Gif’s are really cool and makes our readers happy. A good relatable gif can also help a lot to clear the meaning of what we are writing.

Read Also: How To Add YouTube Subscribe Button In WordPress – Beginners Guide

And a gif sometime can be our whole content. It is all in the content of the gif. In short, gif can be an important weapon in our marketing strategy and it is rising its popularity every day.

So, let figure out how to add animated gifs in WordPress without any mistake as some people have already experienced some technical difficulties with it. When adding to a post it does not come out like it should instead stay there as a still image, a static one. That is because of a minor miss in settings.

What is a GIF Actually?

It all started back in the 1980’s. Yes, they are that old. To suit the networking system of that time gif’s were created to make a small size graphic file using 8-bit images of the 256-color palette.

Back then it was impossible to transfer videos like it is today so making gif were a better option but now with high-speed internet service we can do more than just sending a video.

Gif nowadays has become a meme and messages to be used in social media and conversation. It has a whole new meaning to it now. Even though before they were small in size compromised of few still images now a gif file can be a lot heavy depending on the content and device.

As gif’s are gaining popularity many marketers have taken it up as a tool for their marketing strategy and many tools can be found now to create a gif. That is why you must know how an add gif properly in WordPress.

The Steps of Adding GIF in WordPress

Step 1

Go to your WordPress dashboard and select blog post or page where you want to put your gif.

Step 2

Reach for the specific area in the post where you are going to put it. Click there marking the para and then click the ‘Add Media’ button on top.

Figure 1

Step 3

If the gif file is already present in the gallery than OK but if not then click ‘Upload Files’ button. As the box opens you will be welcomed with two option to get the gif in your gallery one you can either drag and drop the gif from its location or can go for ‘Select file’ option. As a new box opens up, locate your gif where it is in your system and add it in your gallery by clicking on the gif and then on ‘Open’.

Figure 2

Step 4

Now you can see your image is in the media library. The finish of half of the job.

From here select your file and go for the box next to it. Look out for ‘ATTACHMENT DISPLAY SETTINGS’. Under it, there is another option box for ‘Size’. Select it on the Full Size.

Figure 3

Step 5

Insert it in the post and if happy with everything else than publish your post or page or update as per need.

Figure 4

Step 6

Now time to go to your visit site and you can see the GIF image. You can also draft it and check out the gif in ‘Preview’. Suit yourself.

Figure 5

Special Notes about GIF and Why They Need To be Full Size

Now, many wonder why it has to be full size or even after setting the system in the full size you cannot yet get it moving. It is because of the gif’s original size.

Gif has many frames to it. When resized by the WordPress (WordPress has the system to resize media own its’ own depending on the last settings) or by us the frames get stripped and loses the ability to be animated just by being a still image. That is why never a cropped gif is able to be animated. It has to have its full size.

Also, saving a gif in any other format will not help either. Like, gif can be saved as .jpg files and then it will be a still image. If you want it to be animated it has to be saved as .gif.

Does GIFs Make Site Slow?

The heavier your site is the slower it becomes. Be it because of post or images in it. So, yes gifs too make your site slow if it gets heavier in size count.

Note: There is this Giphypress plugin. It has a huge database of gifs in it and allows you to search among them without even leaving the site of yours.

No matter how they are gifs are awesome to serve to your visitors as it increases the appeal of a post. I love funny gifs!