For this post, which follows on from my previous blog post “Building My “Boxed” Demo Site – Part 1“, I experimented with a few different gallery and slideshow plugins:
- FooGallery
- GT3 Photo Gallery
- Smart Slider 3
- The Advanced Gallery block from the Kadence Blocks plugin.
FooGallery has been a favourite of mine for some time and, when I started this exercise, I expected to find that it was the plugin I would be most likely to recommend. However, having played with the alternatives listed above, I feel that if you just need a simple gallery, then you may prefer GT3 or Kadence Blocks.
Some Alternative Suggestions
Although I chose to use some of the most recommended plugins for this exercise, I’d suggest that you have a look at a few of the alternatives, look for reviews and have a play with them to see how they work. Some plugins to consider include:
After seeing a recommendation for Meow Gallery in a Facebook group, I gave it a try, along with the Meow Lightbox plugin. I didn’t want to add yet another gallery plugin to the Boxed demo site, so I used it on the gallery page of my Standard demo site instead. The free version of Meow Gallery did not seem to offer as much control, or as many options as the free versions of either FooGallery or GT3 Photo Gallery, but could still be a good choice if you are after something straightforward.
Adding Image Galleries with the FooGallery Plugin
I wanted the homepage of my “Boxed” demo website to consist of a grid of images, each of which was linked to one of the gallery pages that I had created earlier. I used the free FooGallery plugin to make a gallery containing these images, and chose to use a Masonry Image Gallery with the following settings:
- Thumb width = 200
- Masonry Layout = 3 columns
- Gutter Size = Normal
- Thumbnail Link = Custom URL