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Are you ready to display your website’s images in a stunning and beautiful way?

The default WordPress image gallery is very limiting and won’t give you an opportunity to push ahead of the competition when it comes to your site’s visual appeal. That’s why finding a user-friendly solution that will take your site visitors’ image viewing experience to the next level is something you should consider.

In this post, we’ll be reviewing the best WordPress photo gallery plugins in the market, so you can decide which plugin is right for your image gallery needs.

The best WordPress photo gallery plugins compared

1. Envira Gallery – Our number one choice in photo gallery plugins thanks to its friendly interface and seamless integration with WordPress and WooCommerce. Plus, for a premium plugin, it is quite affordable.
2. Modula – A simple and fully responsive solution that renders images perfectly on all size devices. It also comes with the ability to resize images and video content to meet your gallery needs.
3. NextGEN Gallery – One of the most popular photo gallery plugins that comes with tons of gallery options, making it highly customizable. It’s also one of the best for selling photos and comes with eCommerce functionality.
4. Photo Gallery by 10Web – A fully responsive option that comes with many built-in templates for you to choose from and the ability to import/export between WordPress sites.
5. FooGallery – This is the most comprehensive gallery plugin in that it allows website owners to showcase images in a variety of unique ways. It also comes with an interface that’s similar to WordPress, making it simple to use.
6. WP Photo Album Plus – This is a feature-packed gallery plugin that is also very affordable since it is 100% free.

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#1 – Envira Gallery

Envira Gallery is a WordPress photo gallery plugin that not only has an easy to use interface, but is very user-friendly for your site visitors when they want to check out your images.

To use it, you’ll start with one of the beautiful pre-made templates and make the adjustments to your images as you see fit using the drag and drop builder.

With this plugin you can integrate your favorite social media networks and even add share buttons so your images reach a wider audience. Plus, it integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce for displaying all your best products front and center for your customers.

Key features:

• Fully responsive design and mobile-friendly
• Built-in watermark and password protection
• Upload still images and video content (YouTube, Wistia, and Vimeo)
• Organize photos into albums and sort them with tags
• Include deeplinking and pagination to boost SEO
• Both fullscreen and slideshow display options

Pricing: Pricing plans start at $19/year for 1 site and unlimited galleries, image protection, slideshow displays, and standalone galleries. If you want features such as licenses for additional websites, image proofing, eCommerce integration, and video content, you’ll have to invest in a more expensive plan. A free 14-day free trial is available and you can cancel your plan at any time.

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#2 – Modula

Modula seeks to empower creatives of all kinds, including photographers, designers, and artists and arm them with the ability to share their work with all their loyal followers.

Thanks to the drag-to-fit-grid feature, designing your perfect image gallery is a cinch and truly customizable. Plus, you can easily mix still images with video content and resize them to fit perfectly together for the ultimate gallery.

Integrate with social media networks and allow your site visitors to share your images with others. Plus, give your site visitors an easy way to sort through your images and find exactly what they’re looking for. You can also preview your galleries before they go live to make sure they fit your site’s brand and personality.

Key features:

• 12 hover effects for interactive and engaging galleries
• Lightbox gallery that renders on all screen sizes and devices
• Password protection of all images
• Shuffle image option on page load
• 4 image-entry animations – horizontal and vertical slider, rotation, and scale effects
• Custom margin control from thick to thin

Pricing: Pricing plans start at $55 for use on 3 websites. If you want features like priority support, zoom and download extensions, and SEO deeplinking, you’ll need to invest in a higher priced plan. There is a free version of Modula available if you want to give it a whirl with limited features. There is a 14-day free trial on all premium plans.

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#3 – NextGEN Gallery

NextGEN Gallery touts itself as being the most popular gallery plugin ever built for WordPress. Not to mention, it makes managing, proofing, displaying, and selling your photos easy and professional.

For example, you can accept PayPal, Stripe, and checks for your premium images. Plus, you can implement the Automated Print Fulfilment feature and send prints directly to customers without breaking the bank on commissions.

This photo gallery plugin goes beyond creating good-looking image galleries for people to view. It gives you the ability to offer exclusive discounts, sync with Adobe Lightroom collections, deeplink, and even allow image commenting.

Key features:

• Social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn automatically display images and information
• Hover captions like fade and slide up, complete with descriptions
• Image searching capability based on tags you’ve defined for images
• Tons of built-in display types like film, masonry, image browser, tiled, and sidescroll gallery
• Connect price lists to gallery for easy price comparisons
• Automated tax calculations for your global customers

Pricing: Pricing plans start at $79 for a 1 site license. For premium features like free and paid digital downloads, payment acceptance, image proofing, and print fulfillment, you’ll need to invest in the Pro ($139) or Enterprise ($299) plans. There is a generous 30-day money back guarantee too.

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#4 – Photo Gallery by 10Web

Photo Gallery by 10Web is a responsive and mobile-friendly photo gallery plugin that comes with a drag and drop interface and fully customizable theme options for creating engaging photo galleries.

Pick from gallery views such as thumbnail, masonry, slideshow, carousel, and even blog style, and watch your time on site statistics skyrocket.

As an optimized gallery plugin designed for WordPress, you can bet your galleries will be indexed and rank well in search results. Plus, with 4 built-in widget options, you’ll be able to display your photo galleries anywhere you like on your website.

Key features:

• Google Photo Extension for accessing your Google Photos
• Embed YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, or custom videos into your galleries
• Allow site visitors to share on their favorite social media networks
• Create a lightbox and choose from over 15 transitions
• Import and export photos and galleries from one WordPress site to another
• One-click Instagram import and display

Pricing: Pricing plans start at $0 with the free version of Photo Gallery, though the features are limited. Premium plans are priced at $30, $45, and $60 and come with features such as watermarking protection, multiple domain support, gallery widgets, and customizable themes. If you want to invest in all of 10Web’s premium plugins, you can buy the bundle for $100.

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#5 – FooGallery

FooGallery is a Gutenberg ready photo gallery plugin for WordPress that is highly responsive and enhances the user experience the minute someone arrives on your website.

There are plenty of pre-designed templates for you to choose from and comes with custom CSS for developers in need of a little more.

With this plugin, you can use the Gutenberg block, shortcode, or sidebar widget to display images anywhere on your site. You can also add image captions, embed video content into your galleries, enable pagination, and organize images using categories or tags.

Key features:

• Infinite scroll options for images that would otherwise be on multiple pages
• Frontend filtering with advanced and multi-level options
• Drag and drop reordering of images in galleries
• Integration with the native WordPress visual editor for easy addition of gallery to posts and pages
• NextGEN Gallery import tool for those in need of a simpler solution
• Multisite support

Pricing: Pricing plans start at $59/year for use on 1 website. For use on more than one site, you’ll need to have the Professional ($109/year) or Business ($199/year) plans. There is a free version of this plugin available if you’re in need of a simple gallery solution, but you won’t have access to features like video content, filtering, or pagination. In addition, you can use the pro version of this plugin for 7 days before committing.

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#6 – WP Photo Album Plus

WP Photo Album Plus is a free WordPress gallery plugin that does not disappoint when it comes to features. Claiming to be a customizable multimedia content management and display system, this solution will give you everything you need to showcase your best photos without the hefty price tags.

One of its most unique features is the fact that it lets your site visitors rate and comment on photos, which is a great way to boost engagement on your site and let your visitors have a say. Additionally, you maintain complete control over display sizes, upload images from the frontend of your site, and access built-in features like Google Maps, search functions, and a lightbox overlay system.

Key features:

• 20 different widgets that can be added to your website
• Bulk image import functionality
• Configurable email notification system
• Multiple language translations
• Complete link control no matter the image type
• Control over the metadata

Pricing: Pricing for WP Photo Album Plus is completely free to use on your WordPress website.

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Wrapping up

And there you have it! The top photo gallery plugins for WordPress no matter what your photo gallery needs are.

If affordability is your main priority when it comes to choosing a photo gallery plugin, WP Photo Album Plus is going to be your best bet. It has tons of features despite being a free plugin and will give you a great way to highlight your images without the cost of a site license.

When it comes to selling photos on your website, it’s a toss up between Envira Gallery and NextGEN Gallery. Both integrate easily with eCommerce, but NextGEN Gallery comes with built-in online store features like tax calculations and payment acceptance. However, Envira Gallery is significantly more affordable.

Lastly, if a truly engaging and beautiful image gallery is what you’re after, Modula has you covered on all fronts. With animated image entrances, 12 hover effects, and the option to shuffle images every time your site loads, this gallery solution is perfect.

In the end, there really is no going wrong when you choose any one of the above photo gallery plugins for WordPress. They will all render well on small devices, give you the opportunity to create one-of-a-kind galleries, and make displaying beautiful images to all site visitors a great experience.

The WordPress Media Library leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to organization. This can make finding the files you need a chore, and even hurt your site’s user experience (UX). Fortunately, with some handy WordPress plugins and a few best practices, it’s easy to keep your library in order.

In this article, we’ll explain why managing your WordPress Media Library is so important. Then we’ll offer five tips to help you get it under control today. Let’s jump right in!

Why managing your WordPress media files matters

By default, WordPress stores media files in folders that are sorted by the date they were uploaded. Users can then view all of those files in the Media Library:

This system is serviceable for small sites, and those that don’t work with a lot of media. However, if images play a central role on your website (such as on photography sites or multi-author blogs), this simple structure can quickly break down.

The default chronological order applied to images in the library is also not ideal for many users. If you don’t remember when you uploaded a file, finding it is going to be difficult.

There are two other issues to consider when it comes to WordPress media management: file names and image optimization. Most digital cameras and smartphones give files names like “DSC001”. That’s not exactly helpful for locating an image quickly, and it can also hurt your site’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Finally, uploading and using full-size images on your site can slow down page loading speeds. In turn, slow loading times can increase bounce rates and also negatively affect SEO.

5 tips for managing your WordPress site’s media more effectively

Fortunately, it’s possible to tame your Media Library and make the above issues a thing of the past. These five tips will get you off to an excellent start.

1. Organize your media into folders

If you prefer a traditional organizational structure, you can organize your media into folders. Many people find folders easy and familiar to work with, and they provide a clear structure for your media files. Folders can be particularly useful in certain scenarios, such as grouping together all the images from a single blog post or photo shoot.

Fortunately, there are plugins that can add a folder structure to your Media Library. One of the most powerful options is the FileBird Media Library plugin:

This solution enables you to easily drag and drop your images into virtual folders, so your permalink structure remains intact. It also features a useful context menu and powerful search functionality.

2. Add categories or tags to media

Categories and tags enables you to sort and filter images without requiring them to be in specific folders. The primary advantage of tags is that one file can have multiple tags, whereas you can usually only put a file in a single folder. This can make sorting more flexible.

WordPress doesn’t support categories or tags for media by default, but you can add this functionality using plugins. For categories, one of the best options is the aptly-named WP Media Category Management:

Tags can be added using the premium version of the popular Envira Gallery plugin:

Both tools are easy to use and feature-rich, and Envira Gallery also provides an excellent gallery view widget to use on your pages.

3. Periodically clean out your media library

Cleaning out old or unneeded files is a fantastic way to keep your Media Library lean. Fewer files also means it will be easier to locate the ones you need, even if you’re already using categories, tags, or folders to organize them.

How often you clean up your library depends on how many files you upload, and how often those files become obsolete. You might conduct a cleaning weekly, monthly, yearly, or simply on an as-needed basis.

4. Optimize your media files

As we mentioned earlier, page speed is vital for a positive UX and strong SEO. Large, unoptimized image files are a major cause of slow loading times, so it’s smart to optimize the media on your site.

The Smush plugin is one of the best ways to do this:

Smush can optimize up to 50 images in a single click, and can also resize images to specific dimensions, all with minimal loss of quality.

5. Rename your media files

Finally, it’s important to give your files relevant, descriptive names. This not only makes it easier to find files at a glance, it also helps with library searches and SEO. For example, if you have an image of a hotel on the beach, naming it something like “beach-hotel” makes it obvious to both you and search engines what the image is.

The easiest solution is to rename image files before uploading them. However, if you need to go back and fix your existing images, a plugin like Media File Renamer can help:

This tool can automatically rename image files, based on the titles you give them in the WordPress Media Library.

Conclusion

Whether you run a photography site or a busy blog, a large media library can quickly become overwhelming. By default, WordPress doesn’t offer many features for media management. However, getting your library under control is easier than you might think.

These five tips should help you whip your library into a more organized and useful state:

1. Add categories or tags to your media files to make sorting easier, using WP Media Category Management or Envira Gallery.
2. Organize your media into folders to tame a large library, using the FileBird Media Library plugin.
3. Periodically clean out your Media Library to keep things manageable.
4. Optimize your media with the Smush plugin, to improve page loading speed and SEO.
5. Name your files appropriately with Media File Renamer, to make them easier to find and boost SEO.

Related Reading: 6 Best WordPress Photo Gallery Plugins For Your Website.