In Drupal Content Types you will encounter many form fields that allow you to add images, documents or videos to your pages. You may also add them in the Body field using the Rich Text Editor. Much of the media you add, especially images and documents will be stored in the Media Library.
On this page
Important: You will find Drupal specific instruction for each media type on the Insert an Image page, Insert a Document page and the Multimedia and Embeddable Content.
Be sure to also follow general best practices for all images, including recommended file sizes and consider page load time and performance when adding media. Don’t forget alternate text for images, captions, audio description or transcripts for video and these important accessibility considerations for documents.
Media Library
You can find a link to “Media: Documents, Images, Video (external)” on your website’s Dashboard.
Pros:
- You can and should use a single image on different pages at different sizes (thumbnail, full width, etc.).
- If you change an image in the Media Library it will change all places where it has been inserted. However, the alternate text may not change.
- You have a single place to manage all multimedia assets for your website!
Upload Files to the Media Library
If you know you’re going to use an image, you can upload a file to the Media Library before you even start editing a page.
- In the Media Library, click the “+ Add Media” button at the top of the page.
- Select the type of file from the tabs on the left: document, image or video.
- For Images and Documents, choose the file from your computer, give it a unique name and then save. For images don’t forget to add Alternative Text.
- For videos, enter the external link from YouTube or Vimeo.
Using the Media on a Webpage in a Body Field
Using the Rich Text Editor set to the Text Format “Flex HTML”
- Put your cursor in the place you want to insert the image, document or video
- Click the button Media button
- In the “Add or select media” pop-up select the tab on the side for type of media: Document, Image or Video (External)
- You can
- upload a new media file by clicking the “Choose files” button which will allow you to find the file on your computer.
- or select a media file that is already in the Media Library. Be sure to only upload a media file one time because you can use the same file in different places and even in different sizes. Use the filter and sort options to find previously added files.
- Next follow specific instructions on the Insert an Image page, Insert a Document page or the Multimedia and Embeddable Content.
