BOTH/AND

BOTH/AND

Publishing Photos and Managing Media

BOTH/AND Client Guide

Photographs help a visitor understand the life of the parish. Use real, welcoming images of worship, fellowship, service, learning, and community whenever possible.

If you are responsible for taking parish photographs, begin with How to Photograph the Life of Your Parish for a practical shot list and guidance about permission, liturgical reverence, and taking usable images.

Build a Useful Parish Photo Library

Aim for a truthful collection that helps a newcomer recognize the parish, see its worship, and imagine meeting its people. Useful subjects include:

  • The church exterior, entrance, grounds, and other landmarks a first-time visitor will need to recognize.
  • Liturgical life photographed respectfully, including processions, feast days, choir or chanters, and appropriate wide views of the church during worship.
  • Clergy welcoming or speaking with parishioners, when the clergy and other identifiable people approve publication.
  • Fellowship across generations, including coffee hour and ordinary conversations rather than only posed group photographs.
  • Catechesis, charitable service, youth activities, parish ministries, and community events.
  • Architectural, iconographic, and liturgical details that communicate the beauty of Orthodox worship without substituting objects for the people of the parish.

For each important subject, take both horizontal and vertical photographs, along with a mix of wide views and close details. Photograph ordinary parish life as well as major feasts so the library remains useful throughout the year. Do not manufacture the appearance of a crowd or interrupt worship simply to produce promotional images.

Before Uploading

  • Confirm that the parish has permission to publish the image.
  • Avoid publishing sensitive pastoral situations or people who should not be identified publicly.
  • Follow the parish’s policy for photographs of children.
  • Choose the strongest image rather than uploading many nearly identical photographs.
  • Remove screenshots, memes, and unrelated graphics that do not belong in the parish media library.

Prepare the File

  • Use a descriptive filename before uploading, such as pascha-procession-2026.jpg.
  • Use JPG for ordinary photographs and PNG only when transparency or that format is genuinely needed.
  • Avoid uploading full-size camera files when a web-sized version is available.
  • Keep the original photograph in the parish’s own archive; WordPress should not be the only copy.

Add Media to a Page or Article

  1. Open the page, article, sermon, or event.
  2. Add or select an Image block.
  3. Upload the prepared image or choose it from the Media Library.
  4. Add useful alternative text when the image communicates information.
  5. Select an appropriate crop and alignment without cutting off faces or essential subjects.
  6. Preview on desktop and mobile.

Alternative text should briefly communicate what a person who cannot see the image needs to know. Decorative images may use empty alternative text when appropriate.

Official WordPress Video

Using the Media Library shows how to upload and select images, add alternative text, and crop or resize an image. The video also discusses other file types. For your parish website, follow the narrower rule in this guide: upload individual photographs only. Keep larger galleries, PDFs and other files, audio, and video on an approved outside service and link or embed them.

Publish a Photo Entry

When your site uses the dedicated Photos section:

  1. Open Photos.
  2. Select Add New.
  3. Add a clear title or caption.
  4. Add the approved photograph in the expected field or content area.
  5. Add the related link when the Photo entry is intended to direct visitors elsewhere.
  6. Preview, publish, and check the Photos archive.

Link or Embed External Media

PDFs and other documents, larger photo galleries, audio, and video remain on an approved parish-controlled outside service. To add one of these resources to the website:

  1. Upload the resource to the appropriate parish-controlled service.
  2. Choose the correct public or private sharing settings. Anything intended for website visitors must be viewable without signing in to a private parish account.
  3. Copy the public viewing, sharing, or embed URL rather than an account-management or editing link.
  4. Add the URL to the appropriate link, embed block, sermon field, or other approved website field. If BOTH/AND is making the update, send the public URL with the page or section where it belongs.
  5. Preview the website page and confirm that the resource opens or plays correctly.
  6. Test it while signed out and on a phone.

The parish maintains the outside account, its sharing settings, and the original files. If the outside URL changes, the website link or embed must also be updated.

Do Not

  • Upload PDF, audio, or video files directly to WordPress. Put them on an approved external host and add a link or embed instead.
  • Use WordPress as a bulk gallery, general photo library, or permanent parish archive. Individual photographs used on pages, articles, sermons, events, or curated Photo entries may be uploaded; larger galleries and general libraries belong on an approved outside service and should be linked or embedded.
  • Upload copyrighted images simply because they appeared in a search result.
  • Use filenames such as IMG_4837.jpg when a descriptive name can be supplied.
  • Stretch a small image until it becomes blurry.
  • Upload the same file repeatedly.
  • Place important words only inside an image.
  • Replace site-wide brand images or logos without approval.

Final Check

  • ☐ Publication permission is confirmed.
  • ☐ The file is appropriately sized.
  • ☐ Filename and alternative text are useful.
  • ☐ Faces and important content crop correctly.
  • ☐ The image is clear on desktop and mobile.
  • ☐ The parish retains its own original copy.

Return to the Client Guide