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A WordPress Video Gallery: Here’s How to Create a Good One

Whether you’re a blogger or an artist, you may be looking for the best way to display videos on your site.

A WordPress video gallery can help you showcase your work in a neat grid, though you might be wondering if it’s the right option for you, or how to get started.

Fortunately, adding a video gallery to WordPress can be quite straightforward. Plus, it can be used for different types of sites, including portfolios and travel blogs.

WordPress video gallery.

In this post, we’ll take a closer look at video galleries and when to use them on your site. Then, we’ll show you how to create a WordPress video gallery. Let’s dive right in!

An overview of WordPress video galleries

Like image galleries, a WordPress video gallery typically takes the form of a grid with thumbnails. It enables you to display all of your content (or at least most of it) on one page:

An example of a site that uses a WordPress video gallery.
Image credit: Tiago Soares

Users can then click on a video thumbnail to play that particular clip. Once they’ve viewed it, they can easily check out another video without having to leave the page.

You could even display some basic information about each video, like the title, location, a basic description, and the date it was filmed. This will make it easier for users to find what they’re looking for, or to decide which videos to watch.

Depending on your preferences, or the tool you want to use, you can upload your own clips to the WordPress video gallery or embed videos from third-party platforms like YouTube. You might even customize your video gallery to provide a more interactive experience. For example, you could enable auto-play or make videos start or stop playing upon scroll.

Now that you know how a WordPress video gallery works, let’s look at some scenarios where it makes sense to use one.

Many artists and freelancers use galleries to display their best work. If you’re a filmmaker, a marketer, or a content creator, a WordPress video gallery enables you to showcase videos you’ve produced for clients:

Seltzer's WordPress video gallery.
Image credit: Seltzer

People who are looking for a video producer may want to have a quick glance at the type of work you produce to see if you’re a good fit for their brand. Then, they can just watch a couple videos and make a decision. If they have to visit several pages to watch your videos, they may feel a little put off by the process.

Therefore, if you have a portfolio site, it makes sense to use a WordPress video gallery. This way, visitors will be able to view your work in one place.

Video galleries can also be a useful feature for travel blogs and tour agencies. For example, you might create a resource with videos about a particular destination:

A WordPress video gallery on the Celebrity Cruises website.
Image credit: Celebrity Cruises

Some users may prefer to watch videos of a place rather than read about it. If you have a dedicated destination or tour page, you can add a WordPress video gallery to it and upload relevant clips.

If you run an NGO or charitable organization, you can also use video galleries to showcase the projects that you’ve worked on. Some users may want to see “proof” of your work before donating or volunteering.

These are just a few examples. You can use a WordPress video gallery for many other purposes, such as creating a resource of how-to videos, recipes, and product demos.

Now, let’s look at how to create a WordPress video gallery. Note that, at the time of writing, this feature is not available in WordPress. Therefore, you’ll need to use a plugin to create a video gallery on your site.

For this tutorial, we’ll be using the Video Gallery plugin. With this tool, you can create custom galleries, embed videos from YouTube and Vimeo, and more. Let’s get started!

Step 1: Install the Video Gallery plugin 🔌

Video Gallery is a free tool, so you can install it directly from your WordPress dashboard. Navigate to Plugins > Add New. Then, type in “video gallery.”

Since the name is quite broad, you’ll want to make sure that you select the right plugin. Look for Video Gallery:

Then, click on Install Now, followed by Activate. Now you can start creating your first video gallery!

Step 2: Choose a theme and add your videos 🎨

Once you’ve installed and activated the plugin, navigate to TS Gallery in your dashboard and select Create Gallery:

Creating a new video gallery.

This will take you to the video gallery builder. Here, you can select a theme for your gallery. For example, you might opt for a grid layout or a parallax effect:

Selecting a theme for the video gallery.

Once you select a theme, you can start adding your videos. Click on the tab that says What is Lorem Ipsum? and replace the placeholder text with your own video title and description:

Adding a new video to your video gallery.

There’s also a field where you can add a link to your YouTube or Vimeo video. Note that the plugin also supports Wistia and MP4:

Editing video titles and descriptions.

If you want to upload a video instead (or select one from the WordPress Media Library), click on the Add Video field:

Uploading your own video to the Video Gallery plugin.

As you can see, you also have the option to add a thumbnail image for your video. When you’re ready, you can hit the Save button at the top of the page.

To add more videos, simply click on the Add Video button and repeat the process. Remember to click on Update to save your changes.

Step 3: Customize your video gallery 👨‍💻

The plugin offers a lot of customization options. To explore these features, click on the Styles tab:

Customizing your WordPress video gallery.

Then, you can select any tab on the right-hand side to see the available settings. For example, under Hover Overlay Option, you get a selection of effects to choose from:

Choosing an overlay option for the video gallery.

Depending on the gallery theme you chose, you might also be able to configure the popups. For instance, your videos may open in a popup when a user selects a thumbnail:

A popup video in a WordPress video gallery.

If you click on the Popup options and Title in Popup tabs, you can change the appearance of these windows:

Configuring the video popup options.

Then, you can customize the icons that appear below the video, including the play and close icons, and the arrows that take you to the next video:

Configuring the play icons for the video gallery.

When you’ve finished making your selections, click on Update. Then, go to the Pagination & Load More tab.

If you want to display all videos on the same page, you can set the Gallery Show Type option to All. However, if you prefer to only display a select number of videos per page, you’ll need to choose between Pagination and Load more:

Customizing the pagination in the WordPress video gallery plugin.

Then, use the scroller to define the number of videos you want to display per page. Finally, if you click on the Style tab, you can customize the appearance of the Load more button (or page numbers if you selected the Pagination option):

Customizing the pagination of the video gallery.

When you’re done, click on Update. That’s it – we’ve covered the main customization settings. However, feel free to experiment with different themes and options before moving on to the final step.

Step 4: Add the shortcode to a page and publish it 📢

Now that you’ve created your WordPress video gallery, it’s time to publish it on your site. To do this, you’ll need to use a shortcode.

Select the Shortcode tab. The plugin gives you two options: one for posts and pages and another for template files.

For this tutorial, we’ll be using the first one. Click on the icon next to the shortcode to copy it to your clipboard.

Then, in the Write question text field, you’ll want to give the video gallery a name. Once you’re done, click on Update.

Getting the shortcode for the WordPress video gallery.

Now, go back to your WordPress dashboard and open the post or page where you want to display your new video gallery. Click on the plus icon (+) to add a new block and select Shortcode.

Then, simply paste in the code you’ve just copied:

Adding the Video Gallery shortcode to a WordPress page.

Finally, save your changes and hit Preview to see your video gallery!

A video gallery can be a useful feature for your site. If you’re a filmmaker, marketer, or creative, you can use these galleries to showcase your best work and get more leads. Meanwhile, if you run a travel blog or tour agency, you can create video galleries for different destinations and encourage visitors to check out your content or services.

👉 To recap, here’s how to create a WordPress video gallery:

  1. Install your video gallery plugin.
  2. Choose a theme and add your videos.
  3. Customize your video gallery.
  4. Add the shortcode to a page and publish it.

Do you have any questions about how to use a WordPress video gallery? Let us know in the comments section below!

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John Hughes
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