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Troubleshooting Sydney Theme Image and Header Display Issues

21 threads Sep 16, 2025 Theme → Sydney

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Working with the Sydney WordPress theme is generally a smooth experience, but a common area where users encounter challenges is with image and header display. Problems like images being cropped unexpectedly, logos resizing incorrectly, or headers taking up too much space are frequently reported. This guide compiles the most effective solutions from community discussions to help you resolve these visual quirks.

Common Header Image and Sizing Problems

Many users find that their header image is cropped or cut off, especially when using the 'Cover' display option. This happens because the 'Cover' setting is designed to fill the available header area, which may require cropping parts of your image to maintain the aspect ratio across different screen sizes. The recommended size is often 1920x1080 pixels, but the final display depends on your specific header height setting.

Fixing Logo Display and Header Height

A frequent issue is the header bar expanding to an unwanted size after adding a logo. This is often due to the logo's inherent dimensions. The solution is not to change the theme's header height setting, but to modify the logo itself or control its display with CSS.

Solution 1: Optimize Your Logo Image
Before uploading, use an image editor to create a logo with minimal transparent space around the actual design. A more compact image file will prevent the header from stretching to accommodate unnecessary blank areas.

Solution 2: Use Custom CSS
You can directly control the maximum size of your logo within the header, which often resolves excessive header height. Add the following code to Appearance > Customize > Additional CSS:

.site-header .site-logo {
  max-height: 60px;
  width: auto;
}

For a logo that also shrinks when the user scrolls (a sticky header effect), you can use more advanced CSS:

.site-header.float-header .site-logo {
  max-width: 90px;
  transition: all .5s;  
}

Controlling Employee and Content Image Sizes

For consistent employee photo sizes in widgets, the Sydney team suggests using images that are at least 550px by 400px. For all other image sizes used throughout the theme (featured images, post images, etc.), you can discover the exact dimensions by using the Simple Image Sizes plugin. After installing the plugin, navigate to Settings > Media to see a detailed breakdown.

Addressing Image Upload and Video Size Errors

If you encounter errors like "An error occurred while resizing the image" when trying to upload a header image, the problem is likely related to your server's resources, not the theme. You may need to increase the PHP memory limit for your WordPress installation.

Similarly, an 8MB limit on video uploads for header videos is a restriction set by your web host, not the Sydney theme. This limit can typically be increased by modifying your server's PHP configuration (e.g., `upload_max_filesize` and `post_max_size` directives) or by using a plugin to increase the upload limit.

Ensuring Proper Image Aspect Ratios

To prevent the theme from automatically cropping your header image, avoid using the 'Cover' option. Instead, select the 'Contain' option in Sydney -> Customize -> Hero Area -> Header Media. This will display the entire image without cropping, though it may result in letterboxing (empty spaces on the sides or top and bottom).

By understanding these common issues and their solutions, you can take full control over how images and headers are displayed in your Sydney theme. For more specific issues, checking existing threads on the 'Sydney' support forum is highly recommended.

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