Featured Images issue resolved

Hi Dan,

Thanks for posting the details of the workaround you put in place for this situation.

If you feel this could be handled better directly in Post Notif I am open to it; I just need to figure out how best to implement it to provide sufficient flexibility without introducing any security issues. Let’s keep discussing this.

Thanks,
Devon

Well, it’s not a complete workaround yet … I still have to figure out how to get the post title repositioned after that plugin suppresses the featured image at the top of the post. I’m still a newbie with CSS but will eventually figure it out, most like by trial and error along with Firebug.

Problem is that different themes handle featured images differently, so there may be no universal solution.

I don’t see any security issues with allowing an image tag in the post notifications. The original Post Notification gave a choice of either plain-text or HTML emails, so it was easy to include an image at any URL, as well as set its display size. No need to mess with featured images and the additional complexity they introduce.

Though not really a “security issue”, some email clients will block attached images until you “whitelist” the sender or otherwise unblock it. That’s a momentary inconvenience at worst.

However it finally gets done, I like the idea of a thumbnail of the main graphic included in my post notifications. More likely to draw the casual subscriber in and get them to actually visit my website and read the post.

Well I found the CSS solution to adjusting the title position on my landing page after removing the featured image with that plugin. Was just a matter of getting the right CSS selectors to affect only the landing page. Here’s what worked:

.home .site-main .entry-header { padding-top: 28px; }

Without that specificity, any padding I applied was also affect other posts and pages. Hope this helps some other Post Notif users. I added some more tags to this thread. Thanks again, Devon.

Hi Dan,

I did some experimenting and was able to include an image tag (including height and width properties), referencing an image in my Media Library, in the post notification email body, so I’m curious why it wasn’t working for you, prior to my suggestion to consider using @@featuredimage .

Post Notif’s emails are all HTML format as currently implemented (because I wanted to ensure that URLs came through, email clients permitting), so I am crossing my fingers that with some fiddling with your template you’d be able to avoid using both @@featuredimage and the additional plugin you installed.

Or perhaps you’re satisfied with the solution you’ve come up with, which is fine too. ??

Thanks,
Devon

I was not aware that was possible with Post Notif. Must have missed it in the documentation somewhere. I think the existence of the @@featuredimage variable just made me assume that was the only way to get an image through. So yeah, I know how to do that using HTML.

Here’s the rub … that process would require editing the body of the post notification on a per-post basis to insert the new image URL. The way I’m doing it now (after finally ironing out the bugs) requires only that I tag my main image as a featured image while in the editor. Less steps overall. All my featured images are internal, already in Media Library.

I wasn’t happy about needing another plugin. I have 18 now, and with any plugins one takes a risk that they’ll break after a WP upgrade or cease being supported. But hell, that’s just part of the WP world. Plugins have helped me more than they’ve burned me. I’m going with what I’ve got now. You could probably mark this as resolved. Thanks again.

Hi Dan,

You missed it because it is not in the documentation. ??

Your point is well taken; it sure sounds like it would be more annoying to have to change your template for each post than it is to use the solution you’ve worked out with the other plugin.

In any case, I am glad things are working well (enough) for you now. And, by the way, your images do look great in the notification emails (I noticed them starting last week!).

Thanks,
Devon

Yep. This is what I’m going with. I like the “teaser” aspect of the thumbnail in the post notification and already see increases in the click-throughs. Works for me.