Add photos and videos to your petition
The petition text is written in a real editor, not a plain box. You can place photos and videos inside the text, add links, make lists and emphasise the words that matter. Many petition platforms let you add only a single image and no video.
What the editor can do
The toolbar above the Petition text field holds the tools you need and nothing you do not:
- Insert an image, anywhere in the text.
- Insert a video by its web address.
- Bold, italic and underline.
- Links, added or removed.
- Bulleted and numbered lists.
- Left, center and right alignment, and paste as plain text so a copied paragraph does not drag another site's formatting along.
On a phone the toolbar is shorter: image, video, bold, italic, underline and the two list types.
How to add a photo
- Put the cursor where the photo should go in the Petition text field.
- Press the image button in the toolbar. The dialog opens on its upload tab.
- Choose a file from your computer or phone.
JPEG, PNG, GIF and WebP files are accepted, up to 10 MB each. A large photo is scaled down to at most 1600 by 2000 pixels and saved as WebP, so the petition page stays fast. Photos taken with a phone keep the right way up. Every upload is checked automatically against our content guidelines before it is saved.
How to add a video
Press the video button in the toolbar and paste the address of the video. A YouTube video does not load with the page. Visitors first see a short notice that the content is hosted by YouTube and what that means for their data, with a Show the video button. The video loads only after they press it.
A Vimeo embed is turned into a plain link to the video instead.
Who it helps
A photo often says in one glance what a paragraph has to argue. A parents' group fighting a school closure can show the building and the classroom. A residents' association can show the tree that is about to be felled, the crossing without a light, the river after the spill. A campaign that already has press coverage can place the clip right next to the ask. People share what they can see.
Good to know
- Uploaded images are stored on our own storage and served from our own address. They do not disappear because someone else deleted them.
- An image that is only linked from another website is shown as a link, not as a picture.
- The petition text must contain at least 50 characters of visible text. An image on its own does not count.
- You can change the text, photos and videos later: choose Edit in the petition menu.
Questions and answers
Which image formats can I upload?
JPEG, PNG, GIF and WebP, up to 10 MB per image.
Can I use a photo that is on another website?
Only by uploading it. An image linked from another website is shown as a link on the petition page, not as a picture, because the other site can remove or change it at any time.
Does the video start playing by itself?
No. A YouTube video is shown as a box with a "Show the video" button. Nothing is loaded from YouTube until a visitor presses it.
Can I add photos after the petition is published?
Yes. Choose "Edit" in the petition menu and add them to the petition text.
Is an image alone enough for a petition?
No. The petition text needs at least 50 characters of actual words, so a picture cannot replace the text people are signing.