Make a WordPress gallery using the default WordPress gallery plugin. It turns a group of images into a tidy gallery of thumbnails.

To set up the default gallery, type the following code, including the square brackets, anywhere you would like the images to appear in your post:

Now upload your images one by one. They will automatically appear as thumbnails in a grid instead of displaying separately.

Your visitors can click on each thumbnail to see an enlargement. (The sample above is just a screen shot and not clickable.)

You can also add the gallery code after you have entered the images. In this case however, you will have to open the html view and remove all the code for the images you entered previously.

The size of the thumbnails is determined by your media settings. To make the thumbnails larger or smaller, read How to change your default image settings.

There are countless plugins you can install for a more complex gallery. One of our favourites is Photo Galleria. Photo Galleria shows an enlargement of each image above the grid as you click on each thumbnail, as shown below. Your visitors won’t have to open new windows to see the enlargements. And it automatically displays the image caption under each enlargement.

To install Photo Galleria, go to Plugins/Add New in the WordPress menu and type the name in the search box. Download it and make it your default gallery plugin.

NOTE: If you install this plugin, you will continue to type but Photo Galleria will replace the default gallery.

Good tips to keep in mind:

By default, Photo Galleria displays the last image you entered as the top enlargement when visitors come to your page. To change the order, open the page where you have a gallery. Click on the “insert image” icon. Instead of browsing for an image, select “Gallery”. A list appears with the files you already added to the slide show. Click down on the name of a file and, holding your mouse down, drag it higher or lower in the list. Be sure to save the list again (but do not insert). Close the window and, back on the page, Update the page.

Photo Galleria, like most gallery plugins, works best if you pre-size every large image to exactly the same height before uploading them.