Featured & Social Images
Two different things WordPress and social platforms both need — and ThumbnailWP handles both from one image.
What “Featured & Social Images” Actually Means
Every post has two separate jobs to fill: a featured image your own theme displays (blog listings, single-post headers, RSS), and a social/OG image that Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter show when the post is shared. WordPress doesn’t generate either on its own — ThumbnailWP fills both, from the same generated image.
🟦 What a featured image actually does
It’s the image your own theme pulls in wherever it displays a post — the blog archive, a related-posts widget, the header of the post itself. Set it, and your theme uses it; leave it blank, and most themes just show nothing there.
🟩 What a social image actually does
When a link is shared, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter look for an og:image tag to decide what to show in the preview card. It has nothing to do with your theme — it’s a separate tag in the page’s own HTML head, usually left empty unless an SEO plugin or a manual entry sets it.
🟧 Why the default often looks wrong
Without either of these set, a theme shows a blank space, and a social platform either shows nothing or grabs a random image from the post’s content — sometimes the wrong one, sometimes none at all. Neither WordPress nor social platforms design this for you.
🟥 One image, two jobs
ThumbnailWP generates a single image and uses it for both roles: it’s set as the post’s featured image, and offered directly to whichever SEO plugin is active as that post’s social image. One generation, no separate export, no mismatch between what your site shows and what gets shared.
🟫 Formats & aspect ratios
Templates are built around an aspect ratio family — landscape 1.91:1 (1200×630, the standard for featured images and Open Graph) or square 1:1 (1080×1080, for square-format social placements). Pick the family a template belongs to once; every layer’s position stays proportional however large or small the actual canvas ends up.