Since WordPress is one of the most popular blogging platforms it makes sense that there is a need to find the best wordpress photo gallery plugins to use on your site so you don’t have to struggle with HTML coding to get your images to display in a clear and desirable manner. WordPress image gallery plugins are not all created equal and, while one may work to suit your needs for gallery WordPress plugins, a different one may be more suitable if you need a different style, arrangement or availability of effects.
NextGen Gallery
One of the top WordPress plugins for image gallery is NextGen Gallery. It is fully integrated into WordPress and even includes an option to view the images in the form of a Flash slideshow. You can also make custom templates that fit into your sites theme, move photos from one gallery to another or even use this WordPress plugins photo gallery to zip photos for easier downloading. You can also place a watermark on photos to help prevent copyright infringement, which makes this one of the top WordPress gallery plugins.
Cleaner Gallery
Another option to use among the many different gallery plugins is Cleaner Gallery. It gives you absolute control over the different galleries you have organized and keeps everything situated in valid and clean XHTML. Cleaner Gallery is highly configurable in its look and feel which is one of the reasons we like this plugin.
Cincopa Content Gallery
An excellent alternative to the previous photo gallery plugins for WordPress is Cincopa Content Gallery. Many people who host both video and photo galleries use separate plugins for each, but Cincopa is both an image gallery plugin as well as a great WordPress video gallery plugin. You can use the plugin to act as your only plugin to showcase photos, slideshows, videos, music and even playlists that you want to share with your visitors. They can be organized in any manner you choose and it even supports layout manipulation. Another perk is that it supports viewing on the iPhone and other smartphones so visitors aren’t experiencing a lesser viewing experience by not being on a traditional computer.
Lightbox Gallery Plugin
Lightbox Gallery Plugin displays the images in your gallery in the Lightbox view. The metadata for each image is displayed along with each photo and the caption even appears when hovering over the photo with the mouse. It provides a more uniform appearance and follows a stricter layout structure when compared to other WordPress plugins gallery options, however, many users have become familiar with lightbox style layouts which makes this an attractive option from a usability standpoint.
Photoxhibit
If you want to use one of the best WordPress gallery plugins that enables you to have a an image gallery without uploading the images to your web server, you’ll definitely want to look into Photoxhibit. It automatically takes photos that you’ve uploaded to SmugMug, Picasa or Flickr and adds them to your galleries to allow you to arrange and display them in any manner that you choose. You can make your own independent galleries which can each be customized to suit its contents, create and even upload entire albums using a single image and manipulate the photos from within the gallery.
Awsom Pixgallery
If simplicity is more your style, look no further than Awsom Pixgallery as the ideal solution on your search for gallery plugins WordPress has to offer. This plugin is geared more towards artists who want to showcase their portfolios. All you need to do is to upload images to an individual folder located on the server and then put the code that the plugin generates for you on a post or page. It will automatically make its own thumbnails, pages and watermarks within a few seconds to enable you to add something such as a web comic or quick and basic gallery to your page.
Cool Video Gallery
If you do choose to run a WordPress video gallery plugin alongside your image gallery plugin, consider getting Cool Video Gallery to function as your video gallery plugin to showcase the various videos you want your viewers to have access to. They can be managed in multiple galleries. Previews are generated for quick and simple navigation. It supports .mp4, .mov, .mp3 and .flv videos in its current version.
Regardless of what plugin for displaying a gallery of photos or videos you choose to use, there is no harm in trying many different ones out to determine which one suits your site’s design the best and fits into your needs whether it is a free plugin or one that requires a fee to download. While many people may rave about a specific plugin you may discover that it just doesn’t fit into your vision and something simpler does the job without as much hassle.