Why Do You Need WordPress Galleries for Your Website?

We all are art lovers – even if we create it or just admire it. However, each masterpiece should be displayed in a mesmerizing way. How is that possible? By creating beautiful galleries and showcasing them on your website.

So, if you are an art creator and want to share your vision with the world, this article is specially made for you. Pop your eyes out because we’ll teach you everything you need to know about WordPress galleries. Let’s dive right in!

 

Everything you need to know about WordPress galleries

Here’s the deal. If you’re a photographer, designer, or creative, you need to know how to make art with galleries. Do that, and you’ll increase your website’s conversion rate.

WordPress galleries are a multitude of pictures organized in rows and columns. It will allow you to display more images and videos in less space. Some tools also let you add GIFs to your galleries and make them more animated. How cool is that?!

Indeed, WordPress provides a Gallery block, but it is pretty basic. If you want to be a Michelangelo of galleries, you’ll definitely need a tool to help you customize them. Keep still! There are a big bunch of gallery plugins you can choose from.

Taking advantage of such a tool will give you complete control over your galleries, and you’ll be able to create as many galleries as you want, each with various effects and animations. 

There’s a short tutorial the folks at Colibri prepared on the topic, check it out:

Now, let’s see what types of WordPress galleries are most wanted.

 

Types of WordPress galleries you need on your website

As an artist, you may already be thinking of some stunning galleries that will look fantastic on your website. With some customization, effects, and animations, you will definitely rock!

However, I will show you some of the most popular WordPress galleries. 

 

• WordPress galleries with thumbnails

Everyone knows that thumbnails are reduced-size versions of images or videos. So, this kind of gallery will display thumbnails of your pictures in a bar. Your visitors will be able to open your gallery in a Lightbox and then click on each thumbnail to see the image at its size.

• WordPress gallery with custom grids

This one allows you to have complete control over your image size. You can freely resize your pictures by controlling their heights, widths, and aspect ratio. Awesome, right?

• WordPress masonry gallery

If you want to showcase your pictures without cropping them, this is for you. A masonry gallery is a grid layout that uses an optimal space in order to keep your images in full shape. It is a trendy layout that you should undoubtedly use for your galleries.

• WordPress gallery slider

Let’s have some action! This gallery type will allow you to showcase multiple images in a slideshow so that your visitors can click or swipe through slides. Having a slider on your website will make your galleries more engaging and dynamic. Use it or lose it!

• WordPress multimedia galleries

Having both images and videos in your gallery with amazing animations will colorize your website and help you attract more visitors. Go big and grow fast!

There are a big bunch of gallery plugins intended to help you create these galleries. Here are the most powerful WordPress gallery plugins on the market.

Powerful WordPress gallery plugins

These plugins are created by web developers in order to make your work easier and increase your workflow. Using these tools, you can add fantastic animations, loading effects, thumbnails, transition effects, choose from various grid types, watermark your masterpieces to protect them from image theft, and much more.

Another thing to consider is if you choose WooCommerce as your online store platform, you can customize your Woo product gallery with a few of IconicWP‘s Woo image plugins.

Installing plugins on your WordPress dashboard is pretty easy. With just a few clicks, you’ll be able to benefit from powerful features and start creating your fantastic galleries.

 

If this is new to you, you can follow our straightforward tutorial on installing and activating a free WordPress plugin.

But first, let us help you decide which plugin is best for creating a gallery with your work.

Modula

Not all heroes wear capes, and not all plugins are a good fit for everyone. But Modula surely is. Whether you’re a beginner or a professional, Modula has everything you’d expect from a gallery plugin. It is super easy to use, fully responsive and doesn’t require any coding skills.

Notable features:

• 4 grid types: creative, custom, slider, and masonry;
• Gallery features: image loading effects, thumbnails, hover effects, filterable galleries, animations, and lightbox gallery;
• Organize your galleries in albums;
• Social sharing buttons if your visitors want to share your work;
• Video extension so you can create both image and video galleries;
• Password-protection and watermark to prevent your photos from theft;
• Zoom Extension that allows your website’s visitors to see your work in detail;
• Pagination to showcase your galleries in pages.

 

NextGEN Gallery

This one has been around for a long time and is one of the most used gallery plugins. NExtGEN has been in the industry since 2007 and continues to grow and gain user trust. You know the saying: old, but gold.

Notable features:

• Organize galleries into albums;
• Customize your gallery display, captions, and lightboxes;
• Watermark your images;
• eCommerce integration to sell your pictures;
• Password-protection for your galleries;
• Create and sync photo galleries from Adobe Lightroom.

 

Envira Gallery

This gallery plugin is another solution for creating beautiful galleries. Like Modula, it is pretty easy to use, mobile-friendly, and helps you get your job done professionally. Let’s see why it rocks.

Notable features:

• WordPress templates for customization;
• Video extension;
• Watermark and password-protection;
• Social sharing;
• Image proofing that allows your visitors to pick their favorite pictures;
• Organize your photos with tags;
• Adobe Lightroom integration;
• Split your galleries into multiple pages;
• WooCommerce integration.

How do these gallery plugins work? I’ll show you the essential features that Modula offers to its users.

How to work with Modula, the WordPress gallery plugin

Modula offers you complete control over the look and feel of your galleries without sacrificing speed. With the easy-to-use drag and drop interface, you can customize every aspect of your galleries without touching a single line of code. 

Let’s see how it works!

 

Create a new gallery

Once you have Modula installed and activated, go to your WordPress menu > Modula > Add New.

If you want to differentiate your galleries, I advise you to name them. Then, you can start uploading images and arrange them as you please.

Customize your gallery

Modula is a highly customizable gallery plugin intended to make your work easier and your galleries more visually appealing. The best part about this plugin is that it provides four grid types: creative, custom, columns, and slider.

If you want to open your images in a Lightbox, go to Lightbox & Links. Here you can also add thumbnails to your galleries, a toolbar with buttons, animations, and transition effects. There’s more. You can add caption and description to your images.

Once you’re done with this section, go to Loading effects and choose between scale, rotate, horizontal and vertical slide.

You can also add hover effects to your galleries and customize them.

So far, so good! These are some basic features you can take advantage of using Modula. However, if you upgrade to the premium version, there are more gallery functionalities. One of the most important is to add videos to your gallery. 

Hover over your image and when you see a pencil icon, click on it. Here you can edit your photo and add more customizations. 

 

In the Video URL box, add a Youtube/Vimeo link to embed a video to your gallery. Next, click Save and Save & Close.

Et voilà! This is how you can create a multimedia gallery!

But you can do more. Having the premium version, you can allow your visitors to see your work in detail with the Zoom extension, make your galleries responsive for any devices, watermark your pictures and add a password to protect them from image theft, add social icons, and much more.

 

How you can add galleries to your WordPress website

 

There are two options:

1. You can create your galleries directly with the Gutenberg Block Editor;
2. You can install a gallery plugin, create your galleries, and then post the shortcode into a page/post. 

 

Let’s see what I’m talking about.

1.Use the Gallery block

As I said at the beginning of this article, you can create basic galleries directly from the Editor Block. Go to a page/post, click on the “+” icon, and add the Gallery block.

Then, you can start uploading your images and customize your gallery.

 

2. Add your gallery shortcode

If you opt to create your galleries with a plugin, then you have made the right decision! This way, you will be able to create custom galleries that will make you look like a pro.

Every gallery plugin offers a shortcode for your gallery to post it into a page/post. 

All you have to do is copy the shortcode and paste it wherever you please.

Creating galleries has never been easier!

 

Conclusion

If you have reached the end of the article with me, then I hope you have a better understanding of WordPress galleries and how to create those masterpieces.

Keep in mind that people are more attracted by visual content. As the famous adage goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Visual content can trigger emotions and make people feel visual art as a part of their soul.

So, don’t think about making art. Just get it done!

 

If you liked this article, and you want to learn more about how to design a WordPress website, make sure to subscribe to Colibri’s Youtube channel and follow us on Twitter and Facebook!

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