Research / Constructs / Images
Local and remote images in five publishing editors
One Markdown fixture, five real publishing editors, tested 2026-08-24. For images the observed result was a manual step in WordPress, Substack, Beehiiv, X, and LinkedIn. Every row below is a rule with its own page and its own dated record.
Matches image_remote, image_local. Fixture markdown-portability-test-v1. Tested 2026-08-24. How these tests are run.
What happens, per destination
| Destination | What happens | Result | Severity | Rule | Confidence | Last tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WordPress | Local images do not upload. | Manual step | Action | WP-IMAGE-01 | Verified | 2026-08-24 |
| Substack | Local images do not upload. | Manual step | Action | SUB-IMAGE-02 | Verified | 2026-08-24 |
| Beehiiv | Local images do not upload. | Manual step | Action | BEE-IMAGE-02 | Verified | 2026-08-24 |
| X | Images do not transfer through a text copy. | Manual step | Action | X-IMAGE-01 | Verified | 2026-08-24 |
| Images do not transfer through a text paste. | Manual step | Action | LI-IMAGE-01 | Verified | 2026-08-24 | |
| WordPress | Remote images are hotlinked, not imported. | Kept | Review | WP-IMAGE-02 | Verified | 2026-08-24 |
| Substack | Remote images are imported and rewritten by Substack. | Kept | Review | SUB-IMAGE-01 | Verified | 2026-08-24 |
| Beehiiv | Remote images import, but alt text is not confirmed. | Kept | Review | BEE-IMAGE-01 | Verified | 2026-08-24 |
Manual steps this creates
- WordPress: Upload each file to the Media Library and re-point the block. (A local relative image became a broken image block in the tested editor.)
- Substack: Upload each local file in the Substack editor. (A local relative image became IMAGE NOT FOUND in the tested paste.)
- Beehiiv: Upload each local file in the Beehiiv editor. (The local path stayed unresolved in the tested paste.)
- X: Attach each image in the composer using the alt text listed below. (Markdown image syntax stayed literal and nothing was uploaded in the tested composer.)
- LinkedIn: Attach each image using the alt text listed below. (Markdown image syntax stayed literal and nothing was uploaded in the tested composer.)
- WordPress: Import the file if you need to control licensing, privacy, or availability. (The tested paste linked the external file rather than creating a Media Library asset.)
- Beehiiv: Re-add alt text in the editor. (The platform imported the file; the test did not verify that alt text survived.)
Limits of what was tested
- Each result describes the surface named beside it, on the date named beside it, and nothing wider.
- A result marked unknown means no dated test covers it. It is not a prediction.
- Rendering is not the same across platform versions, themes, plugins, or email clients.
Prepare a draft
- Check your own draft against all five destinations
- Markdown to WordPress, handoff mode: gutenberg paste
- Markdown to Substack, handoff mode: rich html clipboard
- Markdown to Beehiiv, handoff mode: clean markdown paste
- Markdown to X, handoff mode: plain text
- Markdown to LinkedIn, handoff mode: plain text
Related
- The 8 rules behind this page:
BEE-IMAGE-01,BEE-IMAGE-02,LI-IMAGE-01,SUB-IMAGE-01,SUB-IMAGE-02,WP-IMAGE-01,WP-IMAGE-02,X-IMAGE-01 - Every construct, side by side
- The full five-destination matrix