How to Add Captions to Featured Images in WordPress

I remember spending hours choosing the perfect featured image for one of my first blog posts. But when I published it, something felt missing—visitors had no way of knowing the photo was from a breathtaking sunrise hike in Jasper National Park.

Without a caption, even the most stunning image can’t tell its full story. It’s a common frustration, but fortunately, there’s a simple fix I’ve used on my own WordPress blog to solve this exact problem.

In this guide, I’ll show you the easiest way to add captions to your featured images. I’ll use a free and reliable plugin that works with any WordPress theme.

Why Add Captions to Your Featured Images?

Captions make your WordPress featured images more accessible and provide instant context for readers.

Think of a featured image as the cover of your article. It’s the first thing people see, but without a caption, it can’t tell the whole story. I’ve found that adding a simple caption is one of the easiest ways to make my content more engaging and professional.

For example, on my travel site, adding a caption like ‘Sunset view of the Logan River in Queensland, Australia’ immediately provides context and draws the reader into the adventure.

If you’re running a portfolio, you could use a caption to credit a photographer or date a ‘before-and-after’ shot, which adds a layer of professionalism.

Captions also play an important role in making your website accessible to everyone. While screen readers primarily rely on hidden alt text to describe an image, they also read the visible caption aloud. This lets you provide extra context or a key message about the photo that is useful for all visitors, ensuring that those using screen readers don’t miss out on that information.

This follows best practices for web accessibility and is also essential for giving proper credit if you’re using an image that isn’t your own.

Many popular publications and blogs never post an image without a credit line, and it’s a best practice I strongly recommend.

The problem is that while WordPress lets you add a caption to any image, most themes simply don’t display the caption for featured images.

This is because a theme’s code controls how featured images appear, and theme developers often leave this feature out by default. Let’s fix that.

How to Add Captions to Featured Images With a WordPress Plugin

For most people, the easiest way to display featured image captions is with a plugin. I recommend a free plugin called FSM Custom Featured Image Caption. It’s a lightweight tool designed to do one job: make your featured image captions visible.

I recommend this approach because it works with any WordPress theme. The plugin is popular and reliable, with thousands of active installations on WordPress.org. Best of all, it works right out of the box with no complicated settings.

This plugin gives you two easy ways to manage your featured image captions: directly in the post editor for specific posts, or in the Media Library for consistency.

First, you need to install and activate the FSM Custom Featured Image Caption plugin. If you need help, you can see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Once the plugin is activated, go ahead and open any post or page for editing. In the right-hand settings panel, look for the Featured Image section. You will now see a new field labeled ‘Featured Image Caption’ right below your featured image thumbnail.

Simply type the text you want to use for your caption directly into this box. This is the primary and most straightforward method.

When you’re done, just click the ‘Update’ or ‘Publish’ button to save your changes.

That’s all there is to it. The caption you entered will now appear with your featured image on your live website.

How the Fallback Feature Works (Media Library)

The plugin is smart. Let’s say you leave the ‘Featured Image Caption’ box in the post editor empty. In that case, it will automatically check if you have a caption saved for that image in the WordPress Media Library and display that one instead.

This is super helpful if you plan to use the same image and caption across multiple posts.

To add a default caption, just navigate to Media » Library from your WordPress dashboard and click on the image you want to edit. In the ‘Attachment Details’ window that pops up, fill in the ‘Caption’ field. Any text you add here is automatically saved.

Now, as long as the ‘Featured Image Caption’ box in the post editor is blank, this Media Library caption will be used by default. This provides the perfect balance of post-specific control and site-wide consistency. 👍

Bonus: Adding a Caption to Images in WordPress

Unlike featured images, adding a caption to an image inside your posts or pages is much simpler. This is because WordPress is set up to display these captions automatically, without any extra steps.

First, upload an image to your post or page. When the media library opens, you will see fields for ‘Alt Text,’ ‘Title,’ ‘Caption,’ and ‘Description’ in the right-hand panel.

Next, simply type your text into the ‘Caption’ field.

Once you’re done, click the ‘Select’ button to insert the image into your post. The caption will automatically appear underneath it.

If you want a more in-depth guide, you can take a look at our full beginner’s tutorial on how to add captions to images in WordPress.

Frequently Asked Questions About Featured Image Captions

Here are answers to some of the most common questions we get about adding captions to featured images in WordPress.

What is the difference between an image caption and alt text?

A caption is displayed publicly on the page to give your readers more context about an image. Alt text is a private description for search engines and screen readers, and it only shows up if an image fails to load.

Are featured image captions good for SEO?

Yes, they can be. Captions help search engines understand your images better and improve your site’s accessibility. Both of these are positive signals for your website’s SEO.

Can I change the style of the caption text?

Absolutely. The look of your caption is controlled by your theme’s stylesheet. You can use custom CSS to change the font, color, size, or alignment to match your site’s design.

Will my captions disappear if I switch themes?

No, they won’t. The plugin saves your captions directly to the WordPress database. This means they are safe and will carry over even if you decide to change your theme later.

Additional Resources for WordPress Images

Now that you know how to add captions to your featured images, you may want to check out these other helpful guides related to WordPress images:

• How to Require Featured Images for Posts in WordPress – Learn how to make sure every post has a featured image before it can be published.
• Best Featured Image Plugins and Tools for WordPress – Discover our expert picks for plugins that can help you manage and optimize your featured images.

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