Upload and Edit Media Seamlessly on WordPress.com
Uploading and editing media just got a whole lot better on WordPress.com. Check out our new Media Manager, designed to make it easier to upload images, audio, and video files to your site and edit their attributes on the fly. Let’s walk through how to add images to a new post on WordPress.com.
Within a new post, click on the Add Media button:
The Media Manager allows you to collect images to add to your post-in-progress. You can select a file you may have already uploaded to your Media Library, designate a URL from which to embed an image, drag and drop files into the browser window, or select files to upload from your computer:
Editing image attributes
Once you’ve uploaded the images, you can edit each image’s attributes from within the Media Manager, simply by selecting it. You can edit an image’s title, enter a caption and alt text, and/or edit display settings:
When you’ve got the details just right, click on the blue, Insert into post button on the bottom, right-hand side of the Media Manager to add your images to your post:
Creating a gallery is a snap
To create a gallery, select the images you wish to include:
Then, click on the Create a new gallery button in the bottom, right hand corner of the Media Manager:
On the following screen, you can edit descriptions. You can click and drag photos to re-order them as you see fit:
Here’s the new gallery in a published post:
Pretty nifty!
For our self-hosted friends running WordPress.org, Media Manager improvements will be available in WordPress 3.5, which rolls out on December 5th, 2012.
WordPress.com News 
I actually added a photo to a post this evening before seeing this, and it was intuitive/easy to do! And thanks for the info on adding a gallery…I’ve never been able to figure out how to do it in the past. This is a great improvement. Thanks.
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Great improvement that you don’t have to put all images that are on the page into a gallery. Saves uploading the ones you don’t want to display separately.
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I still don’t see any options for rotating the photos nor cropping them the way I could in the old version.
Have you taken away these valuable options?
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Those options are not directly available via the new Add Media system yet, but you can still rotate and crop the images after they have been uploaded following this guide: https://wordpress.com/support/images/image-editing/
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That’s great, thanks for explaining it. Although I still wonder if referring to this new way of using photos should be called ‘seamless’ given that you have to go somewhere else to do what used to be done right there and then. But anyway, at least I know now.
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really awesome, wordpress.com is so good, everytime is getting better and better, with this option it can make the whole work on a photoblog more easily, way more easily while adding style and delicacy.
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Reblogged this on Random Acts of Photography and commented:
A fantastic update to the way media is handled and a vast improvement in using the Gallery feature! The old way of having to hand-edit the Gallery shortcode to use includes and excludes is dead. Long live the Gallery! 🙂
(Needless-to-say, updates to my site’s Gallery FAQ and “Gallery-A Demo Blog” are in the works.)
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Yea! Thanks for the improvements, WordPress elves! 🙂
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I am so looking forward to this update. It’s just what I want for my “rogues” gallery.
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Awesome. I always thought that the media upload was a bit cumbersome. This looks like it will be a breeze. I look forward to using it.
Thank you.
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I am TOTALLY loving this update. I was mid-post last night during the switch to the new media manager. I use a ton of photos on my blog, and will probably use even more now that it is so easy to upload them! This has made my blogging life so much better. Thank you, WP!!
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Thank you, thank you, thank you!! This looks like it will make uploading media a bazillion times smoother. And the dogs are adorable. 🙂
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Love it. Usual question: Is it available with the new wordpress.org 3.5 distribution?
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Yes, this feature is actually from the upcoming WordPress.org 3.5 release. It is currently live in WordPress.org 3.5 RC 2 is you’re feeling adventurous. 🙂 http://wordpress.org/news/
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thank you, it’s realy nice ! 🙂
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Thanks! Can’t wait to try this!
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Looks like you added just what I needed. Thanks!
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Ah WordPress – love how you just keep on getting better! 🙂
What lady doesn’t like it seamless…
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Loving the update:) Thanks for making it a little easier!
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Thank you!! This makes the gallery FAR easier to use!! Phew.
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As “The Bar None” is very much photo oriented, i’m psyched about a faster, easier way to upload. Thanks for this.
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Thanks WordPress elves – that is one aspect I found somewhat tedious. Should be streamlined now ! 🙂
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Thank-you for the addition. I haven’t used images in my blog in the past but this gives me some ideas I want to try out. Thanks again.
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Thanks for the empowerments and improvements!! KUDOS
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Very impressive (and this is coming from a web developer 🙂 )
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very nifty, indeed! thanks for making our lives easier 🙂
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I am looking forward to using this function. I have been disappointed with other sites, because they revise their photo function so that I cannot use it. Don’t ask me why, I don’t know. I usually have to change browsers a hundred times; that’s an exaggeration, but it seems that way. I just want to use one site and one browser for everything. Improvements? Bring them on.
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Wow, you guys are great with these tid bits of info.
Wordpress rocks!!
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This is great! Love the updates 🙂
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I am very PLEASANTLY surprised.
Bravo et merci !
😉
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This is great news. Thanks. Much easier to create a gallery now.
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I can’t even explain how much I love this. It was just a mild inconvenience before, but now it makes all the difference!
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Reblogged this on The Considered Kula and commented:
For all of my friends who are considering blogging or at least maintaining a website with WordPress, these new features have just made it a great deal more appealing. This is especially true if you deal with a lot of photos or other media.
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I can’t wait to try this. This is what I love with WordPress – the support and the pampering. Thank you.
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It just keeps getting better and better! Awesome, Thanks
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I am probably to old. This was not easyer at all for me. I am used to deciding the size of the pictures I use and no longer understand how I am supposed to do that?
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Prior to inserting the image, you can still choose a size from one of the presets following the guide at: https://wordpress.com/support/images/
Custom size controls are not directly available via the new Add Media system yet, but you can still re-size the images after they have been uploaded following this guide: https://wordpress.com/support/images/image-editing/
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I’ve used this tonight, even before I read this post and it’s brilliant – totally intuitive and therefore very easy to use. Thank you WordPress!
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I noticed the option for inserting a slideshow is not there, only a gallery. Is that coming later or has it been discontinued?
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Slideshows still function, but the traditional method of inserting them after upload was lost, and we are working to restore that. For now, we have updated the support documentation in regards to using the older shortcode method: https://wordpress.com/support/slideshows/
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Thanks!
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WordPress you rock! Thanks for everything and your persistence of the cutting edge!
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Thank you WordPress! IOU 😀
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I’m not finding this any easier. As a matter of fact, it takes me longer to put a picture in than it ever did before. I guess it’s my own fault for not being able to afford a machine that runs the latest and greatest browser. I wish there was an option to revert to the previous uploader instead.
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I think this is great. I’ve been frustrated by not being able to control my gallery the way I’d like to, but this should do it! Thanks.
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This was a much needed improvement! The fact that you can select what images you want in a gallery is a step forward. Good job!
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The comments might be all positive but I personally find that it was perfect the way it was, which is something you might not want me to say, I just have difficulty with the new system and found it much simpler before this came up.
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Once I realized what you had done I liked it! But, I was disappointed when, after I finished my post and came back to my site as if I was a visitor and clicked on the image it did not open as a larger image on a separate page…it opened a bit larger on the post page…did I do something wrong or has this now been eliminated? I liked how the images opened on a separate page.
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This new feature needs a few tweaks. I would like to be able to access the description field and also be able to make changes to a gallery without deleting it and creating a new one.
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VERY cool! And totally intuitive. This is a very helpful update.
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Great update but how do we feature an image now? I want specific images in the Reader and when it posts to social media. Let me know. Thanks!
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The ability to designate a Featured Image after upload is gone at the moment, but we are working on brining it back.
For now, you can still set a featured image via the old method: https://wordpress.com/support/featured-images/#setting-a-featured-image
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Groovy. Thanks
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The media library change took me by surprise yesterday. Took a second to realize what had happened. I really like the change. Much better for browsing and selecting photos. Easy to use photos from URL and use a custom link, etc. Nice layout. Good job you guys! Thanks.
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Reblogged this on Peacorn, Popnuts, Soda Gum & Chewing Water and commented:
Yesterday, I mentioned that WordPress had changed it’s Media tool. Here’s the blurb. I like the changes, especially browsing photos and adding photos from a URL – the menu is straight forward. I just had to look around a little and got it. Thanks WordPress!
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I am to read all the “happy comments,” but they don’t apply to me or my blog. I upload hundred of photos and the old method worked just fine. Because I use so many photos, I often use a slide show instead of posting the photos individually. It took me FOREVER to figure out how to use the slide show feature and to even make a gallery with the new program, but thanks to comments above and three hours of itensity, I worked it out. Thanks! Hopefully someday I will join the chorus and sing the praises of the new media program, but for now I am learning to tolerate it.
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I do not find the uploading of images and descriptions easier as I like the old one at a time way but especially like the fact that images can be posted solo with a separate gallery collection per post- and the thumbnail coding can still be added e.g. gallery type=square
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How do you get the galleries to appear in the published post like the one you show above? Mine are still showing up in the same old clunky small-image way, not the more sophisticated three-picture image you show above.
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You can activate the new Mosaic-style gallery via either Settings -> Media in your blog’s Dashboard for a site-wide change, or by designating the type in the gallery shortcode for a gallery-specific change.
Please see https://wordpress.com/support/images/gallery/ and https://wordpress.com/blog/2012/10/04/tiled-image-galleries/ for more details.
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Very awesome…just simplified my blogging life a tonne! Can’t wait to try my first gallery….have been doing a series of emailing to myself to use the iPhoto to create a gallery…hopefully this one step will save me a load of time.
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I didn’t have any problems with the old media uploader, indeed I found it easier and more intuitive than the new one.
I had loads of problems today when I came to insert pictures and only found out there was a problem after I found that image clicks had started to appear in my ‘top posts and pages’ stats which I don’t want. I realised that the default setting for inserting the pictures had been ‘attachment page’. I had to go back and remove the images from my post and re-insert them as ‘media file’ so that they opened as they used to as larger images and the hits went into the ‘clicks’ stats which is where I like them.
I also noticed that whereas the old media uploader would allow me to insert a bigger picture (not medium) that was still resized automatically for the width of my blog, now I have a full sized option which is not auto resized so I now have to manually resize the images that I use as the 1st picture in my posts. This is really annoying and a retrograde step over the old image loader. Now that I’ve worked out how it all works then I guess it is OK but for me I’d prefer to have the option to revert to the old version myself.
I appreciate that I may be in the minority and possibly regarded as a luddite but why oh why do we have to be forced to have something new and inferior, why not just allow people to use whichever loader suits them?
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We are working to make this better, and I’m sorry for the trouble you’re running into.
This new Add Media interface is a change in the upcoming WordPress.org software release, so we won’t be able to offer the old interface as an alternative, but we are working to make things better based on everyone’s feedback.
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I must be the only one having problems!!!! It’s infuriating not to be able to center photos where I want!!! And it’s taking A LOT of time to play with the new system. I know. I know. Practice, practice, practice. But I don’t have the time or the patience, and I can’t stand it when the photos won’t center where I want them. Argh.
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I do not find the new interface intuitive, nor do I find it easier to use. It’s a complicated mess that leaves me hunting for functions. I prefer the drop-down list of all of the uploaded images so I can place them, resize them, select one as featured, etc. all in one place. Now it looks as if I need to be in three or four separate interfaces to do what I used to do in one. This is not an improvement.
Oddly enough, I notice that the prevailing number of comments HERE are all — with a rare exception — wildly enthusiastic. While over in the support forums, there are quite a few completely negative threads about the new interface. This, to me, smells of fish.
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The are some negative comments here, but we are getting more positive than negative comments.
Please keep in mind that the blog comments are not for support requests, so any support requests that we receive here are handled privately, and we actively encourage those with support requests to reach out via the proper channels in a notice above the comment form.
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This looks like a really great improvement! Thanks, WP 🙂 🙂 🙂
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I like the cleaner, more organized look.
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I am so excited about the gallery and slideshow features, and about WP period! Lol. It’ll make a big difference in my Spot-On-Art posts especially. I don’t have to design and format my own gallery features. Yay!
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I have to agree with the DO NOT LIKE people I’m afraid.
I love WordPress very much. I find it intuitive and straightforward, but the last three days have been a nightmare. Why, just as you learn how to do something, does it have to be updated? I know I sound like a grumpy old man, but its taken me ages and caused me to have cross words with my lovely wife last night (which I hate) because I couldn’t make a post be as I wanted it to be…
I’ve calmed down now I’ve read this page and the comments as it appears that I can still do everything I used to be able to (which is perhaps no surprise) it’s just that I’m going to have to relearn it all again…
Everything else is good, Just please, for my sake, try to keep updates to a minimum and always ask my permission first …..
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As a happy user for over six years, I like many others here struggle to see how the new image loader is an improvement, a case of “improvement equals deterioration”. Creating a slideshow is a real hassle, and ordering the images in a slideshow now seems impossible. What was a simple and easy to use facility is now an unwanted hassle.
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It looks great but I dont like:/ how can i add/edit photo from URL? i dont want to upload again my pics to this server, i just want to add from another page..pls help me
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You can still insert an image by URL following this guide: https://wordpress.com/support/images/#insert-an-image-from-the-web
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I really like the new uploader, much easier to use. However, I’m very disappointed that visitors to my blog can no longer click on the images to open them in a separate window, to view them larger. The images uploaded with the old system still allow this but the new ones don’t 😦
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Prior to inserting the image, choose “Media File” from the Link To drop-down menu. See this for more details: https://wordpress.com/support/images/
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thank you so much! That solves it, much appreciated. That’ll teach me to not read the instructions first!
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That is so cool… WP just keeps getting better and better – worth sharing on G+ (and you landed this on my own birthday – Thx
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I am not happy at all with this new ‘handling of media’. If you want to upload soundfiles then the previous possibility to add the file in a new window to my post has disappeared. Where is the URL info??
Now with the new ‘handling of media’ the file pops up as new page. Not an improvement imo. Please reset to the old ‘handling of media’ . Why change things when they’re perfect???
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If you just want the image to go to the file and not the attachment page, choose “Media File” from the Link To drop-down menu. See this for more details: https://wordpress.com/support/images/
Consequently, when you choose “Media File,” the file’s URL is displayed below.
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The new system is a whole lot better, especially for people postings lots of photos. It enables a much easier distinction between galleries, and a simple series of photos, and is ten times quicker. WordPress is so far ahead of its rivals (er..tumblr and Blogger..it’s out of site. For very big sites and video you pay, but it’s fantastically cheap for what you get. No other blogging site has a tenth of the detailed features and adaptability of WordPress.
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The best of all, not sure if someone noticed. People can now comment on pictures!! It’s awesome!!
Click on a picture en where you were only seen a bigger picture, you’ll have a sub-post with the capability to be commented there 🙂
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This is so helpful and actually really user-friendly. Thanks for keeping up the awesomeness WP! 🙂
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Brilliant! I did this without seeing your explanations – which means you are very good at understanding how people think! Or, you know what I mean…
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Well I must be in the minority, but I think this new “improved” media upgrade is anything but improved. No longer intuitive, it’s clunky and difficult to navigate. Ugh. And to do a slideshow I have to type slideshow?
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