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How to Show Instagram Photos in a WordPress Post or Page

Instagram launched in 2010 and has become the undisputable image-sharing behemoth, with over 1.2 billion users logging in every month in 2021 and nearly 100 million photos and videos posted every single day.

Adding Instagram images to your WordPress site is a great way of making your posts and pages more engaging – and harnessing the huge wealth of beautiful photos posted on the site every single day.

Whether you’re a food blogger or an eCommerce store, Instagram is amazing at helping you grow your following and boosting your brand. Those benefits can be transferred from the Instagram app to your website through Instagram feeds and blog posts.

WordPress makes it incredibly easy for you to do this. Here’s a quick look at how you can add Instagram to WordPress using both a manual method as well as using plugins.

Getting a unique Instagram photo URL

The first thing you need to do is find the Instagram photo you want to embed on your WordPress site.

If you’re using the Instagram app, find the photo you want to show, tap the vertical ellipsis (…) on the top right, and then tap the Link icon.

You now need to paste it somewhere you can access it on your desktop. Emailing the URL to yourself works. Once you’ve got the email, copy the URL to your clipboard.

Copying an Instagram photo from the app.

If you’re on the Instagram.com website, find the photo you want to embed and click on it. That will open it in a popup modal. Notice how the URL in the browser’s navigation bar changes – that’s the post’s URL – copy it to your clipboard.

Finding an Instagram post's URL.

Adding Instagram posts to the WordPress block editor

The WordPress block editor is the new and improved way of creating posts and pages. Unfortunately, its support for quick Instagram embeds went away when Instagram stopped supporting them. However, there are plugin that fix that for you, such as the free Spotlight plugin.

Embedding the Instagram post you copied earlier is extremely simple.

Find the place you want to embed the Instagram photo or video, hit return to create a new line, and paste the URL you had copied in the previous step.

Adding an Instagram post in the block editor.

WordPress will now automagically add an Instagram block and show the Instagram post. The advantage of the block editor is that it includes an option to control the Instagram embed’s resizing on smaller devices.

Adding Instagram posts to the old ‘classic’ WordPress editor

For those of you who prefer the old classic WordPress editor, here’s how that works. Remember you still need the Spotlight plugin to add the oEmbed functionality.

With your Instagram post URL copied, it’s really simple to add the photos to your posts and pages.

Add a new post or page, or load up one you’ve already published. Find where you want to add the photo and hit return to create an empty line for the photo or video.

Adding an Instagram post in the classic editor.

Paste in the URL and hit return again. WordPress will once again automagically show the Instagram post just like that. The only difference here is that you don’t have the option to resize the post on smaller devices.

Publish or update your page or post and you’re done!

Embedding Instagram posts to WordPress manually

Instagram also gives you the option to embed photos manually. If pasting the URL isn’t working or you want a bit of extra control (you can choose to hide the description), there is an alternative option.

Again you’ll need to find your photo, but to embed you’ll need to use instagram.com – you can’t use the app in this case. As before, navigate to the full-page photo with the unique URL.

Now, instead of copying the URL, click on the ellipsis (…) on the top right and click Embed.

Finding an Instagram post's embed code.

Instagram will now give you embed code that you can copy. If you want to hide the caption, untick the Include caption checkbox before clicking on the Copy embed code button.

You can now embed the photo to any post or page. As before, either add a new post or page, or edit a pre-existing one.

If you’re using the block editor, find where you want to add the photo and add an HTML block. Once you’ve done that, paste the embed code you just copied from Instagram.

Embedding an Instagram post using the embed code in the block editor.

Alternatively, if you’re using the classic editor, switch to the Text editor. Find where you want to add the photo and hit return twice to add space for the photo, then paste the embed code.

Embedding an Instagram post using the embed code in the classic editor.

Since Instagram generates a lot of code, it looks like a lot in the classic Text editor, but switch back to the Visual editor and you’ll see the photo added. If there’s a grey space where you’re expecting to see a photo, don’t worry – the photo will display on the front end of your site.

Publish or update the post or page, and you’ve got an Instagram photo added!

Automatically Creating WordPress Posts from Instagram Media

Adding Instagram photos and videos to WordPress with these approaches is great for posts that only need a few Instagram images, but if you are looking to continually post Instagram images and videos to a WordPress site without doing anything manually, then in true WordPress fashion – there’s a plugin for that.

Intagrate​ is a premium WordPress plugin that is useful for anyone looking to republish their Instagram media on their WordPress site as Posts. Let’s take a quick look at how to get up and running:

  1. Install the plugin
  2. Add an account (you can have multiple accounts connecting to different Instagram accounts, posting in a variety of ways)
  3. Connect your Instagram account
  4. Tweak the settings if needed
  5. Publish the account
Using the WordPress Intagrate plugin.

When you visit your site you will see your Instagram images posted in your blog as posts. From then on, all new Instagram images and videos are posted to your WordPress blog instantly.

An Intagrate plugin example.

The default settings are enough to get you started, but if you want to save your Instagram images and videos to the WordPress media library as they are posted (great for having a backup of your Instagram media), then I recommend enabling the ‘Save Instagram Media to Media Library’ setting.

The plugin can filter images based on hashtags, allowing you to manually moderate images, display videos, and show Instagram posts with multiple media as a slider. It can also import comments from Instagram as WordPress post comments. Take a look at all the ​various features​ available.

That’s it – set it up and let it run, and you’ve got an automatic way of posting Instagram images to your WordPress site.

Adding an Instagram feed to your WordPress site

Creating posts from every Instagram photo and video isn’t for everyone, and that’s where Instagram feeds come in. They’re essentially automatically updated galleries that display your Instagram posts anywhere you want on your website.

Once again, there’s a plugin for that.

Spotlight Instagram Feeds is a free plugin with which you can create and embed Instagram feeds in just a few clicks. Similar to Intagrate, you can connect as many Instagram accounts as you want and create as many Instagram feeds as you need.

Here’s how to get it working for you:

  1. Install the free Spotlight plugin.
  2. Pick a template design that fits your site.
  3. Connect your Instagram account.
  4. Customize the Instagram feed’s design if you want to (including responsiveness).
  5. Embed it on an existing post or page, or create a new one.
Creating an Instagram feed using Spotlight Instagram Feeds.

Now, whenever you post a new photo or video to Instagram, Spotlight will automatically add it to your website. Just sit back and let it keep your website looking as fresh as ever.

If you want to create an Instagram slider, or perhaps filter and moderate the posts displayed in your Instagram feed (based on keywords or hashtags), Spotlight’s premium plans will get the job done for you.

You can also create shoppable Instagram feeds (integrated with WooCommerce) and link in bio pages (integrated with Elementor). With both options, Spotlight’s analytics features (in the Performance plan only) stand out to help you find ways to improve your Instagram strategy over time.

Instagram is a super engaging resource

Instagram is the place for posting photos online, so start making use of it on your WordPress-powered site! This post has shown you everything you need to know to add Instagram photos to your own posts and pages.

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By WinningWP Editorial

Run by Brin Wilson, WinningWP is an award-winning resource for people who use – you guessed it – WordPress. Follow along on Twitter and/or Facebook.
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