Sliders, today I want to present several plugins on which these sources can be loaded. Plus, a short description of each plugin, so as not to download a “pig in a poke”. Nobody likes checking once again what the plugin can do and its performance, right? I’ll say right away that all sliders are in plugin format for WordPress, so there shouldn’t be any problems with installation and configuration.
Coin Slider
One of the best, in my opinion, in terms of customization and simultaneous simplicity, but loses to Nivo, which is lower. Allows you to set the image size from the admin panel without delving into the jungle of code. Added by changing the template. There are no previews, which is sad.
Nivo Slider
Truly the king of sliders. To be honest, I don’t really recommend using the WordPress plugin because it hasn’t been updated for a long time, unlike the script. A latest version for WordPress - paid. Well, or as an option - adapt new script to the old plugin shell, but more serious knowledge is needed here. 16 options for changing the image, theme support, previews, excellent and valid layout, rich settings. I have not yet come across a script that would do Nivo.
Content Slider from SlideDeck
Another very fancy slider, but now it’s a content slider. Very rich settings, integration into the post editor, several themes included. It is possible to insert different sliders into each post. There is a Pro version that can do a bunch of other cool things, but the price of $99 per slider really, really confuses me.
Meteor Slides
This candidate is simpler, but he also has his own trick. Firstly, it can be embedded using a shortcode, which is convenient. Secondly, it can create multiple slideshows that can be used in different places. Thirdly, it can be embedded into a sidebar as a widget. And then rotate the pictures. Pretty cool in my opinion. And yes, Russian support is included
Slideshow Gallery
This slider can also work with the WordPress post editor, can also be embedded with a shortcode and has image previews. Localization support using po/mo files. Plus, for large images, a lightbox is supported, that is, the image can be enlarged by clicking.
TN3 Gallery
A good plugin, with image previews, good layout and other goodies. But he has an excellent trait - he supports that on at the moment Quite a rare thing. But there is also a minus, even two, to download you need to register and there is no version for WordPress. Only a script option, but the slider's capabilities are worth a little effort to install.
WordPress Content Slide
What can I say about this plugin? It is small, completely customizable in appearance, and has good settings from the admin panel. And it works.
ISlidex
A very good slider with support for several themes. The authors promise SEO layout, automatic cropping and caching of images, cross-browser compatibility up to IE7 and support for WordPress 3.x. It can also be embedded in a widget, which significantly increases its value.
24.01.2013 — I’ll add one more plugin that I had to deal with. It left the most pleasant impressions, despite the fact that it is paid.
He will be able to show you anything you want. More than 10 output templates included, own API, support mobile devices and a bunch of other goodies. Believe me, this is the best slider today. And it's worth everything 12$ , of course, all subsequent versions are free. Yes, as the developer claims, this plugin is the only one that fully supports IE10, which is installed in Win8.
for your WordPress site? Tired of testing hundreds of plugins trying to find the best one? Great, then you are on the right track. In this article, we will compare the four most popular plugins that allow you to connect sliders in WordPress, noting their speed, ease of use, and other features. The purpose of our testing will be to find best plugin to implement a slider in WordPress.
Many readers of our site quickly grow from the beginner level and move on to theme customization. One of the most popular questions asked by our readers is: what is the best slider for WordPress? In this article we will try to answer this question by comparing popular sliders in terms of performance and quality.
The WordPress Slider Problem
The vast majority of WordPress sliders are too slow. If it's not coded too well, a slider can significantly increase the load time of your pages. Complement this with not the best WordPress hosting, and you can end up with a situation where your server will work like a snail.
Another root of evil with WordPress sliders is ease of use. Most sliders are overloaded with options and come with massive documentation for beginners.
You should also make sure that the slider is responsive. Unfortunately, most sliders are not like that.
Is it really possible to test hundreds of sliders and check all these points? No, and you don't need to do this. We conducted the testing for you, and below you will find out which slider is the best in all respects. Continue reading.
Contenders for the title of the best slider for WordPress
For this article, we have selected four popular plugins recommended by many users that implement sliders in WordPress. Through our research, we found that these plugins are the most used. We decided to run some simple tests to understand how each of them works. The criteria by which we selected plugins: speed, ease of use, availability of features and compatibility.
Speed
Page loading time and speed are an important factor when choosing the right slider for a WordPress site. As noted earlier, a slow website not only disrupts the user experience, but also reduces your performance in search engines. It is for this reason that the speed of the slider is the number one priority in our tests.
As you can see, Soliloquy is the fastest slider of all in our tests. The reason why this is so is that the plugin features optimized code.
The plugin also uses one small attractive trick. It loads your main slide, after which the rest of the slides load asynchronously. This approach is fast not only in tests, but also in real application on the website - your visitors will notice how quickly the slides open.
If you want a website with high performance, then Soliloquy slider is the perfect choice for you.
Ease of use
Creating sliders is not as simple a process as we think. The main task of this section is to find a plugin that even a beginner can handle. That is, users should create sliders quickly and easily.
Soliloquy
We've tested numerous sliders for WordPress, but we haven't found any plugins as simple as Soliloquy. Installing the plugin and creating slides in it are surprisingly simple steps.
Why is it so easy to use? The answer is obvious: it follows basic coding tips and fits perfectly into the native WordPress admin interface. The slider has a simple yet intuitive user interface that allows you to create slides using the standard WordPress media uploader.
The plugin includes simple shortcodes, template tags, a button in the post editor, and a widget that allows you to add your slides to different sections of the website.
SlideDeck
SlideDeck is the second easiest plugin we've found to use. Creating a new slideshow in SlideDeck is amazingly easy, and you can easily add numerous slides. You can also create slideshows by adding content from dynamic resources: Flickr, Vimeo, YouTube.
The plugin has many settings to control the behavior of your slideshow. There is a possibility of live preview. SlideDeck's admin interface is a bit confusing and looks out of place in a WordPress environment. However, it is important to note that from a design point of view, the interface is quite nice.
We think that beginners will be able to create slideshows quickly and easily using SlideDeck.
By default, SlideDeck slides are not responsive, but there is an easy solution: you either need to make them responsive when editing or add ress=1 to your shortcode and the problem will be solved.
Nivo Slider
Creating a slider using Nivo Slider is a simple process. You can select images from media downloader, download different images. You can also change the order of the slides. Through an interface similar to the uploader, you can add captions, links, Alt text to your slides. The plugin has shortcodes and template tags that allow you to add a slider to posts, pages, and templates.
Nivo Slider does not support video or other types of media. The plugin only allows you to create slideshows from images. It comes with a wonderful set of themes that you can use, as well as numerous transition effects. Setting up the plugin, creating slideshows, and adding slides to posts/pages is very easy and quick. However, if parameters and options are important to you, then Nivo is noticeably behind SlideDeck 2 and Soliloquy.
Meteor Slides
When creating a slideshow in Meteor Slides, you need to upload each individual slide individually. This is a huge time waster and many newbies may find it a very confusing step. After installing the plugin, go to the Slides - Add New section. Give the individual slide a title, then click on the Set featured image item to load the next slide.
If you want your slide to link to a page, then enter the URL. Finally, you will need to select the appropriate slideshow from the Slideshows meta box.
You cannot change the order of slides in a slideshow. You cannot add video slides, nor can you set text above the slide. All this greatly reduces the functionality of Meteor Slide. However, it remains useful if you just want to add a slideshow.
Possibilities
If you just want to create a simple slideshow of images, then Nivo Slider and Meteor Slides are suitable options for you.
However, Soliloquy and SlideDeck 2 allow you to do so much more with your slideshows. In terms of features, SlideDeck and Soliloquy are almost next to each other. They both have great features and offer a wide range of controls over the presentation of your slides.
Due to its simplicity, Soliloquy is perfect for beginners who can quickly and easily understand its capabilities and options. Slides in Soliloquy are responsive by default, so users won't need to add additional options to the shortcodes to make the slider responsive.
Slide Deck and Soliloquy support various types content. You can add images, notes, text, and media to your slides. Both plugins allow you to edit individual slides, add advanced information such as captions, overlay text, call to action button.
Price
Another decisive factor that helps users decide on the choice of a slider is its price. In this case, the price is for a license for one site. Meteor Slider is a free plugin, so it is not listed in the table.
As a result of comparing plugins, we can come to the conclusion that the best WP plugin for creating sliders is Soliloquy.
The winner is determined!
Soliloquy is the fastest plugin for creating sliders in WordPress. It adheres to all coding standards, has excellent documentation, is easy to extend for developers, is easy to use, and is also the cheapest.
SlideDeck is second in terms of functionality. In addition, it is slightly slower than Soliloquy.
Finding a good slider for WordPress is not an easy task. The latest data says that there are 690 slider plugins for WordPress. Who has that much time to learn every plugin?
To help you separate the wheat from the chaff, here is a review and rating of the 10 most popular free slideshow plugins selected from this list. These image sliders have been updated fairly recently and have all received feedback from WordPress users.
What slideshow plugin are you using? Tell us in the comments below.
Meta Slider - slider for WordPress
Meta Slider is by far the most popular WordPress slider with over 2 million downloads.
It has four jQuery sliders - Nivo Slider (responsive, 16 transition effects, four themes), Coin Slider (four transition effects), Flex Slider 2 (responsive, two transition effects, carousel mode), Responsive Slides (responsive, fade effect only) .
Creating a new slideshow is easy - add an image, select the slider you want to use, and the plugin will spit out a shortcode that you can add anywhere on your site.
There is also a pro version of this plugin if you want to pay money for additional features.
Easing Slider
With almost 650,000 downloads, Easing Slider Lite– the second most popular slider plugin.
This lightweight plugin allows you to set the size and duration of your slider and includes the ability to make your slideshow interactive. Has two transition effects, a fade effect. As with many other sliders, you must use a shortcode to add your slider to a post or page.
You can only create one slideshow with this plugin, so if you want to have more on your site, you'll have to look elsewhere.
Smooth Slider
Smooth Slider Creates slideshows for content and images with custom backgrounds and spacing between slides that can be placed anywhere on your site.
Plugin features include responsive design and six transition effects. It also supports custom slider, category and latest post sliders, includes template tags, shortcode and widget.
The latest version of this plugin does not always work correctly; when configured, it may disrupt the operation of the site. Judging by the Smooth Slider support page, many users have had problems with this plugin.
WOW Slider
Wow Slider unusual in that to create a slideshow you need to download separate program, WOWSlider master. Once you have selected the images for your slideshow, you can then upload them to the plugin. You will need to copy and paste the shortcode to add the slider anywhere on your site.
The plugin's website includes some pretty comprehensive documentation to help you if you run into any problems.
vSlider Multi Image Slider for WordPress
vSlider allows you to display an unlimited number of image sliders on your site, although how many sliders are “too many”?
You can embed sliders on your site using a shortcode, a custom widget, or using it as a feature in your theme.
The plugin has a helpful FAQ and video tutorial that will explain you how to set up your first slider. If you have any problems, then the forum is also available for you.
SlideDeck 2 Lite Responsive Content Slider
SlideDeck is a popular and versatile plugin that has advanced functionality compared to previous plugins.
This Lite version does not include the entire set of 14 content sources such as Facebook, NexGEN and Gallery that are available in the premium version.
However, the Lite version will allow you to quickly create slideshows from any content, such as images, recordings and videos.
EasyRotator for WordPress – Slider Plugin
EasyRotator promises that users will receive “for their website WordPress beautiful, interactive rotators and photo sliders in seconds,” but it actually requires some setup. First you'll have to install Flash software to create your slides - or rotators - on your PC, which can be annoying. You can then create a new rotator in the page or post editor. You can also use the shortcode to embed a rotator on your site or add a rotator to your theme using the appropriate function.
After all the troubles of installing Flash software, you may find that it won't work when you try to set up the main slider from the post editor. A little research showed that this plugin does not work with Safari/Chrome.
Responsive WordPress Slider – Soliloquy Lite
Soliloquy is one of the most famous sliders, and for good reason - it's easy to install, you don't need to download a Flash program to create and load sliders or mess around with settings. It just works.
Once you've added your images, choose a slider size, speed, and click Publish. After this, you need to copy the resulting shortcode to any page or post where you want to install the slider.
Although this is a Lite version, it still has enough features to give it a try.
Cyclone Slider 2
Cyclone Slider 2 takes sliders back to basics. He offers easy installation, displays a simple image slider and includes features such as delays, sizes, and hover pause.
The plugin supports images, YouTube, Vimeo, custom HTML and featured sliders. You can drag your slides to change their order, the sliders are interactive.
This plugin also has a pro version.
Responsive Slider
Responsive Slider is a very simple slideshow plugin that requires some configuration, but this makes it easy to use.
Adding new slides is a snap and you can place them anywhere on your site with a shortcode or inside your theme using the appropriate feature.
The settings allow you to change the width and height of the slider, add a transition effect, delay, animation duration and automatic start.
This plugin is designed for only one slider, so if you want to install multiple sliders on your site, you will have to use another plugin.
Smart Slider 3
Smart Slider 3 is perhaps the best slider for WordPress. A very powerful plugin that has huge set tools for creating slideshows, which you can use at your discretion, depending on the situation. There is a large database of ready-made sliders, beautiful transition effects. You can create entire landing pages using just sliders, but this is already in the Smart Slider 3 Pro version. But when you encounter this plugin for the first time, you will most likely have difficulties working with it. Since it is very easy to get confused in a large number of tabs with settings.
The most popular and best slider
And there are two winners: Meta Slider And Smart Slider 3.
Meta Slider is not only the most downloaded slider plugin, but it also received the highest rating from users.
It's easy to use, has a good balance of features and functionality - and it's all free.
vSlider Multi Image Slider,SlideDeck 2 Lite And Soliloquy Lite– also great slider plugins if your site is overloaded with images and you want to make a lot of sliders. These three themes are aimed at professionals to attract customers - have more sales - with free products.
If you just want a very simple slider without all the bells and whistles, then the Cyclone Slider 2 is definitely for you. It's a great slider that's easy to customize and not burdened by countless settings and options.
But if later you need a slider with more functionality and the ability to place several sliders on your site, you cannot go past Meta Slider.
A slider with pictures is a very popular and in-demand thing on a huge number sites. The popularity of sliders is that you can show a site visitor several different images on one fixed area of your site without having to scroll the page.
Today there are many options on how to make your own image slider or add a ready-made one. But if we are talking about WordPress, then, of course, the most obvious and easiest way is to use ready-made plugins.
So today we'll look at the 12 best free WordPress plugins for image sliders, to install which you only need a couple of minutes of time and a couple of clicks.
1. SlideDeck 2
Pretty simple adaptive slider, which makes it easy to create slides from almost any content. Able to connect to external content sources such as YouTube, Flickr and Pinterest.
2.EasyRotator
A beautiful, simple image slider with a minimum of settings. You can add a slider to posts, pages, and as a widget in any location.
3.Meta Slider
Surely the most popular free slider for WordPress. Very easy to set up: select pictures from the file library, drag them into the slider area, give titles to each slide and fill in the links and fields for SEO. You can choose from four slideshow types (Flex Slider, Nivo Slider, Responsive Slides, Coin Slider).
4. HG Slider
The plugin adds new slide areas in the WordPress admin area for further filling the slides with pictures. When setting up, a standard interface is used WordPress console, so there will be no difficulties with the setup.
5. Meteor Slides
A handy slider plugin that can be customized by adding a shortcode or widget. Added support for mobile devices for switching slides using touch gestures.
6. Cyclone Slider 2
A simple and convenient slider with an intuitive interface. Uses to show slides custom types records and custom fields. There is also a built-in template system for changing appearance slider and image animation options.
7. Morpheus Responsive 3D Slider
As the name implies, the slider makes extensive use of 3D animation effects when switching pictures. It uses regular CSS and jQuery, so your slider page won't take up a lot of resources. It looks quite impressive, see for yourself.
8. WOW Slider
A fairly advanced slider, albeit free. Its range includes many animation effects when switching pictures, including: Collage, Photo, Domino, Page, Rotate, Blur, Flip, Blast, Fly, Blinds, Squares, Slices, Basic, Fade, Ken Burns, Stack, Stack vertical, Basic linear, Book, Cube, Seven.
9. Huge-IT Slider
Another easy to set up and use image slider plugin. Nothing extra, simple setup by adding shortcodes that can be used on any page or post.
10. Easing Slider
Minimum settings, minimum load on the page, no unnecessary garbage. Here's how to briefly describe this slider. It just works.
11. Smooth Slider
According to the developer, you will need less than 1 minute to add this slider to your site. It can create dynamic slides from ready-made posts and pages with media content, so you don’t even have to upload your images to the library.
12. Promotion Slider
Possesses very flexible settings and allows you to customize a bunch of parameters for each slide. But at the same time, all the settings are collected in one compact menu, so you don’t have to wander through the admin area to add a slider to your site.
Let's choose a suitable slider for WordPress, I'll tell you about the most popular plugins for image slides and content slides.
I will give a description for each plugin so that you don’t get a “pig in a poke”, since no one likes to once again check what the plugin is capable of and its performance.
Coin Slider
In my opinion, one of the best sliders in terms of customization options and simplicity.
Meanwhile, it is second only to Nivo, which is discussed below. Using Coin Slider, you can set the image size from the admin panel, without going deep into the code.
It is added by changing the template, although there are no previews, which is very sad. The quality of the slider for WordPress has been tested in Chrome 3+, Safari 2+, Opera 9+, Firefox 2+ and IE 6-8.
The advantages of the slider include light weight (only 8 Kilobytes), originality of effects, the possibility of absolute customization, and cross-browser compatibility. To work with the plugin, you will need to download Coin Slider v1.0 (this is an archive with styles and plugins) and jQuery.
Nivo Slider
We can safely say that Nivo Slider is the king of sliders. It should be noted that it is not recommended to use this WordPress plugin, since it has not been updated for a long time.
In addition, the latest version of the plugin for WordPress is generally paid, which is especially disappointing.
Nivo Slider is characterized by 16 options for changing the image, support for themes, previews, excellent and valid layout, and rich settings. To date, in my opinion, there is no plugin that can do Nivo Slider.
Content Slider from SlideDeck
Also a very sophisticated slider for WordPress, but in this case it’s a content slider.
Content Slider is characterized by very rich settings, integration into the post editor, and the presence of several themes included.
In addition, there is the ability to add different sliders to each post. Additionally, the developers have released a Pro version, which contains a couple of interesting and useful functions. True, for it you will have to pay 99 dollars, earned with blood and sweat, which not many people will like.
Meteor Slides
Here's a video on how to install and configure this plugin:
To begin with, it should be noted that this slider for WordPress is very simple, although it has its own twist. For example, it can be embedded using a shortcode, which, of course, is very convenient.
Additionally, it can be used to create multiple slideshows that you can use in different places. And, by the way, he is able to integrate a widget into the sidebar, and spin pictures (or banners, read) there, which, in my opinion, is very cool. As additional bonus Russian language support included.
Slideshow Gallery Slider
Slider for WordPress Slideshow Gallery is designed for organizing slideshows, as is clear from the name.
In addition, it is great for organizing banners on the pages of your own blog. So, if you were looking for a slider with which you could organically organize banners on a resource page, then Slideshow Gallery will be for you ideal solution.
At the same time, there is support for localization using po/mo files. As an additional bonus, we can mention lightbox support when viewing large images, which implies the ability to enlarge the image by clicking.
TN3 Gallery Slider
Slider for WordPress TN3 Gallery has the advantages of other sliders, such as image previews, good layout and other goodies mentioned above when describing other plugins.
True, there is one small distinguishing feature, which consists in mobile device support, which today is a very rare thing and which, you see, simply cannot but please.
To be fair, it should be noted that this advantage is compensated by two disadvantages: to download the plugin, you must register and it is not currently a version that supports working with WordPress. There is only a script option available, although the capabilities of TN3 Gallery are worth a little digging into the settings and installation method.
Plugin page
WordPress Content Slide
A slider for WordPress called WordPress Content Slide is designed to organize image sliders on your own resource.
For obvious reasons, such functionality is not necessary for all sites. Although if you look at the search queries of many users, you will find that just such a slider is being searched for quite a lot large number people who need a slider with similar functions, while being easy to control and configure.
About WordPress plugin Content Slide can only be said that it is small, has good settings from the admin panel, and is completely customizable externally according to the user’s wishes. And what really works.
In fact, this is a fairly powerful slider, as can be seen from the settings, which almost anyone can figure out.
Slider ISlidex
The ISlidex slider can be called a pretty good plugin that supports several themes at the same time.
As the developers themselves promise, over time the possibility of SEO layout, automatic cropping and caching of images, and support for WordPress 3.x will be added. and cross-browser compatibility up to IE7.
Additional qualities of ISlidex include the ability to be embedded in a widget, which significantly increases the value of this slider.
Slider RoyalSlider
I would also like to mention such a plugin as RoyalSlider, which I recently came across. After meeting him, I was left with only pleasant impressions and memories, even despite the fact that he was paid.
A slider for WordPress called RoyalSlider can show the user everything he wants.
The plugin comes with more than 10 output templates, support for mobile devices, its own API and many other nice goodies that everyone should familiarize themselves with personally.
In my humble opinion, RoyalSlider is the best slider available today. The cost of this pleasure is only $12, and all subsequent versions will be free for you.
In addition, according to the developers themselves, RoyalSlider is the only plugin today that is able to fully support IE10 installed in Win8.