BoldSlider vs Smart Slider 3

BoldSlider is a lightweight, fully-responsive slider builder for WordPress with a real visual editor — drag layers on a canvas, set per-device overrides, and embed via shortcode or Gutenberg block. Free version highlights Visual builder — drag, resize, rotate layers on a real canvas. Eight resize handles. Keyboard nudge + delete. Per-device responsive — override layer position, size, font size, color, and visibility separately for Desktop / Tablet / Mobile. Layer types (7 free): Heading, Paragraph, Image, Button, Shape, YouTube embed, Vimeo embed. Slider effects: Slide, Fade, Cube, Coverflow, Flip, Cards. Backgrounds: image (with cover/contain/percentage/auto fit, repeat, 9-grid + custom position), color, uploaded MP4 video. Background animations: Ken Burns, Zoom In, Zoom Out, Pan Left, Pan Right. Navigation arrows with placement (inside/outside) + position (top/middle/bottom) + size + offset + colors + hover styles. Pagination (bullets / fraction / progress bar) with placement, position, bullet size/gap, clickable, active + inactive colors. Thumbnail strip (Swiper Thumbs). Autoplay with delay + pause-on-hover. Layer animations — 8 CSS-based entrance presets (fade, fade-up/down/left/right, zoom-in/out). Button hover styles + 12 built-in arrow icons. Starter templates: Multiple ready-to-use templates (Hero, Business, Portfolio, Testimonials, Promo / Sale, Product Launch, Team, Event, Startup, Minimal, Restaurant, Charity, Welcome). Embed via [boldslider id="your-slider-slug"] shortcode or Gutenberg block. Import / Export sliders as JSON. Duplicate sliders + slides in one click. Slider library page with thumbnail previews + search. Performance: lazy-load images, no jQuery, no external CDN, deferred JS. SEO friendly: semantic – headings, alt and title attributes (Media Library or custom). Accessibility: keyboard navigation, proper ARIA labels. External services BoldSlider does not call out to any external services or CDNs. All assets are bundled locally inside the plugin. Development Source code The compiled/minified JavaScript and CSS files in assets/dist/ are built from the uncompressed source code included in this plugin: Editor UI (React): editor/src/ — JSX components, store, hooks, views, and SCSS styles. Frontend runtime: editor/src/frontend.js — Swiper initialization and layer animations. Block editor script: editor/src/block.js — Gutenberg block registration. Stylesheets: editor/src/editor.scss and editor/src/frontend.scss. Build instructions Prerequisites: Node.js 18+ and npm 9+. Navigate to the plugin directory: cd boldslider Install dependencies: npm install Build production assets: npm run build For development with live rebuild: npm run start The build pipeline uses @wordpress/scripts (webpack-based). Third-party libraries Swiper v11 — MIT License — touch-enabled slider engine.

Homepage | Features | Templates | Videos | Docs | Support Smart Slider 3 is the most powerful and intuitive WordPress plugin to create sliders which was never possible before. Fully responsive, SEO optimized and works with any WordPress theme. Create beautiful sliders and tell stories without any code. Live slide editor A beautiful interface makes creating slides fast and efficient. The complete freedom to build what you want, the way you want. Edit your slides as you used to in page builders. Drop layers after each other and structure them with rows and columns. Unique Layouts with Layers Enhance your slider with the layers and make your site even more unique and grandiose. Every heading, text, image, button and video can be edited easily with the customization options. Change all the details that really matter in typography and style. Responsive, Mobile-Ready Sliders Switch your slider to a different device mode and optimize your content for the resolution. Your site can be enjoyed in any environment, be it a mobile, tablet or desktop. Beautiful Sliders to Start No tech skills are needed, just pick a slider template. It works like magic! Choose from a variety of beautiful templates or start with a blank Slider. The simple way to build every kind: image, layer, video and post slider. Most powerful features Default position – Edit your slides as you used to in page builders. Absolute position – Drag and drop your layers anywhere on the slide with absolute layers. Slide Library – Slide Library provides several pre-made slides to kickstart your work. Totally integrated with WordPress – Media manager, shortcode, widget, post permalinks, post editor. Page Builder support – Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder, Page Builder by SiteOrigin, Visual Composer, WPBakery Page Builder, Gutenberg and many more… Totally responsive and touch friendly – Sliders can be enjoyed on any device, be it a mobile, tablet or desktop. Dynamic Slides – Available source: WordPress posts Customizable controls – Arrows, Bullets, Autoplay, Bar, Thumbnails, Shadows Slide backgrounds – 9 Super smooth background animations Layers – Build unique designs with 6 varied layers: Image, Heading, Text, Button, Vimeo, YouTube Font and Style manager system – Change easily all the details that really matter in typography and style. Template sliders – 15 sliders to start Features: Import and Export sliders Intuitive slide creation: choose images, select WordPress Posts or add YouTube and Vimeo videos Static overlay Touch swipe, scroll, keyboard navigation Full-width and boxed responsive layouts Slide-switching animations: Horizontal, Vertical, Fade Slide background animations Autoplay timing options Slider controls: Arrow, Bullet, Autoplay, Bar, Thumbnail and Shadow SEO optimized Layers: Image, Heading, Text, Button, Vimeo, YouTube Layer snap in visual slide editor Adaptive layer font sizing Hide layers on specific devices Slide thumbnail image WordPress Multi Site compatible Custom responsive breakpoints Testimonials “I can heartily recommend the free version. It already provides more functionality than any other slider plugin – even many premium ones.” – Daniel Pataki – WPMU DEV “Having tried more than a few WordPress slider plugins, both free and paid, I can honestly say that this is one of the best that I’ve ever tested…” – Daryn Collier – WPKube “Since Smart Slider is free to use, I do not have to really stress how good a plugin it is because you can download it yourself and see for yourself.” – Kevin Muldoon “This plugin can be used for much more than a simple slider – being able to create whole sections of your website.” – Oliver Dale – WPLift “Taking all this into consideration we can safely say that Smart Slider 3 is one of the top WordPress slider plugins.” – Mark Zahra – WP Mayor Support Smart Slider 3 is a community-driven project that would not be the same without your feedback. If you have any problem or feature request for this plugin, please feel free to contact us! Smart Slider 3 Pro Features: All template sliders Layer animation builder Live animation timeline 18 extra layers 2 extra slider types Full page responsive layout All generators for dynamic slides Extra background animations (more than 54) Built-in lightbox Advanced controls and many more control presets A ton of customization options Premium support Full list of features Unlock Your Full Potential with Smart Slider 3 Pro Dynamic slide sources in the FREE version WordPress Posts: WordPress posts by Category and Tag filter or only the specified posts. Dynamic slide sources in PRO version WordPress Custom Posts: WordPress posts from custom post types by custom taxonomy filter or only the specified custom posts WooCommerce slider from products: Woocommerce products by Category, Tag, Featured, In Stock and downloadable filter or only the specified products. NextGEN Gallery: displays the images and related meta from the selected source gallery. Events: Events by Category and Tag filter. Supported plugins: All-in-One Event Calendar, Events Manager, The Events Calendar Image slider: displays the images and related meta from the selected source gallery. Supported plugins: Gallery by BestWebSoft, Photo Gallery by WD Social dynamic sources: Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, YouTube, Pinterest Translations English Spanish (es_ES) 99% Portuguese (Brasil) (pt_BR) 60% Polish (pl_PL) 60% Russian (ru_RU) 59% Italian (it_IT) 55% French (fr_FR) 50% Hungarian (hu_HU) 44% Traditional Chinese (zh_TW) 42% Finnish (fi_FI) 39% Japanese (ja_JP) 37% German (de_DE) 31% Is Smart Slider 3 the tool you’ve been looking for? Come hang out in our Facebook Community for tips and inspiration. Dive into our fun YouTube tutorials and supercharge your skills. Show some love on WordPress with a rating to support us. Get inspired daily on Twitter by following us.