The NextGEN Gallery plugin adds powerful image gallery functionality to WordPress. Users may upload images to be shown (via slideshow or thumbnail images) in a gallery which may be placed on any page or post. It also allows the creation of Albums which are made of multiple Galleries.
How to create a new Gallery and Add Images:
- Go to the Gallery tab and choose Add Gallery / Images
- If you would like to create a new Gallery you can type in the name here and press the Add Gallery button
- Using the other three tabs (Upload a Zip-file, Import Image Folder, and Upload Images) you can select images from the server or your computer and upload them to the Gallery of your choice.
- Most of the time you’ll be using the Upload Images tab. To add new images to a gallery choose the Browse button and select the image(s) you’d like to add.
- Once you’ve selected your images make sure to Choose gallery in which these images will be placed.
- Press the Upload images button and wait for them to upload. If you get an error message you may have to upload smaller images (try to keep them under 1000px by 1000px) and/or upload fewer images at a time.
Managing Gallery Images:
- Go to the Gallery tab and choose Manage Gallery
- Select the gallery you’d like to edit (you may also delete galleries from this screen if they are no longer needed)
- From this screen you may edit the Alt & Title Text / Description. Most uses of the Gallery will show the Description that is typed in this box, so be sure to enter some text about the image here whenever possible.
- Tags may also be entered to help categorize images. However the Tag functionality for NextGEN Gallery is still very rudimentary.
- By checking the Exclude box on the right of each image you may hide certain images from the gallery. They will still be accessible in the admin area and you can always un-check them at a later time to make them public again.
- Use the Sort Gallery button to drag and drop images in the order that you would prefer them to show up.
- Be sure to press the Save Changes button after making any changes to the gallery page.
Adding Galleries to Posts & Pages
- From the edit screen of any post or page you will see the Add NextGEN Gallery icon to the right of the edit bar. Clicking this icon will open up the NextGEN Gallery pop-up window.
- Choose the Gallery you’d like to add from the drop-down list.
- Show as: Image list (a standard list of thumbnail images which may be expanded when clicked), Slideshow (a flash slideshow of the image gallery) Imagebrowser (A single image browser with next/previous links. Only use this option if the gallery is the ONLY thing shown on this page)
- When you press the Insert button the code to insert a gallery will be added to your Post/Page wherever your cursor was placed. Make sure to move this to either the top or the bottom of your post for best results.
- Be sure to Update your Post or Page to save the changes you’ve made.
Albums
An Album is a collection of Galleries
- To manage Albums go to the Gallery menu in the admin area and select Album
- From this screen you can Select album or Add new album
- Once you have selected an Album from the list you will be able to drag and drop all of your Galleries which automatically show up in the right column. Simple drag them over to the Album column (left side) and click the Update button. These Galleries are now part of your Album.
- Most of the time your Albums will already be placed on a page. However if you need to insert them into a page simple click the Add NextGEN Gallery icon to the right of the edit bar on the page or post you’d like to add this Album to. From there you can choose from any Albums which have been created and insert either the Extended version (thumbnail of gallery with title and description) or Compact version (just a thumbnail of the gallery).