The media library

Start hereMediaThe media libraryEvery picture, video and document on your site lives in the media library. This page covers uploading, folders, choosing an image for a block, alt text, and getting back something you deleted.Uploading filesOpen Media in the admin menu. The left-hand side lists your folders and the right-hand side shows the files in the folder you have picked.

Click the folder you want the files to go in (or Media at the top for no folder).

Drag your files from your computer onto the dashed box that says Drop files here, or click to choose, or click the box and pick them.

Wait for Uploading… to finish. The new files appear in the grid.

The line in the dashed box tells you the largest file your site accepts. It is 10 MB unless someone has changed it under Settings → Media (Max library upload (MB)). MP4 and WebM videos are allowed up to 40 MB, or more if the general limit is set higher.Spaces and odd characters in a file name become dashes. If a file with the same name is already there, the new one gets a number on the end, such as hero-2.jpg.Folders on the left, the chosen folder's files on the right.The two buttons above the grid switch between Icon view (thumbnails) and List view (names and sizes). Your choice is remembered.Folders: making, renaming and movingUse folders to keep things findable. There is no search box in the library, so a folder for each kind of thing (team photos, product shots, brochures) is how you find a file later.

New folder: click the folder-with-a-plus icon next to Folders, type a name and click Create. Names are tidied into lower case with dashes.

Folder actions: hover over a folder and click ⋯ for New subfolder, Move to…, Rename and Delete folder….

Move a folder: drag it onto another folder in the list, or use Move to…. You are asked to confirm, and told how many places use the pictures inside.

Move a file: hover over its thumbnail, grab the small handle and drop it on a folder in the list.

Moving or renaming never breaks your pages. Every page, block and catalogue item that uses a moved picture is updated to point at its new place automatically.You cannot rename a single file in the library. To change a file's name, rename it on your computer and upload it again.A folder cannot be moved into a folder that already has one with the same name. Rename one of them first.Choosing a picture for a blockBlocks that show a picture, such as Image, Carousel and Section backgrounds, have a Choose from library button in their settings in the page editor.

Select the block on the page.

In its settings, click Choose from library.

Open the folder you want. You can also drop new files into the box at the top of the window to upload them there and then.

Click the picture. The window closes and the block shows it.

Each picker remembers the folder you used last, so the next time it opens in the same place. Clear removes the picture from the block (the file stays in the library).You do not need to resize photos before uploading. The site makes smaller copies automatically and sends each visitor the size their screen needs, so a large photo does not slow a phone down.Alt text, and why it mattersAlt text is a short description of a picture. Screen readers read it aloud to people who cannot see the page, and search engines use it to understand what the picture shows.Alt text belongs to the place a picture is used, not to the file. The same photo can need different words on different pages. So you write it in the block: the Image block has an Alt text box under the picture, and each picture on a catalogue item has its own Alt text too.

Say what the picture shows, in a sentence or less: "Two walkers on the ridge above the lake".

Do not start with "Image of". Screen readers already say it is an image.

If the picture is only decoration and adds nothing, leave the alt text empty.

Replacing a pictureThere is no "replace" button. A new version of a picture is a new file, so visitors never see an old copy their browser saved earlier.

Upload the new version.

Open each page that used the old one and pick the new one with Choose from library.

Delete the old file. If it is still used anywhere, the warning lists where, so you can see whether you missed one.

Deleting, and the Deleted binTo delete one file, hover over it and click the bin icon. To delete several, tick them (click a thumbnail to tick it) and click Delete on the bar at the bottom of the screen. To delete a folder and everything in it, use Delete folder… from its ⋯ menu.If a file is still used on a page, you are told how many places use it and shown a list. You can stop there, or click Delete anyway. The pages that used it will show a gap where the picture was.Deleted files are not gone straight away. They go to Deleted, at the bottom of the folder list, and are kept for 30 days. After that they are removed for good.

Click Deleted in the folder list.

Find the file and click Restore. To restore several, tick them and click Restore on the bar at the bottom.

The file goes back where it was, and every page that used it shows it again.

Delete forever in the bin cannot be undone. Use it only when you are sure nothing needs the file.Documents and PDFsThe library takes any kind of file, not just pictures. PDFs, Word documents and spreadsheets upload the same way and show as a plain file icon.If your site has members turned on, the File list block shows every file in a media folder as a list of downloads, and a folder can be made Members only… from its ⋯ menu so only signed-in members can open its files.The library has no button to copy a file's web address. If you need to link a button straight to one document, ask whoever set up your site for its address.← Logo, icons, header and footerForms →Getting startedPagesBuilding with blocksNavigation and lookMediaForms and leadsCatalogueShopBookings and membersRunning the siteCairnWebsites for businesses that need more than a brochure. Built, hosted and kept running by us.StartBuildRun© 2026 Cairn. All rights reserved.Built with Cairn.