One of the quirks of T4 is that the Media Library allows editors to upload files with the same filename in the same Media Library folder. So if there are two images named photo.jpg in the same folder, then either one could be shown on the website as the website won't know which one to show. This is particularly an issue with images of people, as the wrong person's image may display.
The most common cause of this is when files are uploaded using default or generic filenames e.g. image1.jpg, photo.png etc.
When uploading an image to the Media Library, please try to ensure the filename is as unique as possible before you upload it to T4. The filename will form the last part of the URL for the image, so it must be unique.
What is the 'filename'?
The 'filename' is the name of the original file on your computer before you upload it to T4 e.g. south-kensington-campus1.jpg and not what you enter in the Name field in T4 when you add the image to the Media Library.
In the above example, 'V3 Mentor Information Session 070325.png' is the filename and Imperial Global Summer School Mentor Information Session 2025 is the Media item name in T4. As the editor added the date at the end of the filename (070325), this filename is unique.
A few suggestions for filenames
Image of a person
You could use their name followed by the date e.g. janice-smith-170325.jpg or their initials js-170325.jpg
A research-related image
you could include the research subject or the associated lab followed by the date e.g. hydrodynamics-laboratory-wave-tanks-170325.jpg
Academic event image
You could use the subject followed by the date e.g. software-engineering-design-lecture-170325.jpg
You do not have to append the date to the filename, but this is an easy way to mitigate the risk of filename conflicts.
If you need any further advice, please contact your Faculty Web Officer.