Media library

The Media library lists every image your organisation has uploaded for its website, in one place. You'll find it under Website management → Media library in the admin sidebar, just below Pages.

Use it to find a photo you uploaded last month, give an image a proper description once, see which pages use it, and clear out images nothing uses any more.

Who can use this

Admins and moderators. It's the same group that can upload images and edit pages. Members can't see this screen.

What's on the page

• Re-index — top right. Checks your storage for images the list doesn't know about yet and adds them. Use it after importing your old website.
• Upload an image — choose a file and describe it. Images uploaded here can be used on any page.
• Search — finds images by description, source, file name, or the name of a page that uses them.
• The list — one row per image, newest first. Each row shows a thumbnail, the description, where the photo came from (when that was recorded), the file size and dimensions, the upload date, and where the image is used. Select a column heading to sort by it.
• About this list — at the foot of the page, the limits of the "Used" column in full.

Photo gallery pictures aren't listed here. They have their own screen: Photo galleries.

Step by step

Upload an image

1. Under Upload an image, choose a PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP or AVIF file.
2. Type a short description of what the picture shows. This is the alt text that screen readers read aloud, and the upload won't go ahead without it.
3. Select Upload. The image appears at the top of the list.

Fix an image's description

1. Find the image in the list (search helps).
2. Edit the text in the Description box.
3. Select Save. You'll see "Description saved." beside the box.

Set the part of a photo to keep in view

When a photo is shown cropped — a banner with a fixed height, or a row background — phones cut off more of it than a laptop does. Set a focal point so the important part (the team, the trophy, the crest) stays in frame:

1. Open Focal point on the image's row.
2. Click or tap the part of the photo to keep, or use the arrow keys (hold Shift for finer steps) and press Enter. Home puts it back in the middle.
3. The position is saved and read out in words, such as "Bottom left" or "Slightly left of centre".

The focal point is copied into a section when you pick the image from the library. Changing it here affects new picks only; the message tells you how many places already use the image, and each keeps its own point. You can also move the point for one use only, in that section's settings.

See where an image is used

1. Look at the Used column. "Not used" means nothing we check shows it.
2. Otherwise, open "Used on 2 pages" (or "Used in 3 places") to see the list, and follow a link to go straight to that page, post or item.

Delete an image

1. Select Delete on its row and confirm.
2. If anything still uses the image, nothing is deleted. You'll see a list of where it's used instead. Remove the image from those places first, then try again.
3. Deleting can't be undone.

Bring in images that are already on your site

Images uploaded before the Media library existed are listed automatically. If you import your old website, or an image seems to be missing, select Re-index. It adds anything new and never duplicates an image already in the list.

Field reference

Tips & FAQ

• Let Helix write the alt text. Select Draft with Helix beside an image's alt text. Helix looks at the photo and writes one short sentence of 125 characters or fewer, without guessing who anyone is. Select Insert, check it and save. It works with JPEG, PNG, GIF and WebP images up to 5 MB. See AI Studio.
• Who can see an image I upload here? Anyone who has its web address, so it's safe to use on any public page. Don't upload anything private.
• Some images say "Visitors can see this image only while the page it was uploaded to is public." What does that mean? That image was uploaded inside a particular page, news post, event or product, and it follows that item's visibility. If that page is a draft or members-only, the image is hidden from the public too, even if you place it on another page. If you want to use it on a public page, download it and upload it again on this screen.
• Why does "Used" miss an image on an old version of a page? The check looks at each page's current draft and its published version, not at older versions. If you restore an old version after deleting an image it used, that spot will be empty.
• I deleted an image but it still shows somewhere. Browsers and link previews keep copies for a while. It will stop loading once those copies expire.
• Why isn't my SVG logo accepted? SVG files can carry code, so we don't accept them anywhere. Save the logo as a PNG instead.
• Why do some images have no Source? A source is recorded only when we know it: for example, a free-licence photo the ClubHelix team added to your site. Photos you upload from your own device don't get one, because only you know where they came from.
• Can I replace an image and keep it on every page that uses it? Not yet. Upload the new image, then swap it into each place listed under Used.