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Troubleshooting NextGEN Gallery Featured Image Disappearance Issues

15 threads Sep 16, 2025

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Many users of the 'Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery' plugin report a frustrating and recurring problem: their WordPress featured images mysteriously disappear when updating posts or pages. This comprehensive guide explains the likely causes and provides tested solutions to resolve this conflict.

Understanding the Problem

The core issue manifests when a post containing a standard WordPress featured image (selected from the Media Library) is updated while NextGEN Gallery is active. The image disappears from the post, though it may still show as selected in the Media Library. This problem does not occur when NextGEN Gallery is deactivated, pointing to a plugin conflict.

Common Causes Identified by the Community

Based on numerous user reports, the disappearance is frequently linked to these specific scenarios:

  • Theme Conflicts: A well-documented conflict exists with the Astra theme and its setting "Show featured image in the posts lists only, but hide it in the single post view." Toggling this setting often triggers the image deletion. Similar conflicts have been reported with the Avada and Colormag themes.
  • Custom Field Interactions: The issue is confirmed to occur when updating posts that use Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) PRO. Editing an ACF field and updating the post can cause the featured image to be removed if NextGEN is active.
  • General Plugin Interference: Even without specific themes or ACF, the plugin can sometimes interfere with the standard WordPress featured image meta data (_thumbnail_id) during a post update, erroneously deleting it.

Step-by-Step Troubleshooting Guide

Follow these steps to identify and resolve the conflict on your site.

Step 1: Perform a Conflict Test

This is the most critical step to confirm the source of the problem.

  1. Deactivate all plugins except NextGEN Gallery.
  2. Switch your theme to a default WordPress theme like Twenty Twenty-Four.
  3. Create a new test post, set a featured image from the Media Library, and publish it.
  4. Edit and update the post without making any changes. Does the image remain?
  5. If the image stays, reactivate your plugins one-by-one, testing after each activation, until the problem returns. This will identify a conflicting plugin.
  6. If the problem occurs with only NextGEN and a default theme, the conflict is within the plugin itself.

Step 2: Check for Specific Theme Settings (Astra Users)

If you use the Astra theme, navigate to the post editor and look for the Astra settings panel. Locate the option "Show featured image in the posts lists only, but hide it in the single post view." Ensure this setting is consistently either always enabled or always disabled. Avoid toggling it on and off on posts that already have a featured image set.

Step 3: Use the Legacy Image Updater Tool

If you have ever used the "Set NextGEN Featured Image" function in the past, a legacy data issue might be causing problems. Navigate to NextGEN Gallery -> Other Options -> Miscellaneous. Press the "Update legacy page featured images" button. This can sometimes resolve metadata inconsistencies.

Step 4: Roll Back to a Stable Plugin Version

Some users have found that certain versions of NextGEN Gallery are more stable than others. For example, one user reported that version 3.59.5 worked while 3.59.6 caused issues with the "Set NextGEN featured image" function. If you recently updated before the problem started, consider downloading an older version from the WordPress plugin repository to test.

Conclusion and Further Steps

The featured image disappearance bug is a known issue often related to conflicts with specific themes or other plugins like ACF Pro. The troubleshooting steps above resolve the problem for many users.

If none of these solutions work, the conflict may be highly specific to your site's configuration. In these cases, since BugWP.com is an independent resource, we recommend detailing your findings (theme, plugin versions, and steps to replicate) in the plugin's official support forums on WordPress.org. This information is invaluable for helping the 'Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery' team identify and patch these bugs in future updates.

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