Option for inline external images not available w/ 5.3 update

I’m not fully understanding the question here. If you use the normal image block to “insert from URL”, the image is not uploaded to the media library, it is hotlinked to.

And I don’t know what “the option to open the image in its server’s URL” means, exactly.

I’m not fully understanding the question here.

I’m asking for a solution to use external images in my posts, since the WP 5.3 update does not allow me to use images hosted elsewhere without adding them to my site’s WP Media Library. I have a bunch of posts which had a lot of inline images which were hosted in postimages.org -images sent to me by PR agencies, not like hotlinked pics belonging to other sites-; and since the 5.3 update the images not hosted in the Media Library are gone.

If you use the normal image block to “insert from URL”, the image is not uploaded to the media library, it is hotlinked to.

That used to work the way you describe it until the most recent WordPress update (5.3, which happened on 11/12, I believe).

And I don’t know what “the option to open the image in its server’s URL” means, exactly.

Before 5.3, when I inserted an inline image (hosted elsewhere as described above), on the right column under the ‘block’ tab, one of the options allowed for that image to be linked to itself to be seen at the image hosting website. That option does not appear anymore under that tab in WordPress 5.3

I’m basically asking if there is a solution to this problem or is it too soon to ask for a plug-in which will allow me to use images hosted elsewhere without them being automatically added to my wordpress Media Library. Also, I haven’t figured how to have text surround my image, as when I select on the template to have an inline image on the right of the page, the ‘block’ system displays the image on the right side but it does not allow me anymore to have the rest of a paragraph display underneath the inline image.

For further reference, I use Newsmag (from Macho Themes), and it used to work ok before the 5.3 update.

That used to work the way you describe it until the most recent WordPress update (5.3, which happened on 11/12, I believe).

No, that still works in 5.3. Click the + button to add a block, pick the Image block, and the Insert From URL button is right there.

“Inline images” are probably not what you want to be using, as those go inline into paragraphs and don’t flow with the rest of the content properly. What you want is the Image block itself, aligned right or left if you want the text to flow around it. Inline images are for things like emoji or other things that are similar to the character height. Big images should use the image block.

Basically do this: Make an Image Block. Put it above a paragraph block. Then set the image block to align left or align right. This will accomplish your goal. The term “Inline Images” confused people, and they were trying to use it to do what you thought, but it was the wrong thing. It’s still there, but lessened so that people stop trying to use it.

Here’s a video to demonstrate the right way. It’s on an older version of the editor, but it is basically the same process.

What you want is the Image block itself

Ok, yeah, maybe I confused the terms. What I do is what you described of clicking on ‘+’ to add an image block, align right and then insert a URL. The URLs I normally insert for images inside the text body are from postimages.org and remain hosted there. This 5.3 version is automatically adding images to my site’s WordPress Media Library, assigning images a URL with my site’s domain name. I don’t want to fill my Media Library with images used in posts, that’s why I host them on PostImages. Before 5.3 I could insert images whose address remained as a PostImages URL, now it automatically adds it to the Media Library and assigns the blog’s URL. I don’t want my post images in my Media Library. I use a plug-in that allows me to use an external image as the featured image for a post. What I need is for my blog to stop adding the external images in post blocks to the Media Library.

Don’t have an app yet to record video from my screen tho show you, but this is how I do it

Yeah, it doesn’t add them to the media library for that case. Not by default, anyway. I’ll test it a bit, but insert from URL doesn’t add the image to the media library in a basic WordPress install. That isn’t a thing that exists.

Could you test? How did it go?