Featured and fallback images

Images appear in three places on a POM Events site, and there is one site-wide fallback for events that have none.

Where images are used

Set a featured image on every event

It is the single most visible content decision on an events site. Without one:

• list items fall back to the placeholder, so every event without an image looks the same;
• the subheader renders without a background;
• related cards leave gaps.

The list placeholder

Settings → POM Events → Archive → Events thumbnail placeholder — Image to display when an event does not have a featured image.

Set it. Even on a site where every event should have its own image, an event will eventually be published without one, and a neutral house image is better than an empty circle.

Choose something that works as a generic mark rather than a specific photograph: a logo lockup, a texture, an illustration.

The subheader image

Settings → POM Events → Single event → Header image chooses the source for every event:

Use Custom when the site's events do not have individual photography and a consistent band is better than a mixture. Use Event featured image when they do.

There is no per-event override of this choice.

The featured image in the content

Display featured image before content prints the featured image again, above the content, in the main column.

Consider what it produces alongside the subheader: with both enabled, the same photo appears twice on the page. Sensible combinations:

Choosing images that survive the crops

The same image is cropped to a circle in lists and to a wide band in the subheader:

• keep the subject centred;
• avoid text in the image — it will be cut;
• use one consistent aspect ratio across events, ideally landscape;
• check contrast, because the subheader prints the title and categories over the image;
• upload at the size you publish; nothing is resized or re-shot for you.

The loader image

Settings → POM Events → Archive → Events list loader is a different thing: the image shown while search results load.

Use something small and neutral. A large image here delays the impression of speed rather than improving it.

Verify

1. Publish an event with a featured image and one without.
2. Confirm the second uses the placeholder in lists.
3. Open both events and confirm the subheader behaves as configured.
4. Switch the header image source to Custom and confirm every event uses it.
5. Check both events on a phone, where the crops are tightest.