EXMAGE – WordPress Image Links vs SimpLy Gallery

EXMAGE – WordPress Image Links helps you save storage by using external image URLs. These images are shown in Media library like normal images so that you can choose them for post/product featured image, WooCommerce product gallery… or everywhere that images are chosen from Media library. Try the Demo | Documents | Pro Version | | Facebook group Preview EXMAGE – WordPress Image Links How to install and use the plugin Important Notice: This plugin only supports real image URLs that have correct image mime type. It does not support image URLs from an image hosting service(such as Flickr, Imgur, Photobucket …) or a file storage service(such as Google drive) External images added by this plugin will no longer work if the plugin is not active FEATURES Ability to add single image URL on Upload files tab of the Media library Ability to add multiple image URLs at once on below the File upload on Upload New Media page External images have an icon to distinguish them from normal attachments. External images also have attachment ID like normal attachments so that you can use them wherever that allows to insert images from Media library such as Post/Product featured image, product gallery images, variation image, product category image… Compatible with ALD plugin: when this plugin is active, there will be an option named “Use external links for images” in the ALD plugin settings/Products. By enabling this option, AliExpress products imported by ALD plugin will use original AliExpress image URLs for product featured images, gallery images and variation images instead of saving images to your server. =Integration= if(class_exists( 'EXMAGE_WP_IMAGE_LINKS' )){ $add_image = EXMAGE_WP_IMAGE_LINKS::add_image( $url, $image_id, $post_parent ); } -$url: URL of the image you want to process -$image_id: Passed by reference -$post_parent: ID of the post that you want the image to be attached to. If empty, the image will not be attached to any post -Return: [ 'url' => $url,//Input URL 'message' => '',//Additional information 'status' => 'error',//error or success 'id' => '',//Attachment ID if added new or the attachment exists 'edit_link' => '',//Attachment's edit link if added new or the attachment exists ] MAY BE YOU NEED 9Map – Map Multi Locations Abandoned Cart Recovery for WooCommerce Advanced Product Information for WooCommerce AFFI – Affiliate Marketing for WooCommerce ALD – Dropshipping and Fulfillment for AliExpress and WooCommerce Boost Sales for WooCommerce – Set up Up-Sells & Cross-Sells Popups & Auto Apply Coupon Bopo – WooCommerce Product Bundle Builder Bulky – Bulk Edit Products for WooCommerce Cart All In One For WooCommerce Catna – Woo Name Your Price and Offers Checkout Upsell Funnel for WooCommerce ChinaDS – Tmall-Taobao Dropshipping for WooCommerce Clear Autoptimize Cache Automatically COMPE – WooCommerce Compare Products Coreem – Coupon Reminder for WooCommerce Coupon Box for WooCommerce CURCY – Multi Currency for WooCommerce – Smoothly on WooCommerce 9.x Customer Coupons for WooCommerce DEPART – Deposit and Part payment for Woo Email Template Customizer for WooCommerce EPOI – WP Points and Rewards EPOW – Custom Product Options for WooCommerce EU Cookies Bar for WordPress EXMAGE – WordPress Image Links Faview – Virtual Reviews for WooCommerce FEWC – Extra Checkout Fields For WooCommerce Free Shipping Bar for WooCommerce GIFT4U – Gift Cards All in One for Woo HANDMADE – Dropshipping for Etsy and WooCommerce HAPPY – Helpdesk Support Ticket System Jagif – WooCommerce Free Gift LookBook for WooCommerce – Shoppable with Product Tags Lucky Wheel for WooCommerce – Spin a Sale Lucky Wheel Giveaway Notification for WooCommerce | Boost Your Sales – Recent Sales Popup – Live Feed Sales – Upsells Orders Tracking for WooCommerce Photo Reviews for WooCommerce Pofily – WooCommerce Product Filters PRENA – Product Pre-Orders for WooCommerce Product Builder for WooCommerce – Custom PC Builder Product Size Chart For WooCommerce Product Variations Swatches for WooCommerce REDIS – WooCommerce Dynamic Pricing and Discounts REES – Real Estate for Woo S2W – Import Shopify to WooCommerce Sales Countdown Timer SUBRE – Product Subscription for WooCommerce – Recurring Payments Suggestion Engine for WooCommerce Thank You Page Customizer for WooCommerce – Increase Your Sales TMDS – Dropshipping for TEMU and Woo VARGAL – Additional Variation Gallery for WooCommerce VillaTheme Core VIMA – Multi Customer Addresses for Woo VISeek – Easy Custom Search W2S – Migrate WooCommerce to Shopify WebPOS – Point of Sale for WooCommerce WPBulky – WordPress Bulk Edit Post Types Plugin Links Project Page Report Bugs/Issues

SimpLy Gallery Blocks is a powerful WordPress gallery plugin for building responsive photo galleries, image galleries, video galleries, albums, sliders, and lightbox experiences directly in the WordPress block editor. Unlike a basic image gallery plugin, SimpLy Gallery Blocks is built for mixed media. You can combine images, self-hosted HTML5 video, audio, YouTube, Vimeo, and VideoPress items in the same gallery workflow. The core plugin includes 8 dedicated WordPress gallery blocks, saved galleries, reusable shortcodes, album pages, and a built-in lightbox for both SimpLy galleries and native WordPress gallery content. It is designed for creators, photographers, agencies, educators, publishers, WooCommerce stores, and media-heavy websites that need more than a simple photo grid. Key strengths Mixed media in one gallery: images, HTML5 video, audio, YouTube, Vimeo, and VideoPress. Block editor-first editing with 8 included gallery blocks and visual controls. Multiple responsive layouts for different presentation styles. Lightweight YouTube and Vimeo galleries with one active video embed at a time. Static gallery content by default, similar to native WordPress gallery blocks. Albums for grouping real saved galleries under one visitor-friendly entry point. Page-level lightbox manager for Image blocks, Gallery blocks, linked images, and SimpLy galleries. Saved galleries and shortcodes for reuse across pages, posts, and theme areas. SEO-friendly media visibility with static fallback HTML output. Uses standard WordPress media sizes without creating extra image copies. Albums, Album Navigator, and Tags Filter available in the core gallery workflow. Items Manager with bulk selection for faster tag management. Admin-controlled random gallery order without adding extra controls for visitors. PRO dynamic gallery sources for larger media libraries and video workflows. Mobile-friendly output with responsive controls for desktop and smaller screens. Ready out of the box The core plugin includes the main gallery workflow: 8 WordPress gallery blocks, Albums, Album Navigator, Saved SimpLy Gallery, Tags Filter, mixed media support, video poster generation, lightweight YouTube / Vimeo playback, SEO-friendly media output, and SimpLy Lightbox for both SimpLy galleries and native WordPress Image / Gallery blocks. PLUS is focused on more layouts and visual customization. PRO includes PLUS features and adds dynamic gallery sources for building galleries and collections from YouTube, Vimeo, WooCommerce, FileBird, Media Library Assistant, and other supported sources. Who it is for Photographers and visual artists who need portfolio-style galleries. Video creators and educators publishing YouTube, Vimeo, or self-hosted video collections. Agencies and site builders who need reusable gallery blocks and presets. Publishers, bloggers, and WooCommerce stores with media-rich content. WordPress users who want gallery blocks, albums, and lightbox behavior in one plugin. Common use cases SimpLy Gallery Blocks can be used for many common WordPress media workflows: Photography portfolios, client galleries, event albums, and project galleries. Mixed media galleries with images, self-hosted video, audio, YouTube, Vimeo, and VideoPress items. Blog posts and long-form articles where separate Image blocks and native Gallery blocks should open in one lightbox story. Product galleries, lookbooks, catalog previews, and WooCommerce media collections. Course pages, tutorials, documentation, and educational content with many video items. Reusable gallery sections for landing pages, portfolio pages, sidebars, templates, and Elementor layouts. Create and reuse galleries anywhere You can create galleries directly inside posts and pages, or save them as reusable SimpLy galleries. Saved galleries can be published as their own public gallery pages, inserted with shortcodes, embedded with the Saved SimpLy Gallery block, displayed through the Elementor widget, or grouped into Albums and Album Navigator layouts. This makes it possible to design a gallery once and reuse it in different places while keeping the same media collection and presentation style. Gallery blocks and layouts SimpLy Gallery Blocks includes 8 WordPress gallery blocks for common presentation needs: Masonry Gallery Block Justified Gallery Block Grid Gallery Block Slider / Carousel Gallery Block Viewer Gallery Block Albums Block Album Navigator Block Saved SimpLy Gallery Block PLUS adds more gallery layouts and visual customization options, including Portfolio, Showcase, TagsBox, List, Split Carousel, Horizon, Accordion, and Diamond blocks. PRO includes PLUS features and adds dynamic gallery sources for building galleries and collections from external or structured content. Mixed media support Galleries can combine different media types in one place. You can build galleries with WordPress media library images, self-hosted MP4 video, MP3 audio, YouTube, Vimeo, and VideoPress content. For self-hosted video, the plugin includes a poster generator so you can select a video frame and use it as the featured image for the video item. Video poster generator For self-hosted video items, SimpLy Gallery includes a poster generator directly inside the Items Manager. Open the video item menu, choose Add Poster, and either select an image from the WordPress Media Library or capture a frame from the video itself. When you use a video frame, SimpLy Gallery creates a new WordPress media attachment from that frame and uses it as the poster image for the video item. A good poster image is important for native HTML5 video. It gives visitors a clear preview before playback, avoids relying on the browser to load the first video frame, and can improve compatibility on mobile devices and older browsers where first-frame previews may be inconsistent. Lightweight YouTube and Vimeo galleries SimpLy Gallery can display large YouTube and Vimeo video collections without loading every video player at once. Video galleries are thumbnail-first: the actual embedded player is created only when a visitor opens a video. When another video is selected, the previous player is stopped and removed from the page, and the new video player is embedded on demand. This keeps pages lighter even when a gallery contains many video items. This one-active-embed behavior works for manually added YouTube and Vimeo videos in the free plugin, across gallery layouts and in the lightbox. PRO adds dynamic video sources such as YouTube Feed and Vimeo collections. Static by default, dynamic when needed Standard SimpLy galleries are static by default, similar to native WordPress gallery blocks. Gallery content is saved with the post as block attributes and updates when you edit the gallery in the WordPress admin. This keeps the basic gallery workflow predictable and lightweight because the media list does not need to be rebuilt on every page load. When you need automatic updates, PRO dynamic gallery modes can rebuild gallery content from supported sources and cache the result for a custom number of hours per block. WordPress media sizes, no extra image copies SimpLy Gallery Blocks does not create additional image copies in the WordPress Media Library. For normal gallery display, the plugin uses standard WordPress image sizes, mainly Medium size for thumbnails and Large size for lightbox viewing. If the Medium size image is too small for a specific frontend layout, SimpLy Gallery can use the Large size image for the thumbnail area when needed. This happens on the frontend with JavaScript and does not create new files in the Media Library. If you want higher quality thumbnails or larger lightbox images, adjust your WordPress media settings in Settings > Media before uploading images. Existing uploads may need thumbnail regeneration after changing these settings. PLUS / PRO options can also display the original image size when maximum image quality is needed. SEO-friendly media visibility Media Indexing is enabled by default. SimpLy Gallery can expose gallery media to search engines using static fallback HTML for images, video, and audio. The recommended fallback mode renders media HTML inside a noscript tag, so visitors with JavaScript enabled keep the interactive gallery experience while search engines and no-JavaScript contexts can still detect gallery media. An inline HTML fallback mode is also available for all users when maximum compatibility is needed. Albums Albums let you combine multiple saved galleries into one collection with a dedicated splash page. This is useful for events, portfolios, projects, travel collections, courses, product collections, or any site where related galleries should be presented together. Each saved gallery can keep its own design and can also be published separately as a public gallery page, inserted with a shortcode, embedded with the Saved SimpLy Gallery block, or displayed with the Elementor widget. Album content can load saved gallery content on demand via AJAX and open it in a modal view, helping large gallery collections stay lighter on the initial page load. Albums and Album Navigator are available in the free plugin. PLUS adds more visual customization options, and PRO allows Album Navigator to use dynamic galleries from supported sources. Tags Filter Tags are managed directly inside the gallery block. In the Items Manager, each gallery item has a Tag menu where you can type tags separated by commas or choose from previously used SimpLy Tags. Items Manager also includes a multi-select mode, so you can select a group of gallery items and add or remove tags for all selected items at once. When Tags Filter is enabled for the block, those tags appear above the gallery so visitors can filter gallery items on the frontend. The basic Tags Filter is available for gallery blocks in the free plugin. PLUS / PRO plans add more control over which tags appear in a specific gallery or block, along with advanced options such as deep linking. Gallery ordering Gallery order is controlled by the site owner in the WordPress admin. In addition to manual ordering, galleries can use random ordering so the frontend displays a randomized set or order of items. Random ordering is intentionally an admin setting, not a visitor-facing frontend button. This keeps the public gallery interface clean while still giving site owners control over how gallery content is presented. Page-level lightbox for WordPress content SimpLy Lightbox is more than a lightbox for SimpLy galleries. It can also work with regular WordPress content, including Image blocks, Gallery blocks, linked images, and Classic Editor gallery content. When WordPress Image or Gallery blocks use the “Link images to media files” option, SimpLy Lightbox can open those images in a lightbox and group images from the same post or page into a browsable lightbox set. This means visitors can open one image and use next / previous navigation to browse other images from the page. Separate Image blocks and native Gallery blocks can also be grouped together, so a post can behave like one photo story instead of many isolated images. Global lightbox defaults are managed from SimpLy Gallery > Lightbox for native WordPress Gallery. Each post or page can also have its own lightbox settings through the SimpLy Lightbox editor sidebar, opened from the lightbox icon in the editor toolbar. Lightbox features include touch gestures, keyboard navigation, mouse wheel controls, zoom, thumbnails, fullscreen mode, slideshow, captions, and social sharing. YouTube Feed and dynamic galleries The YouTube Feed module turns YouTube playlists into a curated gallery workflow inside WordPress. You can build internal playlists, publish them with Quick Gallery Link, or use Dynamic Gallery Builder in the PRO plan for full design control. PRO dynamic gallery sources include: YouTube playlists Vimeo showcases, albums, user uploads, channels, and categories WooCommerce products, categories, and tags FileBird media folders Media Library Assistant attachment categories and tags SimpLy tags Free, PLUS, and PRO The core gallery blocks, mixed media workflow, albums, and lightbox features are available in the free plugin. PLUS adds more layouts and visual customization options. PRO includes PLUS features and adds dynamic gallery sources for building galleries and collections from supported data sources. Privacy and data collection SimpLy Gallery Blocks does not require cookies for the gallery and lightbox features to work, and the plugin does not collect visitor data. Gallery content is managed inside WordPress using standard posts, media attachments, block attributes, plugin settings, and saved gallery data. External media services such as YouTube or Vimeo may apply their own privacy behavior when their embedded players are loaded. Main demos Gallery blocks demo YouTube Feed Albums Block demo Album Navigator Block demo SimpLy Lightbox and WordPress Native Gallery demo YouTube and Vimeo Gallery demo More layout demos Viewer Gallery Block Slider / Carousel Gallery Tags Filter Advanced Tags Filter Showcase Gallery Block – PLUS layout Diamond Gallery Block – PLUS layout Horizon Gallery Block – PLUS layout Split Carousel Block – PLUS layout TagsBox Gallery Block – PLUS layout Portfolio Gallery Block – PLUS layout Short demo This video shows how to create a photo gallery with a SimpLy Gallery block: You can transform the same gallery content between Masonry, Justified, Grid, and WordPress image gallery layouts without rebuilding the gallery from scratch.