Title: Default Problem with Image Linking
Last modified: August 19, 2016

---

# Default Problem with Image Linking

 *  [nickaster](https://wordpress.org/support/users/nickaster/)
 * (@nickaster)
 * [15 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/default-problem-with-image-linking/)
 * Guys –
 * Seems like, when you upload images, wordpress automatically embeds them as a 
   hyperlink to themselves by default. In addition to putting un-needed code on 
   the page it seems like a dis-service to readers who might accidentally click 
   on the image, thinking it’s a link to something.
 * I figured out that if you choose “none” once, then it doesn’t happen again, however,
   many writers don’t seem to understand what that means, and don’t notice that 
   they’ve added images to posts with useless hyperlinks behind them.
 * Major pain in the butt for blogs with many writers.
 * Anyone looking to make the default NO LINK and making it last?
 * Thanks!

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

 *  Moderator [Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ipstenu/)
 * (@ipstenu)
 * 🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist
 * [15 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/default-problem-with-image-linking/#post-2014558)
 * You can add this to your functions.php for your clients
 *     ```
       update_option('image_default_link_type','file');
       ```
   
 * I doubt it’ll change for default, though. I mean, if something annoys you, you
   turn it off. I you don’t see it, you don’t know if it CAN be changed.
 *  Thread Starter [nickaster](https://wordpress.org/support/users/nickaster/)
 * (@nickaster)
 * [15 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/default-problem-with-image-linking/#post-2014605)
 * Yeah – but that won’t be for all authors will it? I never have the problem when
   I author something. But when the other (there are dozens) of authors of my site
   upload images they don’t understand/notice that they are turning it into a hyper
   link. No matter how many times I try to explain it, it does no good.
 * The only real solution is to eliminate the option, or at least make it more difficult
   to trigger.
 * Why would would anyone want their images to be links to themselves?
 *  Thread Starter [nickaster](https://wordpress.org/support/users/nickaster/)
 * (@nickaster)
 * [15 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/default-problem-with-image-linking/#post-2014625)
 * Seriously, why would ANYONE actually want their images to be links?
 *  Moderator [Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ipstenu/)
 * (@ipstenu)
 * 🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist
 * [15 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/default-problem-with-image-linking/#post-2014626)
 * > Yeah – but that won’t be for all authors will it?
 * It will default for all authors on your site, provided they have not selected
   somethign else already.
 * > Seriously, why would ANYONE actually want their images to be links?
 * Photobloggers.
 * And bumping just to add more complaints isn’t generally a good thing 🙂
 *  Thread Starter [nickaster](https://wordpress.org/support/users/nickaster/)
 * (@nickaster)
 * [15 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/default-problem-with-image-linking/#post-2014628)
 * Yeah, but it’s a pretty valid complaint. Most people are not photo bloggers.
 * I actually added this to functions.php some time ago, and as you suggest, the
   problem is that once people accidentally select a link – and trust me, they’ll
   do it – then it gets “stuck” in that position. There is no way to fix it, unless
   I manually log in with their login credentials from time to time and re-upload
   a fake photo to a fake post to correct the situation. That’s totally impractical,
   plus they always screw it up again soon thereafter.
 * It is a SERIOUS time waster to have to deal with this and it makes no sense to
   me that WP can’t set NO LINK as the always-return default. I call this a bug 
   and I suspect I’m not the only person who has a multi-author blog and has to 
   waste a lot of time dealing with this…. no?
 *  Moderator [Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ipstenu/)
 * (@ipstenu)
 * 🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist
 * [15 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/default-problem-with-image-linking/#post-2014631)
 * You’re entitled to your opinion, as I am mine. Do I use it? On one site, yes,
   on another I link to an attachment page where people can leave comments, on a
   third, not at all. Etc etc. 😉 It takes all kinds, and it would be presumptuous
   of us to assume WE are indicative of MOST users.
 * 1) It can be changed.
    2) If it annoys someone, they learn how to change it and
   more about how the feature works. 3) If you disable something out of the gate,
   fewer people pay attention and use it (see the recent addition of the Admin Bar
   and why _it_ was set to default enabled).
 * >  There is no way to fix it, unless I manually log in with their login credentials
   > from time to time and re-upload a fake photo to a fake post to correct the 
   > situation.
 * Actually, you could probably edit the database. I mean, if it’s stored anywhere
   it’s in there, right? Check the usermeta table. You could easily write a plugin(
   pop it in mu-plugins) to re-write whatever setting that is for the logged in 
   user. Everytime they login, WHAM, changed. 😀
 *  Thread Starter [nickaster](https://wordpress.org/support/users/nickaster/)
 * (@nickaster)
 * [15 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/default-problem-with-image-linking/#post-2014632)
 * Love that idea, problem is, I have to run the site. It’s long passed the point
   where I’m skilled enough with code to write a plugin, much less one of that complexity.
   I have *no clue* how to do it so all i can do is either pay someone or hope and
   pray that something gets noticed on this board. But that’s inevitable with online
   publishing circa 2011.
 * There’s no reason that images should be linked to anything unless you’re running
   a site that’s all about images – ie a photo blog, or something with charts you
   need to magnify. Even if that’s presumptuous, I’d presume further that most bloggers
   don’t even know they’re linking images. That means for 99% of users you’re just
   making them do more work, and it’s much worse if you have a site with dozens 
   of un-technical writers and guest bloggers – it’s inevitable that they accidentally
   screw it up eventually, and even when you explain it to them it’s in one ear 
   and out the other. *sigh*

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

The topic ‘Default Problem with Image Linking’ is closed to new replies.

 * In: [Requests and Feedback](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/requests-and-feedback/)
 * 7 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [nickaster](https://wordpress.org/support/users/nickaster/)
 * Last activity: [15 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/default-problem-with-image-linking/#post-2014632)
 * Status: not resolved

## Topics

### Topics with no replies

### Non-support topics

### Resolved topics

### Unresolved topics

### All topics