How to add random header images to your WordPress blog

When you create a WordPress blog, you will most probably select a theme. The theme has a built-in support for background and header images. WordPress themes that support custom headers define a header area displaying an image. Header images improve the look and feel of the site. They can provide insight into the blog contents as well.

Custom headers are not the same as background images which allow you to upload a custom background image to your WordPress website. There are two ways to add random headers to your WordPress.

1) Add random header images with WordPress Theme Customizer

Here is the step-by-step procedure to add a random header image using WordPress Theme Customizer (recommended for most WordPress users):

  1. Login to the dashboard.
  2. Go to Appearance → Customize. You will see the WordPress Theme Customizer page.

  1. Click on the Header tab. It might have the name ‘Header Image’ or ‘Header Media’ depending on the theme chosen.
  2. If there is any header image already saved, that will be shown, or else it will be blank.
  3. Click on Add image to upload the images you want to use as header images. They will appear under recently uploaded images.

  1. Click on the button Randomize uploaded header to enable random images to be displayed on the web page. The button is under the recently uploaded images.
  2.  Save your changes.
  3. Go to your website. You will see one of the header images you uploaded. If you refresh of the page, the header image will change randomly.

2) Add Custom Header Images on Select Pages Using Plugin

WordPress offers plugins to add headers to the website. Headers can be added to blog posts, categories, archives etc. Plugins offer more control and flexibility to display headers in different pages or blog sections.

Steps to add headers to a page using the WP Display Header plugin:

  1. Download WP Display Header.
  2. Unzip the folder into the /app/plugins/ directory.
  3. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in the dashboard.
  4. Create/Edit a post.
  5. A meta box named Header is displayed in the editing page.

  1. Select a header image from the images displayed.
  2. Check Random option for a random header image to be selected and displayed.
  3. You can add more header images too. Click on Header tab in Appearance → Customize .

Then, click on the Add New Image button to add more header images. These images will be added to other header images and get displayed randomly on the web page.

You can also change header for categories and tag archives:

  1. Login to the dashboard.
  2. Go to Posts->Categories
  3.  Click on Edit to edit a category.

  1. A Header section will be seen on the category edit screen.

  1. Select a particular header image from the ones displayed or select the option Random to show different header images on each page. If you select the option None, no header image will be displayed on the page.
  2. Click on Update to save the changes.

If you have any questions or need help, you can always contact HostPapa Support by opening a support ticket. You can find the details about how to open a support ticket here.

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