Feast Plugin: Category "Featured Images"

This is a feature of the Feast Plugin

The category "Featured Images" is a common request from developers looking to associate an image with a category. It replicates the "Featured Images" feature that is found on posts.

As of the initial release, this is a non-essential update for food bloggers who don't have a developer on staff to implement the feature.

We expect that by June 2019, we'll have enough testing done to implement this feature in a "recipe index" style setup.

How to enable

Simply navigate the the Feast Plugin Settings page, and check the box:

Once enabled, a field will appear on the "edit categories" page for each category.

Usage

An input field appears on the "edit categories" page, which allows you to specify the URL of an image you've uploaded to your media library:

Developers can then access the featured image using get_term_meta(), and integrate it into a page.

get_term_meta( $term_id , 'feast-category-image-url');

How to remove from database

Simply empty the input field for the category featured image, and save. The field will be cleared from the database.

Will adding a featured image automatically load it on the category page?

No, not without custom coding.

We wouldn't recommend it either. Featured images are generally not intended to be loaded on the page they're applied to - they're used for thumbnails on other pages.

Will adding a featured image automatically load it on the recipe index?

No, not without custom coding.

What's the end-goal of this?

We've had a number of requests for a visual index of categories, but categories don't currently have an easy way to associate a "featured image" with them.

Update: the Feast Plugin's Simple Category Index is out!

The work-around we implemented in Seasoned Pro and Cravings Pro (by creating duplicate pages, assigning a featured image, then using a widget to display a list of pages with their featured image) is too complicated, and will be obsolete within 1-2 years.

The goal is to build a simpler, modern, future-proof way of doing this, which will work across all themes.