If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed.
Are you new to WordPress and Web Development in general? Need someone to walk you through step-by-step and teach you advanced techniques along the way? If so, you might be interested in my WordPress Website Start to Finish series of online courses. You can learn more about what I have to offer here.
Thanks for visiting and enjoy my freely available tutorials!
I’ve had the opportunity to use many different WordPress slideshow plugins through the years and each of them seem to have certain features that they manage and execute very well. That said, each plugin is different and targeted toward a specific task and none of them ever satisfied me completely, but I’ve found one that comes closer than any of the others.
I want to call out right now that this is a paid plugin and that I am only sharing this information because I have purchased it myself and believe in it’s value. Therefore any links in this article that lead to the slideshow plugin are affiliate links which means if any of you end up purchasing this plugin, I can buy my dogs a few more treats:)
Promise: I will never recommend a premium plugin or theme unless I have personally used it and think it’s useful.
This plugin is aptly named Slideshow Plugin. It’s almost too direct of a name in the WordPress plugin world if you ask me, but the author seems to be pretty ingrained in the online marketing community, so I’ll assume she knows her stuff and how she wants her plugin to be found. I’ve made a short video of how to create a simple slideshow and insert it into a WordPress page using a shortcode that the plugin provides. I purposefully did not administer the plugin before making this video in order to show you just how user friendly and straightforward it was to setup a nice looking slideshow in a matter of minutes.
Click Image to Watch Video
There are several more configuration possibilities with this plugin, including adding an audio file to play during individual slideshows you create. Overall I’ve been very happy with the features of this plugin and in my opinion, it was well worth the cost of the developer license that enables me to use it on any client site that needs a slideshow feature. Read more about the WordPress Slideshow Plugin here.
About Adam W. Warner
just purchased a develop license for the slideshow through your link – hope the dogs like the little treat it gets them – thanks for sharing the info.
would really like to see transparency on the slides that are not full width though so I guess I will try and suggest that change to the author for the next update
@ Kirk,
Thanks for buying through my link, I really appreciate it! I would agree on the transparency, and from the research I did previously the owner of the plugin seems keen on adding suggested features. Nice site/business model you’ve got going. I wish you the best.
Oh, and Zoey my Australian Shepard says “thanks for the treat!”
Thanks for the video. I was hoping you might have discovered some more advanced configuration options, but it seems they’re not there. For the price of this plugin I’m very disappointed that you can’t configure its appearance at all. I wanted to be able to remove all the black bars with text but don’t quite have the courage to go delving into the code – I’m sure it would break!
If anyone can recommend a more configurable slideshow plugin, please let me know. Thanks.
Latest… I found this plugin:
http://www.studiograsshopper.ch/dynamic-content-gallery/
It is infinitely more configurable and has lots of CSS options. The only downside is that each image has to be linked to a post or page on your site – in my case this was an advantage, and I can see how it would be for many people. It takes a little longer to get to grips with so wouldn’t replace the slideshow plugin for those who want something simple and are less fussy than me (or my client).
And it doesn’t cost a bean!
This experience has taught me to be wary when buying premium plugins.
Hi Rachel,
I was just looking into the CSS for this plugin in order to post back here and offer guidance in styling….then your next comment came in:)
The reason I posted about this paid plugin, and the reason I was so excited to find it, is exactly because it doesn’t require that each image be attached to a post or page. That’s the beauty of the WordPress community, whether free or paid, you’re likely to find something to fit your exact needs.
I’m happy that Dynamic Content Gallery will work for your needs, and I’m very appreciative of your commenting here:) In the meantime, maybe my next post will be a quick tutorial and examples of how to style the Slideshow Plugin….