I added a vertical featured image to a recent newsletter post. It displays fine in e-mail and in blog view, but when I post a link to the post in social media, it gets cropped right across the center. I would like to be able to do one of two things: either specify a focus location on the featured image so that social media cards crop more appropriately, or have vertical featured images display on the left side of a social media card rather than across the top. How can I go about accomplishing one or both of these things? (I’m using Bluesky and Mastodon, not Xitter or Facebook, so the post settings in the right-hand column don’t help me.)
Welcome to the forum @AmbroseHoneysuckle
In post settings, you can specify structured data for Twitter/X and Facebook (and thus, any other services that use the same data, such as LinkedIn and Bluesky).
You can prepare a version of the image exactly as you want it to appear when the link is shared on socials – otherwise your featured image will be used in the way you described.
I’m using Bluesky and Mastodon, not Xitter or Facebook, so the post settings in the right-hand column don’t help me.
Got it. Other people are sharing your links, not you… they might use x/twitter and Facebook and many other things. So, actually, what you use is probably not key here.
What’s key is what images all these other services use for cards.
Bluesky uses the OG image aka the image you set in the Facebook social card.
I believe that Mastodon also uses the OG image, kinda, but would love to know more about that if someone has better info.
It sounds like what you’re saying is that I need to manually crop my featured images to Facebook dimensions and load them as social card images?
What about images for my Ghost home page? Because I’ve just noticed that the featured image is getting cropped down to horizontal there, too.
Am I basically restricted to horizontal featured images of a particular aspect ratio?
If you are using images that need to be cropped a particular way, then yes.
How featured images are displayed (both on the index/home page and on individual post pages) is entirely up to the theme. If your featured images should not be cropped, then you might use some code injection to prevent the cropping.
Another option would be to adjust the theme (again, code injection is probably enough) to not show the featured image on the single post page. Then when you set up a post, you can load a “featured” image with the right dimensions as the real featured image, and load your full-size uncropped image at the top of the body of the post. Depending on the post template’s layout, that can be a pretty good option for when you want a different thumbnail (on the index page) than the image in the post.
Or for that matter, you could edit the theme (actual file edits, not code injection) to show the facebook image as the thumbnail on the index/home page, and put your big uncropped image in the featured slot.
Options. Lots of options.
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I like that last idea, but unfortunately, I’m on the Starter plan, so I don’t think I have the ability to edit my theme.
Right. Happily, the other options I offered should be doable with code injection.