The media section of the WordPress dashboard can often be very confusing for beginners to the world of WordPress. However, it doesn't have to be confusing. Below, you will find all the information you will need to use the media section to manage all your pictures, videos, audio files and other media files. 

When you click on "Media" you will see two tabs under this section:

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/MediaLibrary.png" alt="Media Library" width="265" height="114" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6838" />

The "Library" section holds all the images, videos, audio files and other media files you've uploaded to your WordPress website. The "Add New" section allows you to add a new media file to your site. Of course, you can also add a new media file inside the post editor and the page editor sections of your WordPress website.

<h2>What You will find in the Media Library</h2>

When you go to <strong>Media &gt;&gt; Library</strong>, within your WordPress dashboard, you will find a list of all your media files. 

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/MediaFiles.png" alt="Media Files" width="421" height="449" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6839" />

In this area, you can edit any previously added media file. For example, you can change the size of a picture and other options having to do with one of your media files. If you want to edit a medial file, just click the "edit" link under the file you want to edit. 

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/EditMediaFileLink.png" alt="Edit Media File Link" width="272" height="82" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6840" />

This section will give you plenty of options for editing a current image. You can change the title, add a caption, add an ALT tag (alternative text) and add a description. If you click the "Edit Image" button, you will get even more options.

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/EditImageButton.png" alt="Edit Image Button" width="486" height="219" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6842" />

After clicking the button, you will be able to crop the image, change the dimensions, rotate the image and flip it. The buttons within this section allow you to flip and rotate the image, while the boxes will allow you to change the size of the image. 

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/EditImageOptions.png" alt="Edit Image Options" width="488" height="361" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6841" />

This section will also allow you to find the link to your image. It's found here:

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/ImageLink.png" alt="Image Link" width="292" height="133" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6843" />

Once you're done with any changes, just click the "Update" button.

<h2>Adding a New Media File</h2>

There are multiple ways to add a new media file, but in this post, we are only going to cover adding a new media file from the "Add New" link under Media. 

Start by going to <strong>Media &gt;&gt; Add New</strong>. From here, you can either drag and drop your media file or select it from your computer.

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/AddNewMediaFile.png" alt="Add New Media File" width="387" height="192" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6844" />

After you add your media file, you can use the "Edit" link to change any of the options you want. 

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/AddNewEditLink.png" alt="Add New Edit Link" width="527" height="200" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6845" />

This link will give you the same options discussed in the above section of this post.

Another part of the "Add New" section in the "Media" tab that you should know about is the multi-file uploader. This is the screen you get when you first click the "Add New" link. However, if for some reason, this section isn't allowing you to upload images, you can use the "browser uploader" to add one image at a time. 

Just click the "browser uploader" link found here:

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/BrowserUploader.png" alt="Browser Uploader" width="502" height="100" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6846" />

This will open the "Browser Uploader" section and you can add one file at a time. If you click this by accident or need to switch back to the multi-file uploader, you can do so by clicking this link:

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Multi-FileUploader.png" alt="Multi-File Uploader" width="378" height="206" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6847" />

It's important to know that once you switch to either the browser uploader or the multi-file uploader, the "Add New" link will default to the most recent one of these used. However, you can always switch to the other uploader with the links shows above.

The point behind the two different uploaders is to allow you to continue working when you may have a slow connection or there's an issue with your hosting server. Sometimes, a slower connection makes it hard to upload multiple images or larger files. This is the best time to use the browser uploader and work with just one media file at a time.

Now you know how to use the "Media" section within your WordPress dashboard. Most often, you will use this section to edit images. You can also use it to add new media files, but most of the time, you will do this within the post or page you're working on for your WordPress website. 