Hey Nancy,
thanks for reaching out – sure you can choose a different thumbnail but it is a bit tricky because we need to override the featured image. Here it goes:
First, go to your create-new-post page or — even better — in one of your previous already-published-posts. On the right top corner you should see the ‘Screen Options’ button; click on it for the drop-down menu to open. After that, tick the box next to ‘Custom Fields’.
Now you should be able to see a new box below the editor called ‘Custom Fields’. Create new custom field, name your image that you would later like to use it as a thumbnail for this specific post (something like “My thumbnail”), enter the URL of the image you would like to use and finish with the click on the button “Add Custom Field”. Of course, don’t forget to save this draft, or publish the post when you’re ready.
After that, visit the settings of (y)our plugin and scroll down to the bottom. The option called “Use custom field for thumbnails” should now be available, tick the box next to it, and select the value you’ve set up before (if you used “My thumbnail”, select that one).
Now, the important thing is this: the value of the Custom Field stays the same for every new post, while the URL of the image (obviously) changes. In other words: the name of the Custom Field stays the same, images change. That’s because once you set up your settings in the plugin settings (when you choose which value our the Custom Field our plugin should use for the thumbnails), you won’t have to change it again in the future. This way you save yourself a lot of time.
Once you have set this up, you just add a Custom Field with every new post, set the image you want to use for the thumbnail, while the name stays the same. Also worth noting is that you should keep the images you want to use for thumbnails as square as possible and that they’re not too big. The perfect size would be 151×151 pixels (or bigger), but that is not that crucial.
Sorry for this long reply, let me know how it goes,
Petra
Sorry, forgot to add this about the title shortening. You cold try the following (it does not shorten it, just aligns it left and makes it “pretty”):
Go to plugin settings-> “Customize”-> “Custom CSS” and add this:
ul.related_post li a {
text-align: left !important;
}
Don’t forget to save the changes and if I have been unclear in any way, please let me know, I will try to explain in more detail.
Take care and have a lovely day,
Petra
Thanks so much Petra for taking the time to give me all that info! I’ve copied it down and will work on following your instructions. Ü
Have an awesome day!
nancy
It works great! Thanks again Petra!
Hey Nancy,
really glad to hear that it worked 😀
Happy blogging and take care!
Petra
