Image Widget

4 steps 3 min Updated 24 September 2026

Overview

Image Widget puts one picture into a widget area — a sidebar, the footer or another area your theme provides — and can make it a link. Schools use it for things like an award badge in the footer or a banner in the sidebar that links to a parent survey.

It is built into every school website, so there is nothing to switch on. You add it from Appearance → Widgets, which only administrators can open.

The widget uses the web address of a picture that is already online, such as one in your Media Library. It has no field for alternative text (the description screen readers read out). If the picture carries information visitors need, use WordPress's own Image widget instead, which has one.

Getting set up

Step 1: Copy the picture's web address

Upload the picture to Media if it is not there already. Open it in the Media Library and copy its File URL.

Step 2: Open the Widgets screen

Go to Appearance → Widgets. Under Available Widgets, find Image Widget — described as "Creates an image widget with an optional URL link attached to it." It sits next to WordPress's own Image widget; make sure you pick Image Widget.

Step 3: Add it to a widget area

Drag Image Widget into the widget area you want, such as Sidebar (upper). Alternatively, click it, choose the area from the list and click Add Widget.

Step 4: Fill in the fields and save

In the widget's box, paste the picture's address into Image URL:. If the picture should be a link, put the destination into Link URL:, and tick Open link in new tab?: if it points to another website. Click Save, then view your website to check it.

Settings

Where to find it: Appearance → Widgets, in the Image Widget box inside a widget area

Setting	What it does	Default
Image URL:	The web address of the picture to show	Empty
Link URL:	Where visitors go when they click the picture	Empty
Open link in new tab?:	Opens the link in a new browser tab	Off

The picture is always shown as a link. If Link URL: is empty, clicking it simply reloads the page the visitor is on.

Troubleshooting

The picture shows as a broken image

Why it happens: The address in Image URL: does not point straight at a picture — for example it is the address of a Media Library page rather than the file itself, or the file has since been deleted.

How to fix it: Copy the File URL from the Media Library again and paste it into Image URL:, then click Save.

Why it happens: It was placed in Inactive Widgets, or in an area only some visitors see — for example the areas for signed-in users only.

How to fix it: Move it into an area your visitors see, such as Sidebar (upper), and click Save.

I cannot find the Widgets screen

Why it happens: Appearance → Widgets is only available to administrators.

How to fix it: Ask an administrator for your school's website to add the widget, or to give you administrator access.

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