Today I want to share with you three absolutely necessary aspects of a WordPress Gallery Theme. In a previous article, I wrote about some of the thought process that goes into WordPress themes for photographers.
If you are wondering what the components of a good WordPress gallery theme are, then this is the article you’re looking for. I will start by saying that when considering a WordPress theme, it’s important to review as many demos as you can.
Why?
The Photocrati theme, for example, is often skipped by creative professionals looking for a grid style portfolio – often referred to as a gallery theme. However, because it is a photographer feature packed WordPress theme, it has grid style galleries to cover that need.
Theme Styles
Have you ever visited a competitors website, only to see that it looks like so many others? That’s because so many creatives are using the same WordPress theme. Unfortunately, the theme that they are using has limited customization capabilities.
The Photocrati theme has overcome this obstacle with its 60 built-in preset (or styles). To top it off, each style can be further customized using the built-in options and/or the dynamic CSS field if the user wants to start manually tweaking individual components on their own.
What this gives you is the ability to stand out from your competitor, raise the bar for your business and show off your portfolio at its highest potential.
Gallery Management
The majority of creative professionals needs simplicity when it comes to managing their galleries. WordPress now has the capability to use custom post types for creating portfolios. But for those who don’t understand how that works, a gallery management system is ideal.
The Photocrati theme uses its own gallery management system, making it extremely painless for creatives to not only upload and organize their galleries, but also sell using the built-in eCommerce system.
Having a super easy way to manage your galleries will reduce the amount of time you’re working with your website, and in turn, streamline your business more.
WordPress Gallery Styles
This next aspect, is likely the most important of a WordPress gallery theme. The gallery styles. When you’re looking at a WordPress theme for galleries, make sure that the theme has the style you want.
For example:
The list can go on, but the Photocrati theme has a variety of gallery styles, and more on the way. In addition, each gallery can be customized to the users liking, with sizing, cropped and more.
WordPress Gallery Theme Summary
There are three important elements to a WordPress gallery theme:
- Theme styles
- Gallery management
- Gallery styles
There are also many other important elements like:
- Simplicity or ease of use
- What is needed or not adding unnecessary functions or features
- Made by creatives for creatives, meaning the passion for a niche WordPress theme drives the development further
A Gallery With Any Theme
For those interested in easy galley management without changing WordPress themes, there is also an incredible plugin, NextGEN Gallery? NextGEN Gallery is self-contained gallery management system with more beautiful stylings. With it, you can implement a gallery on any WordPress theme – easily. (not to mention there are two iPhone apps currently supporting the plugin for those iPhoneography moments)
What’s Not Included
There are certain features that just shouldn’t be built-in to a theme. For instance, SEO is a necessary evil for a photographers business. However, there are incredibly well crafted WordPress SEO plugins out there. I’ve previously shared a list of essential WordPress plugins for a photographers.
Important To You
As I mentioned before, it’s important for a gallery theme to have the functionality desired by the majority of its users. So I want to hear from you. Comment below and tell me what are your most important aspects of a WordPress gallery theme.
Thanks for reading and happy shooting,
Scott
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