How to Create an Image Gallery in WordPress
Image gallery in WordPress will be very useful if you plan on creating a website that relies a lot on images. This could be a catalogue for your products or your own image based website or blog. The big question at this point, however, is how do you create the image gallery? There are two methods that you can use for this. Your choice will basically rely on personal preferences.
Create the image gallery without relying on a plugin
WordPress makes it easy for you to upload your images without ever writing a single line of code. The content management system allows you to upload your image by simply clicking on the Add Media icon then uploading your images from your computer. You can then customize how your images are displayed such as grid layouts, columns and so on. If you don’t want to use a plugin, the WordPress gallery feature will help achieve almost anything.
The built-in feature on WordPress is quite basic. It doesn’t have as many options but the available options will be enough to help achieve your gallery goals. To create your image gallery in WordPress, you should start by editing your post or page where you wish the gallery to be. You will find the Add Media on the post edit. Clicking on this button will take you to the media up-loader where you can select the images you wish to upload. Once the images have been uploaded, click on the create gallery link. It is on the left column. You can then add captions, add links and select the number of columns you want as well as the image size. Once you are done editing, click on ‘Insert gallery’. You are done!
Create an image gallery using a plugin
The second option we will look at is that of creating an image gallery in WordPress using a plugin. We will be focusing on the Envira WordPress plugin. This plugin will enable you to create attractive, fully-responsive and contemporary image galleries. The plugin is also fast and avails a wide range of features among them easy image navigation, lightbox popup, drag & drop, professional gallery templates and so on. The features vary from one plugin to another.
The first step is to install Envira or your preferred image gallery plugin. After activating the plugin, go to the Envira settings and enter the license key. Once the license is verified, you can proceed to Envira Gallery >> Add New page. The page is axiomatic. Provide the name of the gallery and select the images from your computer using the ‘Select Files’ button. Uploaded images appear in the images section. From here, you can customize your gallery the way you want. On the Post edit tab of WordPress, you will notice Envira Gallery adds an ‘Add Gallery’ button next to the default ‘Add Media’ button. Click on the ‘Add Gallery’ button to add your customized gallery onto your page.
As you can see, creating an image gallery in WordPress is easy. You just need to learn how the WordPress uploader works or install and use the best plugin you can get your hands on. Never overuse images.