Image sliders or carousels are one of those elements that you see on almost every website. They are easy to implement and almost always look good, as long as compelling images are used. Also, you can do fun things with a WordPress slider, like give it transition effects.
However, sliders are not included by default in WordPress, so you will need plugins to add them. In this article, we will teach you how to do it in just three steps:
- Install a WordPress slider and add the media (images, videos) you want to use.
- Configure your WordPress slider.
- Place your new slider where you want it to appear on your site.
Once that’s done, we’ll also show you some of the best WordPress slider plugins, so you know what your options are. Let us begin!
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When to use a WordPress slider?
Sliders (or carousels) are actually a pretty simple feature. A slider is a collection of images that are rotated, either using buttons or waiting for them to move automatically. In other words, it’s an image slideshow.
However, there is much more you can do with a slider. You can also add fun transition effects, modify the text, create unique buttons, and much more. In short, there are many ways to turn a boring and common slider into something that really makes your website stand out.
As for the question of when it makes sense to use sliders, it depends on you and your goals. Many sites use what are called “Hero” sliders, which span the top of a web page as an alternate header. You can see an example of this in action at the beginning of this section.
In addition to Hero sliders, you can also create testimonial and customer carousels, like this one:
Ultimately, sliders are a perfect addition to just about any website. However, they can be put to better use by giving them a practical purpose, such as displaying many images in a small space, rather than just viewing them as decoration. They also add a touch of interactivity to your website’s welcome, which is a great way to increase user engagement.
How to Create a WordPress Slider (In 3 Steps)
In the following sections, we will show you how to create a WordPress slider using . We chose this plugin because it’s easy to use, offers lots of fun features, and allows you to include as many sliders as you want.
Then we’ll introduce you to other WordPress slider plugins that you can use as well, and talk more about Master Slider. For now, , and you’re good to go!
Step 1 – Install your WordPress slider and add the media you want to use
After activating the Master Slider plugin, you will see a new tab called Master Slider on the control panel. There, you will see a list of all existing WordPress sliders (which should be empty for now). Now click the button Create New Slider:
The plugin will ask you what type of slider you want to add. You can choose from eight options, including horizontal sliders with and without thumbnails:
For this tutorial, we are going to create a simple custom slider so you can see how the whole process works. So choose that option and press the button CREATE.
The plugin will then take you to the tab SLIDES of your new item. Here you can add all the images you want to include in the slider using the WordPress upload tool or select existing images from your library:
When you’ve added a few photos, your SLIDES should look like this:
Your images are now ready. Keep this tab open and continue to the next step.
Step 2: Configure the WordPress slider
Here you can already configure the way your WordPress slider will work. To do so, scroll down to the section Background of the tab SLIDES. For each of your slides, you can set a unique background using a chosen image, along with colors and text of your choice:
For now, we’ll just set up a simple WordPress slider with all the images we upload. If you scroll down, you can see how each image will be displayed in the slider. There is also a button previewwhich you can select to see how your WordPress slider is looking:
When you’re done here, you can move on to the tab slider controls. There you can choose what kind of controls you want the slider to have. The default setting is called arrows (Arrows), and you can probably guess what they look like:
Of course, you are free to choose the type of control you prefer. Then go to the tab SLIDER SETTINGSwhere you can make even more adjustments to your WordPress slider.
You will find options that allow you to adjust the width and height of your slider, for example. You can even define a name for it, which will appear in the tab Master Slider:
If you scroll down a bit further, you can also add simple transition effects to your slider. Please note that the free version of Master Slider only includes two effects: Normal Y fade. We recommend the former as it offers a clean transition for your WordPress slider:
Finally, you can also play around with different skins by scrolling down to the section appearance. These are slider templates that allow you to modify their appearance.
We’ve been showing the default skin so far in our examples, but there are some other cool options you can play around with. You can even WordPress sliders if you like that sort of thing:
Once you finish adjusting the style of your WordPress slider, press the button Save changes (Save changes) and continue with the last step.
Step 3: Place your new slider where you want it to display
Your WordPress slider is ready, we just have to place it on your website. This process is simple, as the Master Slider plugin generates a shortcode for each slider you create.
To find those shortcodes, go to the tab Master Slider in your control panel and look in the column Shortcode:
Copy the shortcode of the slider you want to place on your site and then open the editor on the page or post where you want to include it. Simply paste the shortcode where you want your WordPress slider to appear, like in the example below:
If you check your published page, it should now look something like this:
Remember that you can create as many sliders as you want with the Master Slider plugin. You can even delete those that you no longer want to use from the tab Master Sliderselecting the button delete (delete) next to any of them:
Now you can get to work creating the best WordPress slider for your site! Before we wrap up, however, let’s explore some plugin alternatives.
Comparison of the 5 best WordPress slider plugins
We have already seen one of the best WordPress slider plugins in action. However, we haven’t had a chance to show you all of its features yet. Let’s see it now, and then we’ll show you some other solutions that you can use if you don’t like Master Slider at all.
1.Master Slider
You’re already familiar with , so let’s jump right into what you might not know about this plugin. In addition to allowing you to create WordPress sliders, this plugin also makes sure that they are fully responsive, adapting to all types of screens. It works with touch navigation, so it’s perfect for mobile-optimized websites, and it’s designed with search engines in mind.
Main features:
- Create as many sliders as you want.
- Add sliders to your WordPress pages using shortcodes.
- Customize the style of your sliders and transition effects.
- Fully responsive sliders, with no additional configuration required.
- Optimize the content of your sliders for search engines.
Prices: You can try the free version of Master Slider or opt for the premium version.
2. Smart Slider 3
offers many of the same features as Master Slider. However, it also features a live drag and drop editor that you can use to build your sliders. If you’re the kind of person who likes to tweak your site elements using a page builder instead of list settings, this plugin can be a great option.
Aside from that feature, Smart Slider 3 also ensures that your sliders are responsive by default. Also, it includes several templates that you can use to set up compelling sliders in a blink.
Main features:
- Create WordPress sliders using a drag and drop builder.
- It uses third parties like Divi and Beaver Builder along with the plugin.
- Set fully responsive sliders by default.
- Choose from several templates to get your sliders up and running quickly.
- Add multiple fonts to your slide content.
Prices: Smart Slider 3 offers a basic free version as well as various paid tiers.
3.MetaSlider
When it comes to WordPress slider plugins, few are as popular as . With almost 1,000,000 active installs at the time of publishing this article, it sits at the top of the plugin food chain.
While MetaSlider doesn’t have the fancy interface of the other plugins we’ve covered so far, it stands out for its ease of use. Adding slides is easy, as is reordering them, adding text, and even optimizing metadata. With other plugins, all this work can take a while, but MetaSlider makes things simple with a clean and intuitive interface.
Main features:
- Set up multiple WordPress sliders.
- Quickly add slides and reorder them.
- Add text to your slides to improve search engine optimization (SEO), all from the same screen.
- Adjust the transition effects of your sliders.
- Add sliders to any of your pages using shortcodes.
Price: MetaSlider is free on the WordPress Plugin Directory, or you can get a premium license with some additional features.
4. Slider by WD
If you’re the type of person who likes to customize every little detail of your website, this could be what you need. It has many of the features that we have seen so far in the other slider plugins, such as multi-slider support, responsive design, and much more.
Where the plugin really shines is in the number of settings you can tweak for each of your slides. For example, you can play with its size, colors and transition effects. You can even import and export sliders, so you can copy them from one site to another. Finally, the plugin includes an option to watermark your images, which can be useful if you need to protect your work…
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