6 Key WordPress Success Factors

1) Effective Website Layout & User Interactions2) Easy Access to and Presentation of Data3) Media/Image Refinement and Layout4) Ease of change of style and features5) Easy to operate and update6) Security & reliability of the WP Package

WordPress has become the Web's OSLike Apple, WP Developers can say “there is a plugin for that”

The Web Age of Visual Imagesl 1 -There are 2 billion cameras in the world today.l 2 - 10% of all images taken by humans were done in last year.l 3 - Images convey info, mood, style instantly.l 4 - Images have catapulted social media like Instagram,

Pinterest, Tumblr, Facebook to prominence.l 5 - Pages with relevant images have 94% more total views.l 6 - Interactive images with video, animations, and links

l + attract more usersl + act as visual sitemaps to a website

l 7 - 67% of users say the quality of a product image is very important in selecting and purchasing.

l 8 - Search results with an image get 60% higher use.

http://www.jeffbullas.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Images-Infographic.png

Image Grids – What are they?

l Image Grids displays a gallery of medial Used when many images are on tabular display

Image Grids - Why they matter I

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l Image Usage on All the Worlds Websites

http://w3techs.com/technologies/cross/image_format/site_element

Image Grids - Why they matter 2

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l 1 - Image grids are used in portfolios, photo galleries,

product layouts, testimonials, people lists, etc.l 2 - Images help reduce the bounce rate.l 3 - Images improve conversion rates.l 4 - Image grids help pull users below the foldline.l 5 - Image grids can act as a second menu or Visual

Sitemap for a website.l 6 - Image grids with lightboxes can tell a story and

pack an info punch.

Image Grids != Sliders Angular uses a l Image grids are 2 dimensional, sliders 1

l l l l l l l l Image grids have some animation, sliders have lots more.l Image grids emulate slider's use of click links & text captioning.

Image Grid Trends

20+ free+premium Image Grid pluginsl https://www.designmaz.net/best-wordpress-gallery-plugins/

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/wordpress-photo-gallery-plugins/- Very mixed capabilities and user ratings on free versions- Compare to hot free slider plugins and frontend plugins + Responsive design is consistently provided+ Lightbox support for most grids+ Captioning supported in lightbox and some on-grid- Few support for image sources beyond WP Gallery- Some support for Page/Post using featured images- Some support for Masonry/Isotope layout- Few support filtering which images shown in the grid- Few support load more or infinite scroll

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Free and Good Image Gridsl Here are 5 free WP image grid pluginsl l l l l l l l l 1 - NextGen Gallery has improved immensely

2 - Easy Image Collage

3 - Foo Gallery

Demo of Foo Gallery at http://uidesigns.theopensourcery.com/free-foo-gallery/

4 – Justified Image Gallery

Demo of JIG in action - http://uidesigns.theopensourcery.com/free-jig/

5 – Grid Accordion

Demo view

2 Premium Image Gridsl Here are two premium Image Grids that earn their keep.l Essential Image Grid for $27/website use.l l l l l l l Justified Image Grid for $29/website use.

Premium Image Grid Attributesl + Responsive image grids that work well on mobile and desktop screens.l + Ability to incorporate portrait, landscape, and varying dimensions images

in the same image grid using masonry and other adaptive layouts.l + Add styled captions, links, and shortcodes to images.l + Use a variety of image sources including WP gallery, NextGen, FaceBook,

Flickr, Instagram, CPT, WooCommerce etc.l + Provide an image grid of feature Posts based on taxonomy, category, or

date to create a Visual Sitemapl + Provide a variety of lightboxes for magnification of images with captions.l + Allow for load-more infinite image scrolling.l + Provide filtering of images displayed in the grid with filter buttons along the

top for All, Tagged, Category, etc. l + Provide a variety of styling options for individual images and the grid as a

whole.l

Essential Grid in Actionl Essential Grid does captions, masonry, & linksl Essential supports Post, Page, CPT, Iframe, etcl Essential displays YouTube, Vimeo, HTML5, Wistia videol But no support for Nextgen, Flickr, Instagram, other sources

Essential Grid Postsl Setting up an Visual Sitemap to Posts and /or Pages is

easy to do.l The sitemap can be a single row slider with filters

Essential Grid Pros & Cons

+ Has 32 preset Skins for wide layout choices + Presets can be modified by users with Skin editor+ Box, Full-width, and Full-Screen Grids+ Tabbed, drag and drop Image Grid editor easier to use than JIG editor + Easier use of video in image grid than JIG+ Documentation has more and better examples- Much fewer image sources- Weaker handling of mixed dimension images- More bugs, especially in advanced features

JIG in Actionl Justified Image Grid handles varying image dimensions best

JIG in Action 2WP Gallery Grid with Descriptions and CaptionsImage Grid is responsive

JIG with Postsl JIG can only handle Posts.l Easy to setup and manage.l No support for Pages, Custom Post Type, etc.

JIG Pros and Cons

+ Superior support for Image Sources including Nextgen, Flickr, Facebook,500px, Pinterest, deviantART, Stumbleupon, Imgur, Tumblr, & WordPress.com.

+ Superior handling of varying size images in a grid.

+ better range of captioning options and control.+ better bug support and fixes.- weaker WP Page, CPT, Woo Commerce

support.- fewer video, iframe and custom object options.- less control of full-width and full-screen image

grids.

Summary

l The premium Image Grid plugins are more than a cut above their free plugin counter parts.

l Both have a wide range of features so there is a substantial learning curve to master.

l For many projects, it is easy to justify the additional $29US/website cost of JIG or $27US/website cost of Essential Grid.

l If you have lots of people, product, event, and image portfolios, the premium plugins make them easier to produce.

l If you need quick image grids with varying data sources and varying image sizes – think JIG.

l If you need mix of video, image, and CPT with wide or fullscreen layout and precise styling – think Essential Grid.

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