There are some themes that simply need featured images to look right. The theme I’m using here is one of them. Some of this content wouldn’t show up if there wasn’t a featured image attached to it. I used to not like such themes because I always had trouble finding free stock photos. Well, I don’t know if it was WordPress or Jetpack but thanks to one of them we don’t even have to leave WordPress’s backend to find free stock photos anymore.
It was that way at WordPress.com anyway. But on my own site all I could do was upload my own pics. Once I installed the Jetpack plugin & connected to WordPress.com things changed. Now when I’m trying to set the featured image I have the option to go to my media library, go to Google photos or go to Pexels Free Photos just like at WordPress.com.
What are stock photos? According to one site: Stock photography is the supply of photographs which are often licensed for specific uses. According to another: Stock images are a great resource to get high-quality and cheap photos that you can use in your designs for various purposes. Still another says: A stock photo is an electronic photograph used for creative or business purposes in lieu of hiring a photographer for a given project. According to Pexels own link they’re “free photos”.
It’s not breaking the law in any way/shape/form to use them or WordPress wouldn’t have hooked up with them. If you have your own site & click on appearance > themes you’ll see stock photos in action. I don’t know if they could even make a theme without stock photos. I don’t believe they could make a demo site without them. There’s fake pages, portfolio posts, products in the shop & blog posts. If you’re a newbie you’d edit things & switch their pics & text out with your own.
I’m not a newbie. So I delete all their fake stuff & start from scratch. I also click on media & delete their stock photos. Then when I add something I search for a stock photo that matches the topic I’m writing about. Unless it’s a product/project…then I upload a pic of my own product/project. 😉
