How to Add And Create Feature Slider Pics For Your WordPress Site

So, if your like me, you created a website with that sliding picture thing, quickly through WordPress Express, and now you're thinking “what's next?” Well , my friend, the next step is to add some pictures to your feature slider that will also link back to your blog posts. I'll show you how. But before we continue, I want to share with you the three things you'll need to complete this task.

What You'll Need
1) Photoshop, or some photo-editing software You can download a free trial here: (http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/tdrc/index.cfm?product=photoshop&loc=en_us)
*This version is newer and fancier than the one I'm using, but the controls should be similar.
2) A written blog post
3) Patience. Trust me, you can figure it out.

Get A Picture
Alright let's begin, first thing you'll need is a picture. I wouldn't recommend a blind internet search for this. Just because you can get a picture off the internet does not mean its free for you to use. Therefore, in order to keep things legal and cheap, I recommend using Stock.Xchng (http://www.sxc.hu/), if you don't have your own pictures to use. What I love most about this site? They provide me with free pictures to use on my web pages.

Save Your Picture
Its best if you create a folder specifically for pictures you download from the internet and one for completed picture projects, so it will be easy to find your photo files.

Open Photoshop
After you install the program, you'll want to find the Photoshop icon and open it.

Open a New Document
Go to File>New, and create an image 1020 pixels wide and 340 pixels high, with a white background. These are the default measurements for feature slider pictures.

Open Your Picture
Go to File>Open, and open your picture file.

Drag Your Picture to The White Background Using The Select Tool (it looks like an arrow with a compass), located at the top of your Tools Side Bar.

Adjust Your Picture's Size On The Background
Press Ctrl+T and drag your picture to the left side of the background. Resize it, leaving some adequate space for writing on the right side.

Add Your Text
Select the Text Tool in your tools side bar (looks a Big 'T'). Click on the space where you want to add the text and start typing.

Save Your Creation
After everything looks the way you want it to, save your creation in two places:
1) Save it as a PSD, a project file you can edit later
2) As a JPEG, GIF, or PNG file, depending on what you need it for. I like saving my files as PNG, since its generally a higher quality image. Be sure to save this in your finished work section.

The Next Parts Are All On WordPress, and you're probably a lot more familiar with that platform.

Log into your WordPress Admin Account
Go To Dashboard>Posts>Click 'Edit' on the one you want to change
Click Upload/Insert>Select Files, and find your picture creation.
Once you select it, the picture will download, scroll down to the bottom of that options page and make sure the following are selected:
Position: “None”
Size: “Full Size”
Save Your Changes.

View Your Post
When the confirmation message shows up at the top of your WordPress Page, asking you to you to “View Post,” Click On it.
Now you see your post with your picture in it.
Right Click on the Picture and Copy The Picture Location.
Now go into your Slider Options page.
Paste the URL you just copied onto one of the slide URLs.
Save Your Changes.
And That's It!

Hopefully what you've done looks similar to this
Repeat the process above for all your Pictures!


Still Needing Help? Feel Free To Leave A Question.