WordPress Now Supports HTML In Image Captions

Last week WordPress 3.4 was released as a major update that included many new features for users and developers.

One of my favorite new features included in version 3.4 is the ability to add HTML to WordPress image captions. Image captions have been available for quite a while in WordPress but they did not support any HTML elements.

A few plugins have been released to add this functionality, but now they are no longer necessary. I love using well created plugins but love it even more when new functionality is added to WordPress eliminating the need for one.

Why Use an Image Caption?

There are many reasons for using image captions (with or without HTML) on your WordPress pages or posts besides just providing attribution when needed. Many web eye tracking studies conclude that people will often just visually scan a webpage reading headlines, lists, image captions, and looking at images before deciding to actually read the text. Used strategically, image captions may help with conversion on your site.

An image caption is also a great place to use your focus keyword or key phrase for the page or post in a different way — and with HTML, you can include a keyword-rich, optimized link to additional relevant content.

How To Add Image Captions & HTML To Image Captions To WordPress Images

Adding a caption to a WordPress image is fairly simple and just requires one additional step in the image uploader. Just add your text and/or HTML in the box that says “Caption” and click insert into post (or update for an existing image). After that update your post or page and take a look at it. If you don’t quite like the appearance of the image caption, you may need to change the CSS of your WordPress theme.