How frustrating it can be when you go to all the trouble of creating an awesome post with a perfect picture used as your featured image (in WordPress, of course) and then when you share that post on social media only to wonder why Twitter not showing my blog’s pictures properly.
What do I mean about Twitter no showing my blog’s pictures properly?
So that you understand, I am using a premium paid-for WordPress theme. And, I have made sure to always fill in the Social Media options that appears in every one of this company’s themes, which is located directly below EACH and EVERY post and page edit window within my WordPress dashboard.
The following screen print is what their Twitter card looks like.
Even though I have shared a particular post in Twitter in previous months, many times now Twitter still won’t show my blog’s pictures properly when tweeting the same post once again.
Here is what I mean about Twitter not showing my blog’s pictures properly.
Yet I have shared this exact same post at LEAST twice over previous months this year.
So, why Twitter does this is beyond me. This has happen to me far more times than I care to imagine anymore.
Now I keep a shortcut on my desktop computer to use BEFORE each time that I share any of my posts from MY blogs on my Twitter account.
The shortcut I’m referring to is: https://cards-dev.twitter.com/validator and, this will only work for you when you are logged into your Twitter account.
The tweet shown in the screen print above, I deleted almost immediately (well, after I took the following screen print, that is).
Then I went to Twitter’s validator web page and pasted the URL for my post into the textbox provided, and then clicked on the “Preview card” button and … VOILA!
The screen print below shows you what I saw:
So that you are forewarned, sometimes even their validator will refuse to display the Twitter Card preview properly.
When this happens, I simply refresh my browser tab session that I’m using their validator in, and then press their “Preview card” button once again. Sometimes, I have had to refresh and try this as many times as 3 before their validator would display my post properly.
Then and ONLY then will I share my post in a tweet on Twitter. You can see in the screen print below as to how my shared post now looks in my tweet:
NOTE: If you should still find you are having issues getting Twitter’s Card validator to display your featured image, please… look below the test result and read over what Twitters validator displays under the subtitle “Log”. If there is a WARN that you need to address, please do so and test again.
The reason I’m so fussy about my tweeted images being displayed properly is simply because of the importance of using images on social media.
What about Facebook Images?
Now, if you have found you are having similar issue when sharing your posts on Facebook, they TOO offer something similar to Twitter’s validator.
Facebook calls their validator Object Debugger – Facebook for Developers, and again, you need to be logged into your Facebook account to be able to go to the URL.
Once again, if you find that Facebook is not showing your blog’s pictures properly after you’ve clicked the Publish button, you can simply delete your Facebook post. See screen print below which shows you the individual post Delete option:
Then visit the Facebook Debugger web page … remembering to do so only AFTER you have logged into your Facebook account.
Once there, place the URL of your blog post in the “Input URL” textbox (shown in screen print above) and click their “Show existing scraped information” button. If you do NOT like what it shows, then click on their “Fetch new scrape information” button.
Should you find your post STILL is not being displayed properly, then DO check to make sure your social media fields are filled in properly or that at least you have a Facebook thumbnail fix plugin installed and that you are using that correctly.
For those wanting to know how to install and use a Facebook thumbnail fix plugin, I offer you the following video.
Fix Post Images Not Showing in Facebook
There have been NO times that I have had to constantly refresh my browser to get the Facebook Debugger to show my post properly IF/WHEN my Social Media option was setup correctly. [THIS IS NO LONGER NEEDED. SEE UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST]
Having said this … what I HAVE noticed with my business Facebook Fan page is that once I paste the URL into my Facebook post … I wait a few seconds to see what will happen with how my post will get shared … BEFORE I click the Publish button or even Schedule my post.
Many times I’ve had to delete my post along with any text I had add above the URL, and then refresh my tab and try posting it again, simply because Facebook refused to display my featured image properly … if at all.
Most times though, I’ve only need to do this twice before Facebook displays my images properly. Then I carefully remove the URL and click the “Publish” button. In this way, it saves me having to constantly go to their Debugger tool first.
This SAME method works for me when sharing posts in Google+ too, simply because both Facebook and Google+ offer users a preview so we can see EXACTLY how our post will look once we click the button to share our posts … providing you are not in a big hurry.
It only takes a few seconds for these two Medias to show you EXACTLY how your post will be displayed but you HAVE to wait BEFORE clicking the Publish button.
Why Using Images on Social Media Important
- ) Images get the attention of your audience – which makes it VERY important that you choose the correct image(s) that are relevant to your content.
- ) Varying your images keeps interest of your audience – using the same image in social media will have your audience becoming blind to your shares, thinking it is the same one you shared the last time.
- ) Images make it easier to remember your post’s message – another great reason to share the image(s) most applicable to your topic.
- ) According to some reports online, images shared in social media were considered second only to blogging in providing relevant traffic.
I would tend to believe the following screen print of a post shared recently in my Twitter account would address each and every one of the points shared above … wouldn’t you?
If you found this post helpful, I would appreciate your help in sharing this with your friends. And, more importantly … all comments will be greatly appreciated.
UPDATE: 18 Sep 2021: The new All In One SEO plugin now offers both Facebook and Twitter card option in the FREE version, so you won’t need the plugin mentioned above. See video tutorial below…
How To Edit Social Media Preview Links (All In One SEO Tutorial)
Thank you for the Twitter thumbnail advice! Worked perfectly!
Thank YOU for letting me know. This is exactly what I need to know in order to continue offering the information. Much appreciated!
It still won’t work to bring up my blog post image, no matter how many times I refresh it. I’m not sure what to do. I’ve tried using the regular and bit.ly link, to no avail. It’s so frustrating! It was working just last week, now nothing!
Hey Deb, you’re not using WordPress nor are you using a quality theme. This is where “free” tends to prove the limitations.
Another issue you may not be aware of yet is that your website may be scaring your mobile visitors away. Here’s why: https://www.eparrs.com/blog/blog/https-connection-is-not-secure/
Hi Trish,
I bumped into your post accidentally. I have to say that it was very useful because I was having troubles displaying my article image on Twitter. I have never used the twitter card validator before and it works awesome. So thanks for the valuable information and greetings from a fellow WA member! 🙂
Thank YOU Asen, for letting me know this helped you. I certainly appreciate your having taken the time to comment too. 🙂
Thanks! I am new to Twitter and was puzzled by this problem. Your page came up in a Google search I just did on the topic. I have been using Facebook debugger for a long time, and I was sure that there had to be a similar thing in Twitter. So happy to find that there is. The better news is that I just discovered that it works on existing tweets, so I don’t have to repost.
Thank YOU Julianne, for letting me know this information helped you. When I discover an easy method for fixing a problem, I just have to share the resolve with others; after all, isn’t that what the internet is supposed to be all about.
Too many people drop by here and never say if this article helped them… or not. So I truly appreciate your input.
Hello Trish,
Thank You for writing this article. But I am facing an issue.
I tried using Twitter’s Validator https://cards-dev.twitter.com/validator, But still in preview Image is not appearing. What to Do? Any suggestion.
The Blog link is below which I would like to tweet with image preview:
https://www.lookatincome.com/blockchain-and-fintech-an-insight/
Hey Ashish,
Sounds like you need a plugin because your theme does not offer you a built in Twitter card.
The following link is to a training video regarding such a plugin that I can recommend, as it is in use on at least one website that I tend: https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/training/fix-facebook-post-images-not-showing
Hope you find this helpful.
Hello Trish,
I tried the method suggested in the video.
1)- I installed, ‘Facebook thumb fixer’ plugin.
2)- Set the ‘Object Type’ as ‘Article’ for my blog https://www.lookatincome.com/blockchain-and-fintech-an-insight/
3)- Then I tried to post the same link on Twitter, But still Image is not appearing in preview. you can check here:
https://twitter.com/LookAtIncome
Please provide suggestions.
Hey Ashish,
As stated by Twitter’s Card Validator, your page fetched successfully, and the card loaded successfully, however a clear warning was also displayed that states: “WARN: The image URL https://www.lookatincome.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Blockchain-and-Fintech.jpg specified by the ‘twitter:image’ metatag may be restricted by the site’s robots.txt file, which will prevent Twitter from fetching it.”
If you stop your images from being displayed in your robots.txt file then NOTHING can display your images. Simply remove whatever you have added to your robots.txt file preventing your images from being shared and then this WILL work for you.
Hello Trish,
Thank You for your reply!!
Finally my issues is solved with your help and I am able to see image previews in twitter 🙂
Just would like to brief you. Actual problem was in wordpress theme/plugins may be. As I just rearranged the order of lines in my robots.txt file under Yoast plugin and it worked fine. In this case I uninstalled ‘Facebook thumb fixer’ plugin also and still image preview is working.
Thank You again 🙂
Thank YOU Adhish for letting me know. Yeaaaaah… love it when a resolve is found! 🙂
Just remember to always look for the Log prompt if an image is missing in the future.
Saved my life with this link. I was trying to show up the thumbnail for my website but nothing worked till I found your article.
thanks
You are very welcome, and Thank YOU for letting me know this helped you. It’s always nice to get feedback.
This problem started last Friday. I’ve done everything you’ve listed above and more.. Contacted Bluehost and WordPress. Nothing. It’s a big mystery that giving me a huge case of writers block now.
Hi Grace,
So, last Friday Twitter stopped showing your blog’s pictures… and did you follow my suggested steps?
Why would an issue with Twitter give you writer’s block?
Hi Trish,
Thanks for the info. My blog posts to Twitter (with url to blog post) was working previously and then stopped. It works fine on FB but not Twitter. I entered it into the Twitter Validator and no errors come up. I refreshed and retried multiple times but it still won’t load the picture. It says everything went through successfully. I use a paid theme in WP (Zeen) and it worked previously. I can’t figure out why Twitter is not pulling the image. Nothing has changed. :-/
Hi Denise,
Your featured images may need to be in a ratio of a 600px x 315px image in order to be displayed correctly. Those numbers, I learned when using the Thumb Fixer for Facebook plugin by Michael Ott. Since following their instructions, I have had no more issues with my featured images, and they display for me on all of my social media accounts.
In testing your post “a child like heart”, the Twitter card validator refused to display your image those the text below clearly shows that you have a Twitter card. In checking the hidden code of this post, I saw that the featured image is 1024 x 683. It is my guess that this may be your issue.
To test this theory, try setting up a test post, and then create an image 1024 x 538, and another of the same image to be 600 x 315. Use the first one to see if that will work… and if it does, then you will know what image sizes you will need to use in order to get your featured images to be displayed in Twitter.
If using the first image in your test post STILL will now display in Twitter, than remove the 1024 x 538 and use the 600 x 315 image that you created as your featured image, and try validating again.
Bets this will fix this issue using one, if not both, sizes of images. Please DO let me know, one way or another. I love a challenge like this.
That worked! I tried with the 1024 x 600 and it didn’t work. Then I tried 600 x 400 and it did work. Thank you so much! 🙂
Ahhh… good stuff, and Thank YOU for letting me know.
Yeeeah 😉
Have yet to delve into why we cannot use the size of image that our themes are setup to use… yet. Am too busy creating content, lol… yeah, seriously!
The validator did not work. I tried it a half dozen times. All I get is blank photo with the scroll icon. Help
Hey Dynie, if you do not have the proper setup on your website then Twitter cannot make it magically appear.
When validating my newly published posts, if the image refuses to appear after the second try then I sign back into my website and check to make sure that I have remembered to select an image and the description that should appear when sharing posts in social media for that post.
This process has never failed me because every time the validator shows no image, I have forgotten to fill in the relevant information into my Twitter card. I do hope this helps you.
Thanks for the Twitter tip, it worked!
Yeaaaah Chris, you just made my day. Been trouble shooting a website issues (and a painful one at that), but when I read your comment here, you made me a Happy Camper for having shared my resolve on a Twitter issue. So, Thank YOU! 🙂
Thanks a lot, I could not make it work til you showed this!
You’re very welcome Ruthie, am glad this worked for you too. 🙂
Thank YOU for letting me know.
When I am NOT logged into Twitter (regardless of which browser I’m using), I see my tweets shared from my blog entries exactly as they should appear, with the thumbnails and blog text. As soon as I log into Twitter, the thumbnails disappear, but the text remains. My tweets appear exactly like the one Trish posted in her example near the beginning of this blog page. Just a gray placeholder on the left where the blog’s logo should be. As soon as I log back out of Twitter and return as a guest, the thumbnails are all back and all is well. Any solution? I’m guessing this quirk is something new, as it has just been brought to my attention.
Mike
Hi Mike,
This definitely is a new issue and I would think it may be caused by whatever you are using to embed your RTs on your website, be it scripting or a plugin. If it is a plugin, you would be best to contact the developer of the plugin by submitting a ticket. It could be something as simple as a conflict with your WordPress theme and the plugin, or on line of script inside the plugin that is causing this.
In Google searching “why would logging into Twitter make the embedded RTs featured image disappear” (without the quotation marks, of course), one Twitter guide that MAY help shed some light on this for you, was offered in my SERP. The guide I am referring to is as follows: https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/tweets/optimize-with-cards/guides/troubleshooting-cards
But, like I have already suggested, I would start with the plugin developer’s support by submitting a ticket and see what they have to say.
Would truly love to hear back from you as to what you discover is causing this issue.
Very helpful article! It fixed my twitter thumbnail problem! Thanks.
Thank YOU for letting me know that this helped you.
By doing this, you’ve helped me know what types of content to continue focusing on providing in the future.
Much appreciated.
Hi Trish,
Great information….What about a tweet that has been there for awhile with no problem and then all of a sudden the picture on the tweet disappears?…..Have you run into that?…..If I create new tweet obviously I will lose likes, retweets, etc…..Thanks
John Roger Perry
Hey John,
Yes, I have had an issue just like you described, with my large image disappearing on my shared tweets. Though that only happened once when updating a website and forgetting to add my Twitter card.
Thanks this was really helpful.
You’re welcome, and Thank YOU for letting me know that this helped you too Sangeeta.