Creating featured images for your blog posts has never been so easy with Smart Auto Featured Image.
How does it work ?
A featured image is generated automatically based on a template. A template is composed of many layers that will be processed into a single image.
A template can be used to generate one or multiple featured images. The point of using one template for many featured images is to keep the design consistant.
Key concepts
To generate multiple featured images from one single template, there are 2 key concepts to understand.
1. Content-based elements:
Text or images can render based on the post content. Example: {{title}} in a text layer will render the actual post title.
2. Dynamic layers:
Mark a layer as dynamic to adjust details of the template before the actual image generation. For instance, you may want te remove a few words from a long title, or change the main image of your composition (because each blog post needs to be illustrated with a different image).
Dynamic layers allow small changes while preserving the integrity of the template.
How to create a template ?
You can manage templates from the Template editor. Start from scratch, or use pre made templates as a base.
Duplicate templates to create variations.
How to use a template in a blog post ?
When editing a post in the gutenberg editor, under the Featured image section from the Post setting sidebar, there will be a Smart Auto Featured Image module on top of the “Set featured image” section.
From there, select an existing template, or create a new template from scratch using the Blank template.
Any changes made to an existing template when editing a post will be saved to the post being edited only and will not change the original template.
Click the Preview button to see what the featured image will look like before actually generating it.
If you marked some layers as dynamic, you will be able to change them during the Preview phase.
Once the image has been generated, it will automatically be uploaded and set as the featured image of the post. No need to worry about uploading an image or use third-party editors !