WP image pages

[ChristopherGlaeser]

I used Dreamweaver for years but have recently been switching to Wordpress.  On the whole the results have been very positive.  However, I don't like the way that WP generates a page for images when the image is inserted into a blog post.  I was just reading this http://www.eyeflow.com/content-strength-audit/ excellent article on Content Strength Audit and it referred to this problem as well.

Often, when I insert an image into a blog, I delete the reference to the image page and link directly to the image.  Is this an effective way to deal with the is problem?  Is there a better approach?

Best,
Christopher

[vmialik]

Hi Christopher,

I have used wordpress for many years now and on many sites, what do you mean WP generates a page for images? do you have a link to show or take a screenshot? Thanks

[ChristopherGlaeser]

Here is a post I created this morning and have not yet cleaned up.

http://www.freelapusa.com/david-oliver-prepares-for-iaaf-world-championship-moscow-2013/

Click on the image to see what I mean.  Is there any value to adding a separate page for the image?  Doesn't that pass link juice to a page with no content?  Is there an automated way to turn off this feature in WP?  I really like WP but unless I'm missing something (quite possible) the feature set of the Media Library seems woefully lacking.

Best,
Christopher

[vmialik]

Ok I see what you mean, it doesnt create a separate page, but opens up the image in the whole window, but you can treat it as its own page.  When you upload an image you have options to select what you use as a link for it right now you have selected to link to the image itself.

If you click on link to NONE the image will not open in a new window. See attached. This might be the older layout of WP but the functionality show be the same

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[vmialik]

This is on the newer version of WP, see attached. Let me know if this helped or if you have any more questions

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[ChristopherGlaeser]

Thanks for the quick response.

Ok I see what you mean, it doesnt create a separate page,

What do you call it if not a page?  The image is linked by an href.  Isn't that another page?  Does that href pass link juice to a page with no content?

If you click on link to NONE the image will not open in a new window.

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

Best,
Christopher

[ChristopherGlaeser]

Thanks.  I have installed the new version and will look for this setting going forward.

[vmialik]

Great, to a great future working with Wordpress it is by far my favorite platform to publish content online. Its definitely worth investing some time into it!

[ReferralCandy]

Hi Christopher,

Just to add on to Vadim's suggestion, if you wish to disable attachment pages for your previous posts efficiently, you can install plugins to redirect attachment URLs to parent post URLs. This will reduce the chances of visitors going to your attachment pages unnecessarily.

One of such plugins is Wordpress SEO by Yoast, and the relevant option can be activated under the Permalinks tab. This post should be useful for you too: http://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-disable-image-attachment-pages-in-wordpress/

[ChristopherGlaeser]

Sweet!  I use SEO by Yoast (and his sitemap) so this will be an easy solution.

Best,
Christopher

[evolvingSEO]

Hi Christopher

I think you all have this sorted out, but it's a common question (and I agree that WP is a little lacking here) - so I addressed it in my Mozinar a few months ago (pages 60-66 of the downlaodable slide deck).

But to sum up that section - your image linked options are;

1. Custom URL (if you want to link to another post or an external link) - this option is fine if that's the user experience you want.
2. Media URL - this will link straight to the image file (no new page, just the file its self) - this is what I usually do if I want to user to be able to perhaps click to image to see it bigger.
3. Attachment page - this is the one you DON'T want. It creates a new unique URL for the image which can get spidered and indexed. Not very useful.
4. None - you can not click the image at all. I use this when the image looks good within the content and there's no need to click on it.

I would also recommend using "noindex" for media in Yoast SEO.

-Dan

[eyeflow]

Thanks for mentioning our Content Strength Audit. I would of suggested Wordpress SEO for the easiest solution to this problem but It seems it's already been suggested and seems you're using it.