Image Generator – AI Featured Image, Thumbnail and Automatic Image Creator for WordPress vs OpenStation

Image Generator is the all-in-one AI image generator and automatic featured image plugin for WordPress. Create eye-catching featured images, post thumbnails, hero banners, and social media images in two clicks — directly inside the Gutenberg block editor, or automatically every time you publish a post or page. Stop wasting hours on stock photo sites. Stop publishing posts with broken thumbnail spots. With Image Generator you can: Generate AI images from a custom prompt using OpenAI GPT Image or DALL·E (your own API key) — right inside the block editor. Auto-generate featured images from reusable image templates whenever a post, page, or custom post type is saved without one. Insert AI-generated images straight into Image and Media & Text blocks while you write. Set a Featured Image with a single click from the new AI Featured Image sidebar panel. Whether you run a blog, news site, magazine, portfolio, affiliate site, online store, or membership platform, this plugin gives every post a polished, SEO-friendly featured image — without the manual work. 🚀 Upgrade to Pro | 📄 Plugin Documentation | 💻 Support Two Powerful Ways to Create Images Inside the block editor (on demand): generate an image while you’re writing and drop it straight into an Image block, a Media & Text block, or set it as the post’s Featured Image. Automatic on publish (hands-off): when a post or page has no featured image, the plugin picks one of your saved templates and renders a custom thumbnail using the post title, your brand colors, fonts, and overlay images. Every generated image, whether AI-created or template-rendered — is saved to the WordPress Media Library with proper alt text, so it works with any theme, page builder, CDN, image-optimization plugin, lazy loader, or SEO plugin. Watch video tutorial on how to use the Image Generator plugin Why Featured Images Matter for SEO and Engagement Higher search rankings: Google rewards visually rich content with better placement in search results and Google Discover. Better click-through rates: posts with attractive thumbnails get noticeably more clicks from search results, archive pages, and category listings. More social shares: Facebook, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, and Pinterest all use the featured image when someone shares your URL. No featured image = no preview = fewer clicks. Pinterest traffic: pin-worthy custom images can drive long-tail referral traffic for years. Brand consistency: reusable templates keep every post on-brand without hiring a designer. Improved Core Web Vitals: properly attached, optimized featured images load predictably and avoid layout shift. Perfect For Bloggers who publish daily and never want to think about featured images again. News sites and magazines that need every article to have a thumbnail. WooCommerce stores that need product placeholder images. Affiliate marketers who want unique hero images for every roundup post. Agencies and freelancers managing multiple client sites. Membership and learning platforms that publish lots of lessons. Anyone who has ever shipped a post with a missing or generic thumbnail. Key Features ✅ AI Image Generation with OpenAI Plug in your OpenAI API key (or define the AIMG_API_KEY constant in wp-config.php) and generate unique images from natural-language prompts “a sunlit forest path in autumn, photorealistic, soft lighting”, without leaving WordPress. ✅ Block Editor (Gutenberg) Integration Adds an “AI Generate” sparkle button to the toolbar of core Image and Media & Text blocks, plus a dedicated AI Featured Image panel in the document sidebar. No setup, no shortcodes, it just shows up. ✅ Two Generation Modes in One Modal A single, unified modal lets editors switch between Templates (fast, on-brand, free) and Custom Prompt (AI-generated, unique). Pick the right tool for each post. ✅ Unlimited Reusable Image Templates Build as many image templates as you want with custom background colors, text colors, dimensions, fonts, and PNG overlays. Each template is rendered server-side using PHP’s GD library, no external dependency. ✅ Automatic Featured Image on Save When a post, page, or custom post type is saved without a featured image, the plugin renders one from a random template using the post title. Hands-off, instant, every time. ✅ Custom Post Type & WooCommerce Support Works with posts, pages, WooCommerce products, and any public custom post type that supports featured images, including LearnDash lessons, BuddyBoss content, Easy Digital Downloads products, and more. ✅ Native WordPress Media Library Every image, AI or template — is sideloaded into the Media Library with attachment ID and alt text. So image optimization plugins (Smush, ShortPixel, Imagify, EWWW), CDNs (Cloudflare, BunnyCDN, KeyCDN), and SEO plugins (Yoast, Rank Math, AIOSEO) all see it as a regular attachment. ✅ REST API for Headless & Custom Workflows Public endpoints (/wp-json/aimg/v1/generate, /wp-json/aimg/v1/templates) with capability checks (edit_posts, upload_files) and nonce protection, perfect for headless WordPress, decoupled frontends, and bulk automation scripts. ✅ Developer-Friendly Filters Swap the AI endpoint, change the model, customize the request body, and hook into the generation pipeline with aimg_generate_endpoint and aimg_generate_request_body filters. ✅ Translation Ready (i18n) Fully translatable via the bundled .pot file, both PHP and editor JavaScript strings are registered with wp_set_script_translations. Compatible with WPML, Polylang, Loco Translate, and TranslatePress. ✅ Lightweight, Fast, and Secure No bloated dependencies. Uses native WordPress components, the GD library (already part of PHP), and the REST API. API keys can be stored outside the database via the AIMG_API_KEY constant. ✅ No Coding Required Simple admin UI under Image Generator in the WordPress dashboard. Build a template, save your settings, you’re done. How It Works Generate from the Block Editor (On Demand) Open any post or page in the Gutenberg editor. Click the ✨ sparkle icon in the toolbar of an Image or Media & Text block or open the AI Featured Image panel in the document sidebar. Choose a tab in the modal: Templates: pick a saved image template. The title text defaults to the current post title. Custom Prompt: describe the image you want and press Generate (or Ctrl + Enter / ⌘ + Enter). The image is generated, added to the Media Library, and inserted into the block or assigned as the featured image automatically. Auto-Generate Featured Images on Publish Write your post or page as normal. Hit Publish or Update. If you already set a featured image, nothing happens. If you didn’t, the plugin picks a random image template and renders a custom thumbnail from the post title — saved to the Media Library and attached as the post thumbnail. Use Cases Daily Bloggers Publish a post, hit Update, and walk away. Your readers and Google get a polished featured image every time, without you ever opening Canva. News and Magazine Sites Generate consistent on-brand thumbnails for breaking news pieces and category archives, no designer in the loop. WooCommerce Stores Auto-generate placeholder product images for new SKUs while real photos are still being shot. Then replace at your own pace. Affiliate Roundups and Listicles Use Custom Prompt mode to generate unique hero images for “Best Standing Desks 2026” style posts that don’t look like every other affiliate site. Agencies and Multi-Site Networks Configure templates once, set them as defaults across all client sites, and stop fielding “why doesn’t this post have an image?” tickets. Headless and Decoupled Sites Use the REST API endpoints to trigger image generation from a Next.js, Astro, or Gatsby frontend, a CLI script, or a CI pipeline. Image Generator vs. Manual Workflows Without Image Generator | With Image Generator Add a featured image to a new post — Without: find a stock photo, download, upload, set as featured. With Image Generator: publish — done. Generate a unique hero image — Without: open Midjourney/ChatGPT, save, upload, insert. With Image Generator: click ✨ in the toolbar, type a prompt, done. Keep thumbnails on-brand across the site — Without: manual design work, every post. With Image Generator: build a template once, reused forever. Generate placeholders for 50 imported posts — Without: tedious manual upload. With Image Generator: bulk-saving triggers auto-generation. Troubleshooting “No API key configured” notice in the editor: add a key under Image Generator → Settings, or define AIMG_API_KEY in wp-config.php. Thumbnails not displaying on the frontend: make sure your theme calls add_theme_support( 'post-thumbnails' ) in functions.php. AI generation fails or times out: check that your server can make outbound HTTPS requests, that PHP’s max_execution_time is at least 60 seconds, and that your OpenAI API key has billing enabled. “The model ‘dall-e-3’ does not exist” (or similar) error: your OpenAI account doesn’t have access to the selected model — DALL·E models are legacy and unavailable to newer accounts. Switch the Image Model to GPT Image 1 under Image Generator → Settings. “No templates available” in the editor modal: create at least one template under Image Generator → Image Templates. Image looks wrong / wrong colors: check your template’s background color, text color, and overlay PNG transparency. Cache plugins showing stale images: clear page, object, and CDN caches after generating new images. Compatibility issues: temporarily disable other plugins to identify conflicts and let us know via the support forum. Best Practices ✅ Build 3–5 well-designed templates so the random fallback always looks on-brand. ✅ Use Custom Prompt mode for hero images and standout posts; use Templates for everyday post thumbnails. ✅ Keep prompts specific — “a sunlit forest path in autumn, photorealistic, soft lighting” beats “forest”. ✅ Define AIMG_API_KEY in wp-config.php rather than storing it in the database. ✅ Pair this plugin with an image optimization plugin (Smush, ShortPixel, Imagify) so generated images load fast. ✅ Set a recognizable brand color and font in your templates so visitors associate the look with your site. Third-Party Assets and Licenses Roboto Font Author: Christian Robertson License: Apache License 2.0 License URI: https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 Source: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Roboto The Roboto font is bundled under the Apache License 2.0. Full license text available at the URI above. AI Image Generation Prompt-based image generation calls a third-party API (OpenAI by default). You are responsible for the API key, usage costs, and compliance with the provider’s terms of service. No prompts or images are sent to any external service unless you explicitly trigger generation from a custom prompt. Template-based generation never leaves your server. Privacy Template-based generation runs entirely on your server. No data is sent to third parties. AI prompt-based generation sends the prompt you type to OpenAI (or your configured endpoint). The plugin does not transmit post content, user data, or visitor information. The plugin does not set cookies, track users, or load any external scripts on the frontend. Support and Feedback Have questions, need help, or want to suggest a feature? We’d love to hear from you! – Plugin Support Forum: https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/artificial-image-generator – Plugin Homepage: https://beautifulplugins.com/plugins/image-generator-pro/ License This plugin is released under the GPLv2 or later. See https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html for details. Thank you for using Image Generator! We’re dedicated to helping you create visually stunning, SEO-optimized posts and pages with ease — powered by AI when you want it, and reliable image templates when you don’t.

wp-admin forgets. OpenStation doesn’t. You know the moment. You’re deep in a post and you need one image from the Media Library. You click over, find it, click back, and everything you had going is gone. Your scroll position, your half-typed thought, the three other things you had queued up in your head. That’s not a bug you hit. That’s the design. wp-admin shows you one screen at a time, and every navigation throws the last one away. It has worked this way since 2003, like a fridge that empties itself every time you close the door. WordPress has rebuilt almost everything else. The editor, the site editor, the patterns, the styles. The admin’s one-screen-at-a-time model is the layer nobody touched. OpenStation touches it. Install it and admin screens become draggable, resizable windows. Edit a post while the Media Library sits open next to it. Drag an image from one window straight into the other. Keep comments open in the corner. Reload the browser and your window layout — open pages, positions, sizes, and window states — comes back where you left it. OpenStation itself is free, GPL, and opt-in per user. One click in the admin bar turns it on for you. One click turns it off. Nobody else on your site sees anything change, and deactivating the plugin restores the classic admin exactly. No Core patches and no lock-in. Optional AI providers may charge for their service. Built and maintained by Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, Jetpack, WooCommerce, and Tumblr. Work on more than one thing at once Admin pages open as windows, including pages added by most other plugins. Drag them, resize them, snap them, tile them, minimize them to a taskbar. The admin menu becomes a dock of icons. Two editors open at once is one click away. Never lose your place Moving between open windows leaves each page in place. Across reloads, OpenStation remembers your open pages, window positions, sizes and states, virtual desktops, and focus. Closing a window with unsaved changes warns you first. A desk you can actually put things on Drop posts, media, and links right onto the wallpaper. Sort them into folders. Trash them to a Trash that actually holds things. The stuff you’re working on this week can just sit out where you can see it. One desktop per job Virtual desktops, the way your operating system does them. One for writing. One for the store. One for comment triage. One for that redesign you keep poking at. Switch between them without closing anything. Find anything with Cmd+K The full WordPress command palette, plus slash commands from your plugins, all under one keystroke. Turn on the optional AI assistant and you can ask it things like “which post had the comment asking for the recipe?” and it searches your own content to answer. (Requires an AI provider configured in Settings → Connectors on WordPress 7.0+. Details under “External services” below.) See how your site fits together The Corkboard is an interactive, zoomable map of how your posts, pages, and products link to each other. Pan around it. Find the orphans. Find the hubs. Running a store? Orders, Products, Coupons, and Customers become browsable folders with stock and sale ribbons. Open a customer to see their lifetime spend and what they buy most. Follow a product to its buyers, or a coupon to who redeemed it. Make it yours Wallpapers, from color presets to animated scenes to your own photo. Live widgets pinned to the desktop: drafts, stats, recent comments, a focus timer. Uploadable desktop themes, including a built-in Legacy theme that brings the old WordPress blue back in one click. And Mio, a soft-body desk companion that drifts across your wallpaper and gets bumped around by your windows. Off by default. You’ll turn it on. For developers Extend OpenStation through documented PHP and JavaScript APIs. Register windows, icons, wallpapers, widgets, commands, and settings tabs through stable openstation_register_* PHP APIs and a typed JavaScript API; customize dock items through documented hooks; add AI tools with the WordPress Abilities API. Copy-paste examples live in the developer docs on GitHub. External services No external service is required for OpenStation’s desktop interface. The optional AI Assistant and two user-initiated enrichment features make the external requests described below. AI Assistant The optional AI Assistant sends data to the AI provider you configure in WordPress’s Settings → Connectors (for example OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google). Generation is routed through WordPress 7.0’s built-in AI Client, which supplies the credentials stored in Connectors. The plugin never handles an API key itself. With no provider configured in Connectors, no external AI requests are made. When the AI Assistant is enabled and a user invokes it (via Cmd+K or the slash-command palette): What is sent: the user’s prompt, the conversation history for the active session, and tool-call metadata. The plugin’s built-in tools (search_posts, search_pages, search_comments) run WordPress’s native keyword search and may include excerpts of the matching posts/pages/comments in tool results, which are then sent back to the provider as part of the agentic loop. When it is sent: on user-initiated AI requests, and (if an administrator enables “Score new comments with AI”) on comment-save hooks for spam analysis. Posts, pages, and taxonomy terms are not sent automatically. Why it is sent: to obtain model completions and tool-call decisions that drive the AI Assistant. Who provides the service: whichever provider you configured in Settings → Connectors. Which provider (and endpoint) receives the data depends entirely on that configuration. Review the chosen provider’s own terms and privacy policy (e.g. OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google). URL shortcut favicons When an authorized user creates a desktop shortcut to an external URL, OpenStation asks that URL for its page HTML and favicon so the shortcut can display the site’s icon. The request is made from your WordPress server and sends the requested URL, the server’s IP address, an OpenStation user-agent string, and normal HTTP request metadata to the operator of that site. This happens only when a user creates the shortcut. The destination site’s terms and privacy policy apply. WordPress.org plugin information When an authorized user opens or refreshes parts of OpenStation’s Plugins window, OpenStation may request public plugin details, update metadata, and review excerpts from WordPress.org. These requests send plugin slugs, the site’s locale, and normal HTTP request metadata to WordPress.org. This information is used only to display and manage plugins. Review the WordPress.org Privacy Policy. OpenStation’s OAuth relay does not contact a service by itself. Third-party plugins that configure the relay may contact their own providers and are responsible for disclosing those services. Credits OpenStation is brought to you by Automattic. The plugin is open source under GPLv2-or-later; contributions are welcome on GitHub. Third-party libraries The plugin bundles the following third-party JavaScript library, loaded on demand only when a feature that needs it is in use: PixiJS (MIT License) — used by the Corkboard window, built-in canvas wallpapers (e.g. the animated WordPress logo), the Mio desk companion, and the Inkfall typing game. PixiJS is loaded from the plugin’s own assets/vendor/ directory; no CDN requests are made. Data files The Inkfall game’s word list (assets/games/inkfall/words.txt) is generated from the following sources (attribution also ships in the file’s header): FrequencyWords by Hermit Dave (CC-BY-SA 4.0) — English word-frequency ranking derived from the OpenSubtitles corpus. english-words by dwyl (Unlicense) — used as a validity filter. LDNOOBW English list (CC-BY 4.0) — used as an exclusion filter.