On this page:

Upload an Image to the WP Media Library

• Save the file somewhere on your computer (desktop, documents, etc.)
• Login to WP at https://business.wisc.edu/wp-admin
• On the left side, select Media

• Select Add New (this button appears at the top of page next to "Media Library" and in the menu on the left side)

• (1) Select the media folder your image(s) should live in. (2) Drag your image(s) to the page or click the Select Files button and search for your image(s) on your computer.

• Wait for your image(s) to upload, then click Edit next to each. (Tip: When uploading multiple images, right click on Edit and open the link in a new browser tab so you don't lose track of the images you need to edit.)

• You must add alternative text to all images that you upload.

Find an Image in the Media Library

• Open the WP Media Library
• Use either (1) the folder structure on the left or (2) the search bar in the upper right to look for your image

Using the Media Folders

• Click on the name of a folder to see media items within.
• Click on the folder icon next to the name of the folder to expand it and view any folders within it.
  • If a folder is already expanded, clicking the icon will minimize/close it.
• Drill down to the applicable folder and look for your image in the displayed results.
• If you aren't seeing images that you know should be in the folder, make sure you delete any criteria you may have had in the search bar and click the search button to expand the results to everything in the folder.

Searching for an Image

• The media search is useful if you know the exact name of your media file (or at least part of the name).
• If you don't get any results from your search, try making it shorter or less specific.
• You can try searching for a keyword or name, but if the search criteria is not part of the name of a media file, it will not show up in results.
  • e.g. If you search "Samba" and the particular photo you are looking for is named "img-33690.jpg", that image will not show up in the search results, even if Dean Samba is in the photo.

Alternative Text (or alt text)

Why is alt text important?

Alt text is an accessibility requirement for all images in our WordPress library.

Alt text allows visually-impaired individuals (or anyone who uses a screen reader) to understand what content is in an image. Without alt text, these users cannot access this information. We want all users to have access to all of the information on our website.

Alt text is beneficial for all users, though! It will be displayed on the page if the images ever fail to load or are blocked.

What should my alt text include?

Do not include phrases like "an image of...", "a photo of...", or "an icon of..." in your alt text.

For headshots: first name last name

For images with text in them: all text in the image must be included in alt text

For photographs: a brief description of the important subjects and any actions taking place; if knowing who is in the image is important, then include those names

For icons/graphics: a brief description of the subject

How do I add alt text?

• After uploading the image to the Media Library, find and open the image to edit its information. (see instructions for this above)
• Beneath the image, add your brief description to the alternative text field.

• Click "Update" button (blue button on right side).

Move Images to the Correct Folder

Since we have thousands of images on the website, and more are added every day for events and blog posts, it is important to place your images in the correct folder.

If you upload images without placing them in a folder, they will be in "Uncategorized". 

To move an image that you already uploaded:

• Look on the left side in the folder tree and locate the folder you want to move the image to. Don't click on the folder, just make sure it is visible.
• Find your image in the Uncategorized folder. Images here are ordered from most recently uploaded to older uploads, so you should be able to find your image quickly if you uploaded it recently.
  • You can also search for the name of the image file in the upper righthand corner.
• Click anywhere on the image data row and drag your mouse to the left side, where the folders are listed. Drop the image in the correct folder.
• To move multiple images, mark the checkbox next to each image you want to move. Then when you click and drag, you will move all selected images to the same folder.

Delete an Image from the Media Library

If you no longer need to use an image on the website (or if a duplicate image was uploaded), you should delete it from the media library. It is best to delete the image immediately, so that it doesn't get used by someone else editing our website, events, or blogs. Be careful here, if an image is in use and it gets deleted from the media library, the page will display a broken image.

NOTE: You will only be able to delete images that you uploaded yourself. If you need another image removed, please:

• reach out to the team member who uploaded the image and ask them to delete it
• reach out to the web team via web ticket request – be sure you include the file name and the permalink for the image you want deleted 

To delete an image you uploaded to the media library:

1. Locate the image in the media library (use directions above for locating images) and select it
2. Click delete permanently and confirm.

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