NextGEN Gallery: Is It the Best Gallery Plugin?

What is NextGEN Gallery?

NextGEN Gallery is a WordPress plugin that allows users to create and manage image galleries on their WordPress website. It was developed by Imagely and has been downloaded over 30 million times.

With NextGEN Gallery, users can easily upload images, organize them into galleries, and display them on their website using various display options such as thumbnail galleries, image browser galleries, slideshows, and more. The plugin also includes features such as watermarks, image tags and categories, social sharing, and the ability to sell images as digital downloads or prints through integrated e-commerce platforms.

NextGEN Gallery has a user-friendly interface and can be customized with various themes and templates to match the design of the website. It is a popular choice among photographers, artists, and businesses that need to showcase their visual content in an organized and visually appealing way on their WordPress site.

Do You Need an Image Gallery Plugin?

Whether or not you need an image gallery plugin depends on the nature and purpose of your website. Here are some reasons why you might consider using an image gallery plugin:

1. You want to showcase your visual content: If your website has a lot of images, such as a portfolio, a photography or art website, or an online store that sells visual products, an image gallery plugin can help you organize and showcase your content in a visually appealing way.
2. You want to improve user experience: Image galleries can enhance the user experience of your website visitors by allowing them to easily browse and view your images without having to click through individual pages or posts.
3. You want to save time and effort: Manually creating and managing image galleries on your website can be time-consuming and tedious. An image gallery plugin can automate the process and save you a lot of effort.
4. You want to add additional features: Image gallery plugins often come with additional features such as image watermarking, social sharing, and e-commerce functionality that can enhance the functionality of your website.

If you don’t have a lot of visual content on your website or don’t need to showcase your images in a gallery format, then an image gallery plugin might not be necessary. However, if any of the above reasons apply to you, then an image gallery plugin might be a good choice.

NextGEN Gallery Features

NextGEN Gallery is a powerful WordPress plugin that comes with a wide range of features for creating and managing image galleries on your website. Here are some of the key features of NextGEN Gallery:

1. Easy gallery creation: NextGEN Gallery makes it easy to create and manage image galleries on your website. You can upload images in bulk, create galleries, and organize them using folders and tags.
2. Multiple display options: NextGEN Gallery offers a variety of display options, including thumbnail galleries, image browser galleries, slideshows, and more. You can customize the display options to match the design of your website.
3. Customizable themes: NextGEN Gallery comes with several customizable themes that you can use to create a gallery that matches the design of your website.
4. Image editing: NextGEN Gallery has a built-in image editor that allows you to make basic edits to your images, such as cropping and resizing.
5. Watermarking: NextGEN Gallery has a built-in watermarking feature that allows you to add watermarks to your images to protect them from theft.
6. Image tagging and categorization: NextGEN Gallery allows you to tag and categorize your images to make it easier for visitors to find what they are looking for.
7. Social sharing: NextGEN Gallery makes it easy for visitors to share your images on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
8. Image sales: NextGEN Gallery integrates with various e-commerce platforms, such as WooCommerce, to enable you to sell your images as digital downloads or prints.
9. SEO optimization: NextGEN Gallery is optimized for search engines and comes with features like alt text, image titles, and image descriptions to help your images rank higher in search results.
10. Mobile-friendly: NextGEN Gallery is mobile-friendly and optimized for viewing on mobile devices.

Overall, NextGEN Gallery is a versatile image gallery plugin that offers a wide range of features for creating and managing image galleries on your WordPress website.

How to Create Your First NextGEN Gallery

Here are the steps to create your first NextGEN Gallery:

1. Install the plugin: If you haven’t already, you’ll need to install the NextGEN Gallery plugin. You can do this by going to Plugins > Add New in your WordPress dashboard, searching for NextGEN Gallery, and clicking the Install Now button.
2. Create a new gallery: Once you have installed the plugin, go to Gallery > Add Gallery/Images in your WordPress dashboard. Click the Add Gallery button to create a new gallery.
3. Upload images: Next, you will need to upload images to your new gallery. You can either drag and drop images from your computer or select images from your media library.
4. Organize your images: After you have uploaded your images, you can organize them into folders and add tags and descriptions to make it easier for visitors to find what they are looking for.
5. Choose display options: NextGEN Gallery offers a variety of display options for your images. You can choose from thumbnail galleries, image browser galleries, slideshows, and more. You can also customize the display options to match the design of your website.
6. Publish your gallery: Once you have set up your gallery, click the Publish button to make it live on your website. You can then add your gallery to a page or post using the shortcode provided by the plugin.

That’s it! You have successfully created your first NextGEN Gallery. From here, you can continue to add images and create new galleries as needed.

Pricing for NextGEN Gallery Plugin

NextGEN Gallery offers both free and paid versions of the plugin. Here are the pricing options for the paid version:

1. NextGEN Pro: This is the basic paid version of NextGEN Gallery and costs $99 per year. It includes additional features like social sharing, image commenting, image protection, and e-commerce functionality.
2. NextGEN Plus: This is the premium version of NextGEN Gallery and costs $139 per year. It includes all the features of NextGEN Pro, plus additional features like automatic watermarking, lightbox effects, and custom CSS styling.

Both NextGEN Pro and NextGEN Plus come with a 14-day money-back guarantee.

It’s important to note that the free version of NextGEN Gallery is still a powerful image gallery plugin with a wide range of features, and may be sufficient for many users. However, if you need additional functionality such as e-commerce or advanced watermarking, the paid versions may be worth considering.