Have you tried creating an image gallery in WordPress just to find that the built-in functionality is lacking some important features? Yes there are several WordPress gallery plugins promising to deliver, but most of them are difficult to use and make your website very slow. Well your search for the best gallery plugin is over. In this article, we will show you how to easily create responsive image galleries in WordPress with Envira Gallery.
Why Envira Gallery is Better?
If you run a photography or portfolio site with a lot of photos, then you already know the troubles that come with creating an image gallery (site speed, lack of organization, browser compatibility, device compatibility, and difficult setup).
When Thomas Griffin, a well-reputed WordPress developer, announced the release of Envira Gallery, we asked for a review copy. Mainly because our clients and users often ask us for recommendations of best ways to create a WordPress gallery.
As soon as we installed the plugin, we realized how easy it was to use. The second thing we noticed was the speed. Unlike other gallery plugins, Envira was extremely fast while still coming packed with features such as responsive design, lightbox and slideshow functionality, custom CSS etc. Not to mention it has other add-ons like protection which helps you protect your images, tags which help you organize all your images, deeplinking, fullscreen, supersize, and more.
Now that we’ve established that Envira is indeed very good, let’s take a look at the process of creating an image gallery with Envira.
Video Tutorial
If you don’t like the video or need more instructions, then continue reading.
Adding a Responsive Image Gallery with Envira Gallery
Since Envira is a paid plugin, the first thing you need to do is purchase Envira Gallery. There are different plans available for different budgets and needs. Once you have purchased the plugin, you need to install and activate it. See our guide on how to install plugins in WordPress.
Upon activation, the plugin will add a new Envira Gallery menu item in your WordPress admin sidebar. To create a new gallery, you need to go to Envira Gallery » Add New.
You can upload photos or images from your computer or select them from your WordPress media Library.
Once you have selected the images, you will be able to see the image thumbnails.
You can rearrange images by simply dragging and dropping them in the order you want to display.
You can also insert image meta data such as title and alt tag by clicking on the pencil icon on each image.
Envira allows you to add HTML in the image title. You can also add a link to any page or website in the Image Hyperlink field.
Once you are satisfied with the metadata, you can click on the Config tab to configure your image gallery settings.
You can choose how you want to display this particular gallery. You can select columns, gallery theme, gallery lightbox theme, etc.
The base plugin only comes with one gallery and lightbox theme. However you can install additional themes which are available addons from the plugin website.
On the Lightbox tab, you can configure settings for the lightbox used to display the full images when they’re clicked.
You can choose title display, arrow display, hide or display lightbox gallery toolbar among other settings.
After setting up your lightbox settings, scroll down to the bottom of the lightbox tab to the thumbnails section.
These thumbnails appear below the lightbox when a user clicks on an image. It allows users to browse the gallery by clicking on a thumbnail image.
Once you are satisfied with your gallery settings, you need to hit the Publish button to make this gallery available.
After publishing, you will be able to see the shortcodes that you can insert into a post, page, or widget to display your gallery.
Adding a Gallery Directly in a Post, Page, or Custom Post Type
Envira allows you to add galleries directly from your Post edit screen. Simply create a new post/page or edit an exiting one. You will notice a new ‘Add Gallery’ button above the post editor.
This will bring up a popup showing the galleries you have created with Envira Gallery. Select the gallery you want to add and then click on Insert button.
You will notice the Envira Gallery shortcode appear in the post editor.
You can now save or publish your post. Visit your website to see your responsive WordPress gallery in action.
Depending on your licensing plan, Envira Gallery also comes with additional addons that you can install to extend the functionality. There are 30 addons available at the time of writing this article.
We hope that this article helped you create responsive image galleries in WordPress with Envira. For questions and feedback you can find us on Twitter or you can leave a comment below.
