=== Nelio External Featured Image ===
Contributors: nelio, davilera
Donate link: http://neliosoftware.com
Tags: external, url, featured image, featured, featured images, image
Requires at least: 3.3
Tested up to: 4.3
Stable tag: 1.2.1
License: GPLv2 or later
License URI: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

Use external images from anywhere as the featured image of your pages and
posts.

== Description ==

Are you using an external service for storing your images? Then you'd probably
like to use those images as featured images for your pages and posts. This
plugin lets you do this easily!

If you like the plugin and you can afford to, please [consider a
donation](https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=J3AEK6JGVW6TQ).
Thanks!


**Notice** Sometimes, external featured images are not visible. Please, check
the FAQ section to discover how to solve the issue.

**Notice** After all the issues that 1.3.x series have caused, I've decided to
go back to 1.2.0 and make it the stable version of the plugin. For those of you
who that version worked, you can download it from the
[Developers](https://wordpress.org/plugins/external-featured-image/developers/)
tab.

= Featured On =

* [10 Picture Perfect WordPress Thumbnail
Plugins](http://premium.wpmudev.org/blog/wordpress-thumbnail-plugins/)
(wpmudev.org)
* [How to Use an Image URL to set the Featured
Image](http://neliosoftware.com/use-image-url-set-featured-image/) (Nelio's
blog)


= Related Plugins by Nelio =

* [Nelio A/B Testing](http://nelioabtesting.com/?fp=wordpress.org) |
[Download](https://wordpress.org/plugins/nelio-ab-testing/)
* Nelio Featured Posts |
[Download](https://wordpress.org/plugins/nelio-featured-posts/)
* Nelio Related Posts |
[Download](https://wordpress.org/plugins/nelio-related-posts/)


_Featured image by
[Cubmundo](https://www.flickr.com/photos/cubmundo/6748759375)_



== Frequently Asked Questions ==

= How does the plugin work? =

Every time an image is uploaded in the media library, WordPress automatically
creates alternative versions of that image, each with a different size
(thumbnail, medium, large and full).  Themes may then choose among these
different versions when displaying the an image in a post.

Thumbnails do also exist for featured images, and themes may registerd their
own alternative image sizes. For example, WordPress' default theme
TwentyFourteen defines a thumbnail size called "twentyfourteen-full-width"
whose dimensions are 1038x576.

This plugin uses the alternative-size information (which your theme uses for
rendering a featured image) for scaling and cropping external featured images
via CSS on your users' browsers.

There are some situations, however, in which this "size" information is not
provided. In these scenarios, our plugin relies on theme's CSS file. If the
CSS rules define the width and height of the featured image, everything should
be fine. Otherwise, you may have to tweak something.


= I don't see external featured images. What do I do? =

Try adding the following CSS code in your theme:

`
img.nelioefi {
  min-width:100px;
  min-height:100px;
}
`

and refresh your site. If you can see the external featured image, it means
that our plugin works properly, but some CSS tweaking was needed. Now, simply
edit the CSS styles of your theme so that the featured image looks good
everywhere (`width`, `height`, `max-width`, `max-height`).


= I added the CSS code you mention, but images do not appear yet. =

WordPress offers more than one function for inserting featured images.
Unfortunately, only one of them has a filter we can use. If your theme is not
using the `(get_)the_post_thumbnail`, then our plugin will not be able to
insert external featured images.

In these cases, the only solution is to tweak your theme and edit some PHP
code. Unfortunately, there's no generic solution for doing it. Just locate
where featured images are being inserted, and edit those lines so that it uses
the previous function (if possible). Please note that the plugin also offers
some helper functions that will ease the "tuning" of the theme (check the file
includes/nelio-efi-main.php to know them and review their documentation).


== Screenshots ==

1. **External Featured Image with URL.** Easily set the featured image of a
post by using the image's URL only!


== Changelog ==

= 1.2.0 =
* Bug fix: Quick Edit (and possibly other edits) a post removed the external
featured image. This does no longer happen.
* External Featured Image is inserted using the `src` attribute of an `img` tag
in RSS feeds (instead of an inline CSS `background` property).


= 1.1.0 =
* Define the ALT attribute of your external featured images.


= 1.0.9 =
* Added a new filter ("nelioefi_post_meta_key") that will let you define a
custom post_meta_key to store the URL of the external featured image.


= 1.0.8 =
* Referencing our A/B testing service for WordPress.


= 1.0.7 =
* Added External Featured Image box for custom post types. If the custom
post type's template uses featured image.
* Some helper functions have been introduced in the plugin, so that adapting
themes becomes easier.


= 1.0.6 =
* Compatibility with the Genesis Framework. By default, external featured
images have a minimum size of 150x150px. Make sure you edit your CSS files
for proper image size.
* Some minor tweaks.


= 1.0.5 =
* Bug fix. One function for locating external featured images was missplaced.
I moved it to the proper file so that it loads when the user is not an admin.


= 1.0.4 =
* Bug fix. You can now set regular featured images under all circumstances
(thanks _rprose_ for reporting the bug!).


= 1.0.3 =
* Improved image sizing. Now, the plugin uses the sizes the theme defines and
tries to scale and crop the external image for its proper display.


= 1.0.0 =
* First release.


== Upgrade Notice ==

= 1.2.0 =
Bug fix when quick editing a post. Some minor improvements.