WordPress Gallery Plugins

24 comments on “WordPress Gallery Plugins”

1. [* Shield plugin marked this comment as “0”. Reason: Human SPAM filter found “blog post” in “comment_content” *]
   Hi Angela,

   Thanks for such a useful, informative post – not only for your original post, but for the insightful conversation in the comments.

   I started an expat/travel blog 3 years ago that is really floundering, in large part due to my lack of computer skills. From the beginning, I made the huge mistake of not resizing my images BEFORE uploading to my WP Media Library. I was using Jetpack at the time, and had been using that until this month when I finally disabled the image feature and deleted the plugin altogether. Now I’m in the market for a new paid image gallery plugin. I’m on the fence between Envira Gallery and NextGen, which is what brought me to your site. I actually tried the free version of NextGen a year or two ago but found it far too convoluted. However, our travel site is photo heavy and we now have upwards of 2000 images that are horribly uncategorized in the WP Media Library.

   I’m hoping you might answer a couple questions for me.

   First, if we were to purchase Envira Gallery, we would want to use the “Supersize Lightbox Images” to address the issue we have of our images being poorly rendered on Google Chrome, which most of our readers use. (They appear sharp on Firefox.) I assume this is due to the WP default resizing of images on upload. Do you know if the Supersize LIghtbox Images option would significantly slow down a site? We already have poor load times because we originally uploaded large images. I tried deleting the originals, resizing them to about 250 kb, and re-uploading them, but this led to broken URLs and a ton of 404s. The more I try to fix the problem, the worse I make it!

   Second, if we delete images from our WP Media Library and from old blog posts, then re-add them via either Envira or NextGen, will this also just cause a lot more broken URLs and error codes? We’re really struggling to figure out how to move forward to better manage our photos in folders on the back end, find an attractive, user-friendly photo plugin for displaying our images, and fix the issues (or at least not worsen them) from our old blog post images.

   Third, what’s the best way to discuss possibly hiring you to do some work on our website? We’d love to just hire you outright to overhaul our entire site – new theme, addition of several plugins, etc – but even if you’re available, I’m sure we can’t afford you! If you’re interested in spending just an hour or two to fix some of the bigger issues, please contact me.

   Thanks!

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   • Hi Carrie,

     Can you send me some sample URLs of the problematic images for me to check out? It doesn’t sound right that the images aren’t good quality, and good quality should not require the “super size” plugin.

     I’ll write to you privately about the other questions!

     Thanks,

     Angela

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2. [* Shield plugin marked this comment as “0”. Reason: Human SPAM filter found “/plugins/” in “comment_content” *]
   Thanks for this popular galleries.

   I tried most of them, also I found another nice gallery with a lot of Canvas views – https://wordpress.org/plugins/gallery-album

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   • Thanks, Ben!

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3. Resize on Upload is required for Retina because we use the processor in the resize feature to create the dynamic images required for retina display. We’re considering a simplification of just forcing it for all users, but that’s a tough decision to make for over a million people.

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4. I’m a photographer using NextGen Pro and although I agree with most of your positive comments re. features and custom options I do take issue regarding what’s been said here about Retina optimisation.

   To suggest using larger images is a lame solution in my opinion. If I want to have images of 1024px wide displayed I would have to upload images 2048px wide to maintain quality on retina devices. This will then result in them also being displayed twice the size desired on a non retina screen. They will be significantly larger in file size and cause unnecessary slow down for non retina display.

   I also agree with Greg that “Talk of retina support seems to get quietly closed down, or dismissed with disingenuous excuses. Retina/HiDPI displays aren’t going away. If anything, they are taking over. Someone has to figure this out, and I’d rather it be NextGEN”

   Why don’t Imagely take this seriously? Too complicated? Too expensive? Or just plain complacent? Why not set the benchmark and design a proper solution instead of sweeping it under the carpet. I’m very disappointed with their stance on this.

   Most working photographers wouldn’t want to display their images any larger than 1100px wide, a reasonable size for most non retina displays, tablets, laptops, mobiles etc. Any larger and the temptation for people to steal increases dramatically. Watermarking images is not an answer to this either. The whole point of retina optimisation is to serve the the right image at the right size according to the detected device. Forgive me for saying but your suggestion is lazy and inefficient and shows a lack of understanding regarding photographers needs.

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   • Imagely implemented retina support for thumbnails in 2015 – https://www.imagely.com/retina-support/. The thumbnails in NextGEN Gallery did look horrible on retina devices before this feature was added last year. Other plugins like Envira don’t have retina support per se, but they simply show the full size images in their grid, e.g. they don’t have thubmnail images.

     WordPress added responsive image support in version 4.4 via the img srcset html markup. So for images in the main body content and featured images, WordPress will pick the appropriate image size to serve dynamically. This is highly depending on the image sizes available to choose from via the sizes auto generated by the theme and the four default WP image sizes. More info about srcset here – http://alistapart.com/article/responsive-images-in-practice

     There are some interesting issues regarding image sizes as a whole. We have a push/pull with more media and larger media but not necessarily greater bandwidth to serve that media. So, we have these retina devices where we want to upload 2x images, but not the bandwidth to practically serve those. Image optimization becomes hugely important. It’s this crazy balancing act.

     The issue about stealing is always a problem, even with web optimized images. The advice I got from a professional photographer is to copyright all your images and register them, then use a third-party service to find and charge people for infringements. Photographers are making a pretty nice monthly sum of money charging people for using their images without permission.

     In terms of using srcset in NextGEN Gallery plugin for the full-size images, I imagine it’s a matter of priority. I work with a commercial photographer. On his website, we are loading a LOT of images on each gallery. I sized each image at 1600 x 1200 with JPEG 60 Quality using Photoshop Save for Web feature. I came to this dimension and JPEG compression by doing many tests and viewing the images on my 15″ retina MacBook Pro and my 23″ Apple Cinema Display. I tried larger and smaller images. At the 1600 wide size, I was able to maintain the quality he wanted and didn’t notice any difference if I went to 1800. The site is hosted on WP Engine. With over 42 images loading per gallery, the pages load in 1.28 seconds, because both WP Engine is awesome and NextGEN Gallery does such an amazing job at managing page load for their galleries. What it comes down to then is deciding how large to load those individual images and that’s going to keep evolving as our devices and bandwidth evolve.

     I hope Scott weighs in on the conversation. I appreciate your writing.

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     • Hi Angela, thanks for the reply.

       I agree that it’s a difficult balancing act but still I think serving unnecessarily large images to non retina devices is not the solution. It’s just not smart, eating up bandwidth and slowing everything down regardless.

       Stealing for web use is only one part of the equation, theft by downloading for print is another, and it can’t be stopped or traced. An image at 2048px wide will render a decent size print, part of my business (and most photographers) is selling prints, people can and will steal them at that size.

       Interesting to read your observations regarding the 1600 x 1200 jpegs. Were all the images on his site the same 4;3 aspect ratio then? I’m a landscape photographer and I don’t have a single image at 4;3 unfortunately, they’re all 3;2 or 2:1 or square. 1600px width is still bigger than I want to display but maybe I’ll experiment to see if there’s a compromise.

       I’ve looked at the thumbnail retina option in NextGen but not implemented it as yet. I’m not clear about what it will do to my images if I select the ‘resize after upload’ option? What should images be resized to? Or is this where you set the thumbnail size? It’s really quite vague I think.

       I look forward to hearing from Scott too if he chooses to comment.

       Thanks Again

       Paul

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       • Hi Paul,

         It sounds like there are a couple issues here:

         1 – Stealing of images for which you want to use lower quality in the hopes that they won’t be used for any sort of print reproduction I’m assuming. Web use can definitely be traced and monetized if you wanted to purse that route. Send me a private message, and I can email you slides from the presentation we had at our Meetup group about how to do that.

         2 – Serving up higher res images on Retina devices (presumably not worrying too much about whether they are stolen) and smaller images on other devices will be the future. I think it’s just a matter of time before that is implemented. In the meantime, the thumbnail gallery was the most important thing to use the high pixel density because the thumbnail galleries did look noticeably bad on retina devices. I would test out the large images on some retina devices to see what you think works best. For high quality photographs, I tend to use Photoshop > File > Save for Web JPEG with 60 quality. I would play with between 1600 and 1920 wide images. Since NextGEN handles page load quite well, then the larger images don’t seem to slow down the site.

         3 – The thumbnail option in NextGEN won’t alter your original images, but it will make the thumbnail grid look 2x better! Lol. The thumbnails in NextGEN are dynamically generated. NextGEN is quite amazing actually when it comes to how it handles thumbnail generation.

         4 – I usually don’t use the Resize After Upload option, because I like to control the image quality via the Photoshop > File > Save for Web options. However, if you do use the resize after upload feature, NextGEN has a backup of the original, so you can always go back to the original image if you don’t like the results. You can set the compression quality. Photoshop and Lightroom are going to have much better compression algorithms than NextGEN, so I think the resize after upload is best for people who aren’t savvy with Photoshop or Lightroom.

         I hope this helps a little. If you want to send me a private message via my contact form, I’ll email you my class notes for NextGEN. Web images have become so much more complex. I was just in a discussion group about this. Retina devices, device sizes, etc. are all impacting how we are thinking about images and image needs, and then having to balance that with performance is like balancing a bag of sand. And, the bag of sand is constantly changing size.

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         • Thanks for your reply Angela.

           How are you generating retina thumbnails without using the ‘resize after upload’ ?

           Imagely guide says: To use the new retina feature, turn on “resize on upload” and “backup originals” within Other Options. Then NextGEN will dynamically create your retina thumbnails and display them to viewers using retina devices.

           I’m confused lol

         • I don’t know about the “resize on upload” being mandatory for the retina support of thumbnails. Maybe Scott can chime in.

   • We definitely take it seriously. Every update we make, every feature we release, is 100% based on customer requests.

     The function is already in place, because we have it built for thumbnails. We just need to turn it on for full size images.

     It comes down to customers wanting it, and not just one or two. That feature needs to be one that is a popular request by many customers. Otherwise we’re putting in development time for something very few want.

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5. Hi !
   Based on the speed, performance, ease of use, and over all features the wordpress gallery plugins shared here are very much effective and tonic for the specific work as i see ..
   Mainly this is one of the best sources for wordpress gallery plugins . I thank you author for sharing here such useful plugins . And i would like to share here https://www.gsamdani.com/ , the another best source for various useful and the best plugins overall

   Reply

6. Hey,

   Choosing gallery plugin is not that easy these days…some are free, and some are quite expensive. Driven by the thought that ‘more money=better’ I have been considering NextGen. It’s really awesome, one of the most complete plugins on the market. But Envira is quite OK, too. but browsing further, I’ve come across this one: http://codecanyon.net/item/gocha-focuson-parallax-responsive-gallery/5928028?s_rank=1
   It is in the same price field and it looks quite versatile. Maybe worth trying it out? Demos look great.

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   • Hi Rafal, Yes, that looks very cool. I agree that Envira is very good for simple WordPress galleries, and that is usually my first approach when people need a simple solution. I use NextGEN if the person has to manage many images, because Envira does not have any sort of image management features.

     The plugin you linked to is interesting, but a few things will cause me to pause:

     1 – It only has 111 sales. Not enough to convince me that the plugin developer will continue to support it.

     2 – It hasn’t been updated since last September. I try to look for plugins that have a lot of downloads and recent updates to know it will last and any bugs or security issues will be dealt with swiftly.

     Thanks for reaching out! I always think more things can be done with galleries in the future. You might want to check out the Plus version of NextGEN Gallery. It has a lot of very cool gallery display options.

     ~ Angela

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7. This post is almost a year old, but I just found it today. Thanks for one of the most honest reviews on WP gallery plug-ins I’ve ever seen.

   I want to use NextGEN Gallery but there is no support for retina (HiDPI) displays. Yes, they’ve finally added retina thumbnails, but I’m talking about the full-size images that appear in the lightbox. I don’t think anyone has cracked this one, and it never appears in the wishlist on the NextGEN site. Any talk of retina support seems to get quietly closed down, or dismissed with disingenuous excuses. Retina/HiDPI displays aren’t going away. If anything, they are taking over. Someone has to figure this out, and I’d rather it be NextGEN. But I’ll keep looking for a solution.

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   • Thanks for commenting, Greg. I usually try to keep my posts up to date and write posts that have some longevity, so hopefully much of this still applies.

     Luckily, Erick Danzer, the founder and CEO of Photocrati (owners of NextGEN Gallery) lives in my town, so I reached out to him and Scott Wyden Kivowitz their Community & Blog Wrangler. Here’s what Scott has to say:

     ‘Large images really don’t NEED to be retina as they’re already large, if the person creates large enough images for the front end display. For example, all of my photos are at 2048px at the longest length. That’s quite large for all screen sizes including a 27″ Mac.’

     I would totally agree with Scott. Large images were never the issue with the retina support. It was thumbnails that looked like hell. Now that those have retina support, go ahead and upload your large images at 2048, and you should be fine for retina support. I don’t know of any other gallery plugin that will handle those differently. Let me know your thoughts.

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     • Hey! I would also like to add that I do 2048px because that’s iPad optimized. Not everyone will want or need their images that large. So definitely go with what is best for you.

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8. Thanks for the comparison. I’ve tried some different gallery plugins, and stopped on Gmedia Gallery so far. There are 14 modules overall, and three – with3D feature. You can also play music & videos within plugin. It’s responsive on all devices and SEO-friendly. And it’s FREE. https://wordpress.org/plugins/grand-media/

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   • Hi Jessica,

     Thanks for the feedback. I have looked into Grand Media plugin before. There was something about the interface that made not like it at the time, but I’ll check out the updated version. If it seems like something I wouldn’t mind recommending, I’ll add it to this list. I appreciate your bringing it to my attention again.

     Angela

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9. NextGEN Gallery tends to get a lot of heat within the WordPress developer community. Many times when there’s articles about how “bad” NextGEN Gallery is, there’s no legit facts to back up the comments. Haters will be haters.

   But there’s no doubt that NextGEN Gallery is popular among the community overall. Especially from its users and paid customers.

   Every so often I come across a gem that is so awesome, and so honest, that it is a must share.

   I have no doubt that NextGEN Gallery is not for everyone, but I am 100% positive it’s perfect for its target market, photographers and other imaging professionals who need such an extensive plugin.

   So I want to say thank you for this amazing article, as it is a rare treat to see something so honest put out there.

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   • Hi Scott, I’ve been using NextGEN Gallery since 2008. At the time, there were no other nice gallery plugins to use. It wasn’t very pretty, but I knew CSS, so that didn’t matter as I could make it look anyway I wanted it to.

     When people compare NextGEN to Envira, what they don’t realize is that they are comparing apples to oranges or Mercedes SUV to Kia Rio. If you need high-clearance, four-wheel drive, and the ability to seat 7, you aren’t going to be in the market for a small car. How are you going to fit 7 people in a Kia unless you strap them to the roof rack (which it doesn’t have either)?

     The primary issues with NextGEN are these:

     1 – User interface – lots of options but some options only apply in certain configurations or at certain steps in the process. For example, you can’t practically sort your gallery AFTER it’s been inserted on a page. Technically, yes, you can sort it in the first tab of the lightbox. But it’s impossible to do so because you can’t see much in that space, so it’s supremely frustrating. I’ve had people instead sort their galleries in Manage Galleries, then reinsert the gallery on the page.

     2 – Extensibility/developer friendliness (including shortcodes, templates, hooks) — WooCommerce does this well. The Events Calendar does this pretty okay. You need to look to the leaders in terms of being a friend of developers in WP community rather than proprietary like EventEspresso. It’s two different business models.

     3 – The placeholder image is silly and confusing. I like shortcodes. Not everyone does. But, I think people understand those and can work with them.

     4 – The default galleries are ugly. So, if you’re looking for a gallery plugin, you’ll probably use Envira, because it’s pretty out of the box. What NextGEN is losing in terms of market share is that group of people who can live without robust image management. For photographers who must have the image management too, they are happy to pay the $39 for prettiness and functionality.

     The issue is like Mercedes. Lots of options. Complicated to learn and fix. But, hey, it’s a Mercedes! It seats 7! Shut up and drive!

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     • There’s always room for improvement as no one is perfect. 🙂

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       • What really helped with my griping about NextGEN Gallery 2.x was meeting Erick Danzer, the CEO and Founder of Photocrati, in person. Erick is one of the sweetest most receptive developer I’ve ever met. It made me re-embrace NextGEN and really embrace the Plus version. One thing that people don’t realize is that without a business plan and a profitable product, NO PLUGIN is going to survive. Having a business model for plugins is essential to good plugin development. Everything can’t be free.

         Erick has been attending our local Meetups and even came to my last galleries class. I’d say that it seems your team has really tried in earnest to create a product that photographers love.

         One thing that can be an issue for anyone taking over a popular plugin is backwards compatibility and creating a developer-friendly API of sorts — both for front-end CSS/templating folks like me as well as other plugin developers. I love this talk by @pippinsplugins at LoopConf: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8ncBPdDwVE related to backward compatibility.

         Having friendly faces like yours and Erick’s really makes a difference behind perceptions. With such a hugely popular plugin, there are so many places to go wrong with a major upgrade like you guys did, and it opens you up to all sorts of criticism based on expectations of millions of people. Had you started FRESH with this plugin, there wouldn’t have been those expectations.

         At any rate, I do love NextGEN Gallery. MaxGalleria is the only thing like it, but they are missing a few things. They are also now following me on Twitter. They might be sad I didn’t mention them in this post. Funny that no one picks on them! But, they cost a lot more to get the same functionality; they offer no e-commerce; and, last time I checked, you could not edit the thumbnail crop.

         Better to love NextGEN and work with future development wishlists than complain. 🙂

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