Sorry if this has been asked before, but every time I try to create a post it seems like Lemmy will accept one or the other, not both. Yet other posts do this. What’s the process to include an image when I post a link?
There's only one URL field for posts, and it can either be to an image or a website.
Posts with images and links are usually to news or other websites that provide a thumbnail image. Lemmy backend will pull the link's metadata and save the returned thumbnail image if it has one. That's how article links with the headline image show both an image and url.
TL;DR: The thumbnail image for link posts is generated by Lemmy itself and you can't provide both.
You can indeed post a photo with links in the body field…
Yeah, you can post whatever you want in the body. I was just giving a direct answer to OP about why the post metadata can't have both.
Ah, I think I see what you were getting at now, as in like posting a news article with a specific photo that also links…?
I was thinking more like posting a photo and linking to the source in the body.
Yeah. Like, if you posted a news article but the thumbnail image doesn't load, if you provide your own, you lose the link to the article.
That's consistent with what they said.
OK, that makes sense. Just did some tests.
It worked with an ABC News link, but not with an Axios link. Also: It doesn't look like the thumbnail is visible when creating a post (after entering the article link).
My posts would look better on a feed if I could also choose a thumbnail. But I still like Lemmy.
Put the link in the post body?
Hmm… Is that what was done here:
https://lemmy.world/post/6657436
I'm not seeing a link in the body, but what's the section above the body? That seems to have a link.
They're right, you can post a picture and a link or links in the body. Check my post from the other day, easy peasy…
OK, I see. The workaround is to create a post using the link to the image, then include the link to the actual article in the body. Got it.
Put the link in the URL field and then add an image in the text field.