is a JPEG, PNG, WebP or GIF and counts toward your storage, and a picture it adds and never uses is removed after a day. See Manage your blog with your assistant.