Preview your links when shared
Master link previews—what Open Graph and oEmbed are, which apps use which, how Slack, LinkedIn, and WordPress differ, how to choose images and copy, and how to debug stale cards—then use Page SEO and photo detail docs for the field controls.
What a link preview is
A link preview is the title, short text, and image another product shows when someone pastes or embeds a public URL from your site. You are not posting into that product yourself—the URL carries enough metadata for them to build a card or embed.
Open Graph vs oEmbed
| Open Graph (OG) | oEmbed | |
|---|---|---|
| Job | Metadata tags on your page that apps read to build a card | An API response that lets a host render a richer embed of your URL |
| Typical consumers | Slack, iMessage, LinkedIn, Facebook, many chat and social paste flows | WordPress, Notion, Discourse, and other “paste URL → embed” editors |
| You influence | Meta title, description, OG / featured image | Same public URL quality; the host chooses embed chrome |
ArtInStack exposes both for eligible public pages, photos, and posts. You do not install a plugin.
Which services lean on which mechanism
| Experience | Mechanism people usually feel |
|---|---|
| Slack / iMessage-style paste | OG-style card |
| LinkedIn / Facebook share or debugger | OG-style card (often cached) |
| “Share this link” as a social status | OG card inside that network’s post UI |
| WordPress / Notion / Discourse paste | Often oEmbed (interactive or image-forward embed) |
Exact behavior varies by vendor; the practical rule is: public URL + strong title/description/image.
How the experiences differ
| Context | What success looks like |
|---|---|
| Social post that includes your URL | Card matches the story you meant to tell; people click through to your site |
| Slack / iMessage share | Readable title + one clear image in a narrow card |
| WordPress (or similar) embed | A stable embed of the photo or post, not a broken placeholder |
Choosing an effective preview image
- One subject, readable at small size—avoid dense contact sheets.
- Match the destination: if the page is a portrait series, do not lead with a logo-only graphic.
- Prefer an explicit OG image (or post featured image) over hoping a random cover appears.
- For photo URLs, the public photograph itself is usually the card—make sure that frame is the one you want quoted elsewhere.
Title and description strategy
- Promise what the page delivers; clickbait that fails on arrival burns trust.
- Lead with the human subject or outcome, not internal filenames.
- Keep titles and descriptions in the length hints the editor shows (~60 / ~160 where applicable).
Why the page being public matters
Drafts, preview links, vault URLs, and unpublished posts do not produce reliable cards. Share the live custom-domain (or public host) URL after publish. Client vault and project links (/p/…) stay text-only on purpose.
Hide from search engines does not turn off chat previews—search visibility and link cards are separate.
Debugging stale or incorrect previews
- Confirm you are testing the published URL on the public host.
- Confirm meta / OG / featured image were saved and published.
- Paste into Slack for a quick check.
- Use Facebook Sharing Debugger or LinkedIn Post Inspector and scrape again—vendors cache aggressively.
- After a rebrand, re-test cornerstone URLs; old images can linger for days.
Photographers: preview image vs destination page
The card is a trailer; the photo or page is the feature. If the preview is a bright detail crop but the landing page is a quiet wide shot with no context, bounce rises. Align subject, caption, and next step (contact, print, series) so the click feels intentional.
Set meta title, description, and images under Pages → Page Settings, Posts → Settings, or your portfolio photo settings. The guides below walk through those screens.