Impacted plugin
Social, Jetpack
What
When using the Social Image Generator (SIG) to generate share images for a post, every template renders text on top of the chosen template — either the post title (by default) or whatever is entered in the Custom text field of the "Edit template" modal.
There is currently no way to pick a template and have it generate the image without any text layered on top of it. This is limiting in cases where the template's background already speaks for itself (a branded graphic, a featured image, an illustration, etc.) and the post title would only get in the way.
I would like an option in the Social Image Generator template modal to disable the text overlay entirely, so a template can be used as-is.
This was originally reported in this Slack discussion:
https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02QB8GMM/p1778829214437089
How
Preferred: a UI option in the "Edit template" modal
In projects/packages/publicize/_inc/components/unified-modal/edit-template/sidebar.tsx, the Text section currently only exposes a TextControl for the custom text. A toggle (e.g. "Show text on image" / "Hide text") next to it would let users opt out of any text overlay for the current post.
This would need a corresponding setting persisted in SIG post settings (alongside custom_text, template, image_type, font, etc. in Automattic\Jetpack\Publicize\Social_Image_Generator\Post_Settings), and the SIG generator on the WPCOM side would need to honor it.
Alternative: a PHP filter to disable text site-wide
If a per-post UI option is too involved, an alternative would be a PHP filter that site owners / plugin developers could use to disable the text overlay for all generated images (or conditionally, per post).
The most natural place would be inside Post_Settings::get_custom_text() (projects/packages/publicize/src/social-image-generator/class-post-settings.php), which today falls back to get_the_title( $this->post_id ) whenever custom_text is empty. A new filter — something like jetpack_social_image_generator_text or jetpack_social_image_generator_disable_text — would let integrators return an empty value (or false) and have the generator skip the text overlay altogether.
Either approach (ideally both) would make SIG much more flexible for use cases where the template alone is the message.
Impacted plugin
Social, Jetpack
What
When using the Social Image Generator (SIG) to generate share images for a post, every template renders text on top of the chosen template — either the post title (by default) or whatever is entered in the Custom text field of the "Edit template" modal.
There is currently no way to pick a template and have it generate the image without any text layered on top of it. This is limiting in cases where the template's background already speaks for itself (a branded graphic, a featured image, an illustration, etc.) and the post title would only get in the way.
I would like an option in the Social Image Generator template modal to disable the text overlay entirely, so a template can be used as-is.
This was originally reported in this Slack discussion:
https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02QB8GMM/p1778829214437089
How
Preferred: a UI option in the "Edit template" modal
In
projects/packages/publicize/_inc/components/unified-modal/edit-template/sidebar.tsx, the Text section currently only exposes aTextControlfor the custom text. A toggle (e.g. "Show text on image" / "Hide text") next to it would let users opt out of any text overlay for the current post.This would need a corresponding setting persisted in SIG post settings (alongside
custom_text,template,image_type,font, etc. inAutomattic\Jetpack\Publicize\Social_Image_Generator\Post_Settings), and the SIG generator on the WPCOM side would need to honor it.Alternative: a PHP filter to disable text site-wide
If a per-post UI option is too involved, an alternative would be a PHP filter that site owners / plugin developers could use to disable the text overlay for all generated images (or conditionally, per post).
The most natural place would be inside
Post_Settings::get_custom_text()(projects/packages/publicize/src/social-image-generator/class-post-settings.php), which today falls back toget_the_title( $this->post_id )whenevercustom_textis empty. A new filter — something likejetpack_social_image_generator_textorjetpack_social_image_generator_disable_text— would let integrators return an empty value (orfalse) and have the generator skip the text overlay altogether.Either approach (ideally both) would make SIG much more flexible for use cases where the template alone is the message.