Project Creators may upload and add images to the PROJECT LONG DESCRIPTION, the reward LEVEL LONG DESCRIPTIONs, the PROJECT FAQ, or PROJECT UPDATES.

While the process for inserting images into projects is fairly straightforward, it is easy to forget to add ALT text for search engine optimization of images.

1) Before starting, give all your images descriptive names. (eg: heroman‑flying.jpg, not DSC3758.jpg)

2) When creating your project, find the place you wish to insert your image into.

In the example below, space has been made between two paragraphs in the PROJECT LONG DESCRIPTION so that an image can be inserted there.

Click the ADD MEDIA button above the visual editor to add an image.

3) The ADD MEDIA popup will appear on your screen.

Make sure that the tab below ADD MEDIA is set to UPLOAD FILES, not MEDIA LIBRARY.

Now click the SELECT FILES button (or drag-and-drop files into the popup to upload them).

4) If you clicked SELECT FILES, navigate to the folder on your computer where your image resides.

Double-click your image to upload it. (Alternatively, you may single-click your image and then click the OPEN button. Either way works)

5) If your image uploads successfully, the tab should switch to the MEDIA LIBRARY tab.

The image you just uploaded should have a blue checkmark in its upper-right corner.

On the right side of the ADD MEDIA popup, you will see the ATTACHMENT DETAILS column. Here, you will see the name of the image file you uploaded, and its size.

Note that the TITLE of the image will be derived from the image name. (In this case, TEST-IMAGE-C.PNG yields a TITLE of TEST-IMAGE-C.)

6) Look more closely at the ATTACHMENT DETAILS. There, you will see the ALT TEXT and CAPTION textareas, as well as the TITLE textbox.

ALT TEXT

While ALT TEXT was originally created to describe the contents of images for screen reader software used by the visually-challenged, it is now also heavily-used by the search engines to index images.

So, if you’re not sure how to write ALT text, the best way to do it is to think of how you would describe your image to someone who is blind.

Although writing ALT TEXT make take a little extra time, it’s win-win. ALT text helps the visually-impaired understand pictures they may not clearly see, and it also helps you get your image ranked by the search engines.

When writing ALT text, try to confine its length to a maximum of 150 characters (eg: Heroman flying over the New York skyline).

TITLE

The Site software doesn’t add the TITLE attribute to images.

So, don’t bother with it. Leave it or delete it.

CAPTION

A small caption will appear below the image with whatever text you input into this textarea. (In the example below, the caption contains a copyright notice.)

Note that caption formatting can sometimes disappear when a project is saved and then re-saved later with the VISUAL EDITOR. If this is in any way aggravating, don’t bother adding a CAPTION.

7) Scroll down further with the scrollbar on the ADD MEDIA popup. You will now see the DESCRIPTION textarea, the FILE URL read-only textbox, and the ALIGNMENT dropdown.

DESCRIPTION

It is not necessary to add a DESCRIPTION. The Site software doesn’t utilize this field.

FILE URL

Ignore this, unless you plan to insert enlargeable images.

ALIGNMENT

Usually I would leave this at NONE.

But you may prefer instead to align your image to the LEFT, RIGHT, or CENTER.

8) At the bottom of the column is the LINK TO dropdown and the SIZE dropdown.

Leave LINK TO set to NONE.

As for SIZE, most of the time, keep this set to FULL SIZE.

(The only possible exception might be for images in your reward LEVEL LONG DESCRIPTION, where they may be OK if they’re set to MEDIUM SIZE.)

9) Once all these settings are complete, click the blue INSERT INTO PAGE button at the bottom-right of the ADD MEDIA popup.

10) Your image should be inserted into the right place in the VISUAL EDITOR.

Note that in the example shown, the CAPTION appears below the inserted image.

11) Resume creating your project, adding as many images as you wish.

When complete, click the blue SAVE DRAFT button or the blue SUBMIT FOR REVIEW button at the bottom of the CREATE PROJECT screen, and then click the preview link.

Note that on the actual project page, the styles draw a border around the image (if possible), and center any CAPTION text.