When do you need a gallery to be the primary focal point of your website? How about when you’re a photographer or running a charity? What about bands, small businesses, and bloggers? Galleries are a necessity, regardless of your industry, because at some point you’re going to want to share a large collection of photos for users to see.
If you’ve had a chance to implement a gallery on your WordPress website in the past, you know how clunky and unreliable some third party plugins can be. You often end up seeing strange image formatting and slow page load times, simply because of the gallery plugins. That’s why it’s a good idea to select a WordPress theme that’s built just for hosting images in a gallery format.
What Features to Look For In a Gallery Theme
Gallery themes are great for uploading a large collection of photos or videos, because they get shrunk and formatted down into thumbnails, and users can generally click on the links to reveal lightbox media. We also like gallery themes that provide easy navigational tools. For example, if you bring up a lightbox image, it’s nice if you have the ability to use the arrow keys on your keyboard for moving to the next few photos. In addition, some galleries have filters, making them into portfolio-style websites. Responsiveness should also be one of the features to look for.
Who Should Use a Gallery Theme
Overall, the gallery is an ideal option to have on your website, whether you’re an interior designer or hair stylist. People are driven to make decisions based on certain visual elements. When you sell an item through an online store, customers are more likely to pull the trigger if they have a few images of the product to look at. The same goes for services and organizations trying to bring in donations. Images and videos are your friends, so use some of the following themes to organize them into beautiful galleries.
Skywalker
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The Skywalker WordPress theme is a solid choice if you’re looking to find a solution that puts the gallery at the front of your feature set. To start, several widgets are located on the homepage to showcase thumbnail images in gallery format. For example, you can highlight recent posts and portfolio images, all in nicely formatted columns. The mainpage has a beautiful slider, working as its own little gallery of images. Upload four or five banner images and watch and they slide around for showing off things like events, promotions and more. You can also have overlaying text and buttons on those slides if you want. As another gallery option, you can use the filterable portfolio to develop a beautiful selection of images. These are linked to further information, and you can make it so that clients filter through the items without any problems.
A Flickr gallery is provided for users to skim through the photos you upload to the social media platform. It only takes a few seconds to get this completely integrated. All you need is your Flickr ID, then the beautiful gallery can be placed at any location on your website. Vimeo and YouTube are both supported with the Skywalker WordPress theme, meaning that if you’d like to insert a few videos on a blog post, it only requires a quick upload or line of code. Some of the galleries allow for videos as well, considering some companies might be more interested in a video gallery, as opposed to an image gallery. Those are most of the gallery features, but you’ll also find shortcodes, color change settings, Google Web Fonts and more. The Skywalker theme is one of the top gallery themes out there, so make sure you add it to your list.
Brutal
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Check out the Brutal WordPress theme if you’d like a modern and flexible option with various gallery tools. To start, the theme is completely responsive, so all of your images, videos and galleries show up well when pulled up on a smaller device. For example, someone may whip out a cell phone and try to scroll through your gallery. If that’s the case, the images are reformatted so that the user doesn’t have to zoom in or out to see an image the way it was intended to look. The reason we really enjoy the Brutal WordPress theme is because it integrates well with WooCommerce. So if you’re trying to build an online store with stunning image galleries, this is certainly one of the best themes to look into. The majority of the theme is filled with white backgrounds, putting much of the focus on your images and product items. When you land on the homepage, the gallery is pretty much the only thing you see.
All of these gallery items link to product pages, but you also have the option to reveal images for blog posts, portfolio items and banner ads if you’re not trying to run an online shop. The slider is another form of image gallery, and it has overlaying text settings for telling people what your site is all about. The slider supports high resolution images, along with arrows for scrolling through the images. The parallax background is a nice touch, but the employee gallery puts a certain amount of personality into your website. Just think about the possibilities when you share a set of images from the people who work for your company. These folks are going to feel appreciated, and the customers are going to know exactly who they’re working with. Along with different gallery formats, support for videos and some sleek social buttons, the Brutal WordPress theme is starting to look like a great possibility for most companies that want galleries.
Norway
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The Norway WordPress theme comes into play for those companies that want to make a portfolio or image gallery. The elegant, playful design provides a somewhat more feminine take on the classic gallery WordPress theme, using a large slider with the logo overlaying on top of that. The slider supports as many images as you want, and it helps if you have high resolution photographs. The responsive nature of the Norway theme means that people can view your image galleries from mobile devices. In addition, the portfolio pieces are organized into a grid based gallery, with links to more information and thumbnail images that prompt people to click through. The portfolio is actually just a bunch of blog posts, so users can move on and look at all of your posts if they want. Not to mention, the testimonials are easy to implement, in case you’re trying to convince other customers that you’re a worthwhile company or individual to work with.
The Norway WordPress theme provides several social media buttons, which come in handy if you’re trying to build your follower counts on places like Facebook and Twitter. Construct your image galleries in many formats. For example, some people like two columns, while others make three columns. Regardless, you shouldn’t have any problems with highlighting your best content, since a click on one of the thumbnail images brings up a slideshow of every single one of the images in the gallery. All users have to do is click to the right or left to scroll through the photos that appeal to them. Along with a sleek, white design and a full blog for boosting your search engine optimization, the Norway WordPress theme is one of those simple solutions that still has the elegance and power of a more expensive theme.
Piazza
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The Piazza WordPress theme is a product of ColorLabs, using style and a center stage for featured products to make the gallery look great for your customers. A unique feature is that you can highlight your sale items with a little badge that tells customers what is discounted for the day. In addition, the responsive layout ensures that anyone can view your content from a mobile phone or tablet. Along with that, you gain access to several spots on the homepage that are technically galleries for your products. For example, you can share a grid with all of your featured products or go into detail on the items that are most popular on your website. Don’t stop there, because some people who use this theme utilize the full gallery mode, which is generally started by using one of the many post formats. A company might try this out for showcasing a series of images for one product, or to reveal a backstage view of what goes on in your company.
We like the Piazza WordPress theme because it offers translation files for connecting with people from all over the world. Think about the amount of money you’d leave on the table if you didn’t have the chance to sell items to people who didn’t speak your language. The custom shortcodes come in all different shapes and sizes. For example, some organizations may use these shortcodes to make buttons, while others would prefer shortcodes for organizing galleries into columns. Regardless, you don’t have to spend any time with the source code, since the shortcodes are there to ensure that anyone can make somewhat complex designs.
Portfolio
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Portfolio is a clean and minimalist theme that allows your portfolio items to shine. It features AJAX loading which means your portfolio will load smoothly. Portfolio items can be filtered according to categories, which makes it easy for your visitors to sort through the items they are interested in. Several layouts are available to display your works in different columns or all at once. Images are easily resized to be displayed at whatever size your want them to show.
Portfolio can easily be customized to create the perfect look and feel. Add custom icons for extra flair, change the colors, customize the fonts, control the layout, and more. Add social media icons to connect with your visitors on social media. Upload custom backgrounds, add unlimited sidebars and create different layouts with custom widgets built into the theme. The blog posts have a sleek parallax effect added which is sure to impress your potential clients. On top of that, Portfolio is fully responsive and follows the latest SEO practices to make sure your search engine rankings don’t suffer.
Divi
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Divi is an extremely flexible theme which can be adapted to a variety of niches. Thanks to its gallery and portfolio modules, any creative type can rely on Divi to create a gorgeous and modern website. Aside from gallery and portfolio modules, Divi includes multiple other modules, each representing a different type of design element. This makes Divi a great choice for any type of website. Each module can be customized individually which means you are limited only by your imagination.
On top of customizing individual modules, you can control every aspect of the theme through the theme options panel which allows you to change colors, control fonts, set up navigation menus, upload your own logo, and much more. Divi also comes with numerous pre-built layouts, including a portfolio one so you can create your dream website in a matter of minutes. You can build completely custom layouts for each and every page of your website and you can save those layouts to the library to reuse them time and again.
Eames
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Eames is a truly minimal gallery theme that’s well-suited for photographers, artists, illustrators or anyone with an appreciation for minimalism and a desire to make their online portfolio and content the focal point of every page. Even the blog page makes heavy use of imagery with large featured images that are sure to draw your visitors in. Eames features a mobile responsive design which ensures your theme will look good no matter which device it’s viewed from. The sidebar is fixed on the left-hand side and sports a minimal look that doesn’t detract from the main content.
Despite its minimal look, Eames can be customized to match your branding. You can add your own logo, change the typography by using any of the Google Fonts, as well as control the color of the typography. Eames integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce which makes adding an online store to your website a breeze. You can add custom social media icons, custom background, and more. If you want to present your portfolio in a minimal, yet still attractive way, be sure to give Eames a try.
ePhoto
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ePhoto comes from the folks over at Elegant Themes and it features an elegant black layout that makes your photos come to life. A dark blue color scheme is also available to provide contrast between your background and your photos. The homepage is structured to present your best photos in a slider and a smaller gallery layout below. You can also feature a few photos from different categories in three distinct widgets on your homepage and add a brief description of yourself to add a personal touch to your website.
The theme comes with several page templates which make it easy to create pages for galleries, contact pages, sitemaps, blog feeds, and much more. Quite a few shortcodes are available so you can easily insert buttons, columns, and more without ever touching a single line of code and the theme options panel lets you customize colors, fonts, upload your own logo and much more. The theme is cross-browser compatible and perpetual updates ensure there are no security issues. Finally, the theme provides complete localization files so you can translate your website and reach an audience that doesn’t speak your language.
ink
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Ink is a simple and clean theme that puts your photography front and center. The entire homepage consists of a grid of your photos or recent projects while the navigation menu has been pushed off to the side. You can include your logo to build brand recognition and include links to your other pages. Each thumbnail on the homepage reveals a short description when you hover it and clicking on it allows you to see the full description of the project. You can insert slideshows into individual posts and provide a link to the client’s website. Several social media icons are available so you can easily grow your social media presence.
The theme is fully responsive which is essential for making sure your portfolio looks stunning even on mobile devices. Custom widgets allow you to insert various modules into your pages and shortcodes make it easy to add complex design elements like buttons and columns without having to code them from scratch. Portfolio is easily filterable and the localization files facilitate translation of the theme and reaching out to an international audience. Along with video support, several page templates, and an advanced theme options panel, the Ink theme has everything you need for a unique photography website.
Vertex
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Vertex is another theme from Elegant Themes and it presents a beautiful layout with several parallax backgrounds to bring attention to your content. The theme is a great choice for any creative agency with a strong focus in visual arts. You can present your past projects in a stunning portfolio and show off your skills with elegant counters. Easily showcase members of your team with their headshots and links to social media profiles while the testimonials section lets you share testimonials from previous clients and establish your credibility.
Several page templates are also available for your contact, blog, and sitemap pages and the localization support makes it easy to expand your reach to a worldwide audience. Vertex is beautifully responsive which is crucial for any website and several shortcodes allow you to easily add elements like buttons, lists, toggles, and more, all of which display perfectly on smaller devices. The theme options panel lets you customize every aspect of your theme. Along with SEO support and several call to action areas, Vertex is truly a powerful theme.
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