This slideshow is free for download. The best way to describe this plugin is simply to see it in action. Precisely why I have it running here, to the right.
I wanted to build a slideshow widget with as many customizable elements as one would likely have need of and also make it really easy to use (hence, the widget format where you don’t have to spend too much time trying to figure out the back end).
GRG Slideshow Solo uses a mix of php and jQuery to execute its functions. It is very simple to use and also very simple to customize (beyond the featured parameters) if you have some familiarity with either language.
You must first know how to install this plug in and how to feature images in your pages and posts. It’s easy! But if you’ve never done so before, you can always refer to this handy guide for installing plug ins that the many core and contributing WordPress designers and developers have put together for all of us. Following these simple directions will help you get started with the free GRG Slideshow Solo for WordPress.
GRG Slideshow Solo displays the Featured Images from your lists of post. If there is no Featured Image set in a particualr post, it will display the default image you set for it. To learn more about Featured Images, you can read from this nifty article.
Once you’ve activated the plugin, drag and drop GRG Slideshow Solo into your active widget area and set it up accordingly.
To get the slug name, if you wish to display a specific category, just click “Categories” on your dashboard menu (left-hand side) and copy the particular slug name from the slug name column.
If you want to display, a row of little, clickable thumbnails beneath the slidehow, that’s what the Display Thumbnail List option does. It will even show the default image you select on that list, if there are no Featured Images in the post, but will still link to any recent article in that list.
The Description Display option will allow you to display an exerpt from a the post whose featured image is being displayed. In selecting Rollover, it hides the exerpt until you move your mouse over it.
Slideshow Height and Width… the best advice I can provide is to consider the image you place in there carefully, because it will stretch or squeeze image to whatever dimensions you save in the widget. Most pictures we take are usually either 3:4 or 9:16 ratio. Yes, there will be math! So keep that in mind. Why didn’t I consider placing an “auto” option? Because that would cause the widget to expand and contract accordingly and depending on where you place it, one particularly long or wide image could play havoc with the layout of your website or blog.
And also because I’m a big meanie.
Make sure you save your changes and to any code savvy users, I’ve tried my best to implement jQuery noConflict variables to make this thing operate the way it should, BUT even so, if you find that this plugin breaks your whole world and sends your site to a spinning-out-of-control and flaming end, feel free to send me a message here and let me know what the specific issue is. Just don’t send me a link to anything, I promise you I won’t click it.