Wordpress Thumbnails Outside The Loop

June 23, 2010

Occasionally you’ll need to fetch a posts image outside of the loop.

<?php  
    $thumb = get_post_meta($post->ID,'_thumbnail_id',false);
    $thumb = wp_get_attachment_image_src($thumb[0], false);
    $thumb = $thumb[0];?>
 
   <img src="<?php  echo $thumb; ?>" alt="" />

Combine this with the Timthumb script for control over image size.

Not Recommended, But Available Option

This will output the URL to an image with the size predefined by ‘post-thumbnail’ in your functions file when registering the functionality for post images.

^?View Code PHP

<?php  
    $thumb = get_post_meta($post->ID,'_thumbnail_id',false);
    $thumb = wp_get_attachment_image_src($thumb[0], 'my-custom-size', false);
    $thumb = $thumb[0];
    echo $thumb; ?>

The above code is referencing ‘my-custom-size’, which we can see below as being 405×180. Typically it is not advised to use these predefined sizes as it will overload your uploads directory with additional sizes, and it puts strain on your server when uploading images. Better to use the above method with the Timthumb script to get an exact image size, while making use of image caching.

^?View Code PHP

if ( function_exists( 'add_theme_support' ) ) { // Added in 2.9
	add_theme_support( 'post-thumbnails' );
	set_post_thumbnail_size( 50, 50, true ); // Normal post thumbnails
	add_image_size( 'my-custom-size', 405, 180, true );
}