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Creating a Gallery in WordPress without Plugins
...or use some really good ones that actually work
In this article, Linda shows how to create a simple gallery within WordPress without plugins...but she also points readers to plugins that really work.
Conclusion
Remember, when you're through adding and testing your galleries, that you plug in your ping contacts again and make your site visible to search engines. One other way to avoid over-pinging is to use a plug-in called Max-BlogPress Ping Optimizer. I've used this plugin for a few years now, and it continues to work like a charm. Whenever you use this plugin, you can go back into posts immediately and update or change them without worrying that you're going to "over-ping" a post.
Now, if you want to make a more sophisticated gallery, you can use a number of options. Two options for creating PhotoBlogs include Johannes Jarolim's YAPB (yet another photo blog) plugin or the PhotoQ Photoblog plugin. You also can make your own design following Jarolim's instructions.
You also can browse through WP's "Photoblogs and Galleries," where you can find other choices and examples linked from this page. Another resource includes Enhanced Simple PHP Gallery v2.0, which has been around for a while but that has transitioned from developer to developer.
Finally, a plug-in that I have not tried yet includes the NextGEN Gallery. Why haven't I tried it yet? Because this plugin requires another plugin for it to work. While I don't mind plugins on my own site – because I can keep track of them and their upgrades – I hesitate to use something like this for a client until I can sample it myself. If you follow some of the links from this site for examples, you can see a fairly broad swath of different uses (and some broken links, which worry me).
In all cases, I do not recommend one gallery tool over another, as I don't want you coming back on me to say that I'm an idiot for recommending any one given plugin. Do as I've done, and try out a few options to see what works for you. That's what I did, and I learned that some plugins were great with some templates, and lousy with other templates.
But, in all cases...the WP simple gallery that I just covered above should work in all cases, with a few tweaks here and there.
Linda Goin
Linda Goin carries an A.A. in graphic design, a B.F.A. in visual communications with a minor in business and marketing and an M.A. in American History with a minor in the Reformation. While the latter degree doesn't seem to fit with the first two educational experiences, Linda used her 25-year design expertise on archaeological digs and in the study of material culture. Now she uses her education and experiences in social media experiments.
Accolades for her work include fifteen first-place Colorado Press Association awards, numerous fine art and graphic design awards, and interviews about content development with The Wall St. Journal, Chicago Tribune, Psychology Today, and L.A. Times.