Joomla gallery is so nuanced. There are many possibilities for your choice. Some functionalities make it easier to work with a gallery for everyone, others help with a narrow range of business needs. We will tell you about the most popular Joomla gallery features among our customers. Why they are needed, how to use them and whether you need them.

Front-end Manager makes photo and video items upload and gallery management easier. If you regularly update content on a website and often upload photos and videos then this feature would be your time saver. You won’t have to go into Joomla! admin panel and browse through its numerous links and sections. Front-end Manager allows you to focus on gallery features with its simple and focused on gallery needs intuitive interface.

Custom Size allows to control photo size without quality loss. A page would load faster and you still have a high quality images as a result. All you need to do is to set top dimensions you may require on your website. After that all existing or newly uploaded images will be automatically resized to set size limit keeping their ratio and stored at the highest quality. At the same time original files are stored on your server allowing you to resize images at any time going up and down in dimensions selecting the best parameters for your website look and performance. It can be helpful for shoes and clothes catalogs, photographers’ or designers’ portfolios.

Tag Gallery allows building a gallery defined by tags through all items stored in a gallery on your website. It can be really handy when you have many photos or videos which can logically go into several galleries, but you don’t want to duplicate them. If you have a wedding dresses catalog you can create a gallery with tags #longdress #silk #ivorycolor and this page would have all images and videos that have these tags disregarding the galleries they are located at.

You can try FREE Light version to use basic gallery features or go straight to Grand version and enjoy the benefits of advanced options described above. If you want to know what other extensions can help you with Joomla photo gallery, reach our support team through your Fastw3b account, please. Describe how you use your gallery and what is your desired work process to let support agents provide you with other tools or suggestions to help with your needs.

Many years we have developed extensions and sites thinking of a simple way to control all plugins, modules and templates in one place. Now this solution is implemented into all our 3 extensions in free platform with add-ons.

Reading time: 6 mins.

Just to make it clear we call a Platform a free extension (FW Gallery, FW Real Estate or FW Food Menu) which has Add-ons. Add-on can be Joomla! Plugin, Module or extension specific Template, designed with its own system which can be still overwritten in the main Joomla! template.

Benefit 1 - Free extension

Despite demo website we have it was harder to get an idea if our porduct is the right tool for you. Now being completely free we offer functional Joomla! extension with some free an paid add-ons which extend functionality in a way you need exactly for particular website. Every add-on can be downloaded and installed separately adding its own parts to a platform and extending platform possibilities or changing its look.

Benefit 2 - Quick start

All you need to have the latest Joomla! installed and a free component. As soon as you install a platform you must link it to your account on fastw3b.com and you can instantly download and install all available add-ons instead of individual download and installation.

The next tool you may use would be Batch operations available in all our free extensions. Batch operations allow to input data in a very simple way to get a skeleton or your extension categories and items ready in few clicks. Just copy paste key elements following suggested format and you can add as many items as you need to fill in your website with data within minutes.

Benefit 3 - Centralized management

Add-ons section is now available in every extension. It helps to see all available and owned add-ons when you are signed into Fastw3b account by using Access Code. It is a fast and convenient way to track available functionality and design and update your add-ons in one place. Whatever is available or comes out would be listed in Add-ons section of your extension. No need to visit website every week to see what is new. All the information you need will be listed right there in your Add-ons section.

Benefit 4 - Ease of configuration

Add-ons has a huge benefit of selecting what exactly you need for a particular project. It does not only mean less add-ons it means less configuration in a platform. Add-ons architecture  helps to exclude parts of code that relates to a certain functionality and keep you platform clean. The only functions and settings you will see would be those that come from the platform itself and enabled add-ons. Pretty cool, right?

Benefit 5 - Designs

With a new concept we introduce a new design system which has its own set of layouts allowing to assemble design from different bits. This system is very important to provide another level of flexibility in data presentation. Now we can use totally different design approaches in different designs as they may redefine core layouts and have theis own CSS files which adds another level of flexibility and control. This year we plan to have a design release at least every other month.

Benefit 6 - Detailed demo and documentation

Since every Add-on is a separate unit with its own releases it will have its own page, example page on demo website and documentation section. Breaking down bigger product into smaller parts allow to take a closer look of every bit and its functional purpose. Through the years we had numerous situations when people asked in support about features we had for years just because they were poorly described or hard to find. Now when every add-on is a single item customers will have a chance to read all about it and browse documentation before they use it.

Benefit 7 - Quick releases

At this point we have platform and add-ons as totally independent parts which do not affect each other. Of course, platform is a ground for all add-ons, but changes in a platform will not affect add-ons and vice versa. So now it is extremely easy to release a fix or an update as we don't have to test the whole system from scratch as we use to do. We only test parts that relate to add-on or a platform and release a new version. Get ready for a regular monthly releases this year.

Benefit 8 - Customization independence

Customization has always been tricky in terms of future updates as there were simply no way to factor in all changes made in different files of different projects. With new concept all customizations can be wrapped as a customer add-on and keep all needed modifications there without affecting other parts. This innovation means no more worries about updates after customization. From now on update will never wipe out all changes made or break the main part. Forget to write the notes on which files to rewrite after updates and pray they don't break anything. It is all much simpler and safer now.

As you can see new concept came out as a result of our decade in Joomla! development with all out best practices and observations of hundreds of projects made through the years. We are happy to finally release it and share all the benefits of this innovation with our customers.

We are always glad to hear your comments and suggestion either in social networks or on our website.

Beauty industry websites are all about visual presentation of products and services to the audience. All websites dealing with presentation can be created based on galleries. FW Gallery is a powerful tool for visual presentation. There are many different types of beauty industry websites in the marketplace - spa salons, nail bars, skin care shops, hair design studios, and many more. In this article, we will review a professional and good-looking hair salon showcase created with FW Gallery.

The showcase is dedicated to a specific kind of salon services - hair design.  However, you can use any other beauty industry direction instead of the hair design. If you are offering different range of salon services at one place, then each direction should be configured separately, similar to the hair salon showcase.

We will describe each page of the hair salon showcase, its elements, and business idea behind each element. Make sure to understand that to proceed with creating the same website you need to prepare media content and install FW Gallery to your Joomla platform. To learn how to get started with FW Gallery, review Getting started documentation page.  If you have media content and FW Gallery in place, it takes around one hour to build the same website. The overall process for creating such a website looks as follows:

1. Prepare media content - photos and videos grouped by services.
2. Install FW Gallery to present your services with a clean design.
3. Create required galleries to show service categories and different types of products inside them.
4. Display all images to show services with their pricing, description and related products.
5. Configure the slideshow module to create the atmosphere for each section and/or promote products/services.
6. Configure the latest module to show related products for sale.

Check out our Hair salon guide for more details on configuring Hair salon showcase. Let’s, review the showcase page by page in the sections below.

Page with Salon Services Directions

If you are offering different kinds of salon services at one place, you need to create a page with multiple galleries. Each gallery will represent a specific service direction, for example, manicure, cosmetology, hair design, etc. However, if you are offering a specific service, you can skip this step.
We have created a Beauty industry page to showcase different beauty industry directions. The hair salon showcase is realized via galleries view. Each gallery on this page represents a particular direction of the beauty industry.

Salon services directions

Here you can see the following elements:  

1. Title of the parent gallery. We have created a Beauty industry parent gallery.  If you are creating a website for a beauty salon offering different services at one place, there should be a title of the beauty salon.
2. Description of the parent gallery. The description conveys general information about gallery content. We have provided general information about the beauty industry directions here. You can insert a mission of your beauty salon here.
3. Subgallery. In our showcase, the subgallery represents a specific beauty industry direction. However, you can use a subgallery for each particular service type offered at your beauty salon.
4. Subgallery video preview. Preview cover is an effective promotion tool. We have placed a video on the preview cover of the hair salon gallery to add more dynamics to the page. But there is a possibility to use the image as gallery preview cover.  You can use both types on preview covers for different galleries on one page to make it look more entertaining.
5. Subgallery title. We have specified the title of the showcase here. You can specify the type of services offered at your salon.  
6. Subgallery description. We have placed general information about services offered at the hair salon. You can also specify some general information about each service type or its price.

Page with Service Types

This page is a show window of the hair salon. It should be eye-catching and clearly laid out with an informative text message, logo, images, etc. It represents different types of services offered at the hair salon. To show all service types on one page, we use galleries view - one gallery for a specific type of services.

Page with service types

Here you can see the following elements:  

1. Subgallery title. We have entered the title of the showcase here. You can specify the title of service direction.
2. Subgallery description.  Our subgallery description includes:

• Text description. Mission of the hair salon.
• Image. Logo of the hair salon.
• Slideshow module. The slideshow of services to ensure effective promotion.

Specify a general description of the services here. You can also place different elements into the description area of the gallery, just as we did.

3. Subgalleries of the Hair salon subgallery. Each subgallery represents the type of service offered at the hair salon.  Use subgalleries for all types of services you offer for a specific direction.
4. Subgallery image preview cover. We have used images as preview covers for the types of hair salon services. However, you can set either video or image preview covers for the subgalleries on this page. It depends on your media content and vision.
5. Subgallery title. We have specified the title of the haircut here. You can specify the type of services offered at your salon.  
6. Subgalley description.  We have specified an approximate price for a service type here. You can specify what’s included in the services and/or its price.

Page with Hairstyles

This page displays a lookbook of hairstyles done at the hair salon. It is realized via gallery view. The gallery view allows to show beautiful images of the hairstyles. It also provides a reference to the hair care products sold at the hair salon.

Hairstyles lookbook

Here you can see the following elements:

1. Subgallery title. We have specified the title of the service here.
2. Suggallery description. We have used this area for service description and its price.
3. Images included to the gallery. These are the images of hairstyles. You can display the images of looks you have created for your customers.
4. Images titles. We have specified the titles of the hairstyles and their prices here. You can specify the title of the look achieved using your services.

Page with a Single Hairstyle

On this page, we can see a strong association between a single hairstyle and hair care products sold at the hair salon. The page is implemented via a single image view. Single image view provides a detailed view of the product/service you are offering. It also allows to provide more details about the service/product through the elements outlined below.

1. Image title. We have specified the title of the hairstyle here. You can specify the title of the look here.
2. Ratings. Ratings encourage the activity of registered users. We use star ratings, but you can choose between stars, hearts or thumbs.
3. Image section. This section displays the image of the hairstyle. You can display a look achieved using your services.
4. Image description. Except for the hairstyle text description, we have added the latest module with hair care products to create a dependable line between the product and service. You can use the description the same way to provide additional information for a single image view.
5. Slider. The slider allows to access the gallery with other hairstyles right by clicking the image within the slider, without going to the upper level. Use the slider to showcase other looks included to the gallery and simplify navigation.

Creating such a great website with FW Gallery is not difficult at all. If you like the concept of the website, you can create a similar one with your own hands. We have clearly outlined all steps required for creating such a website in our Hair salon guide. Should you have any problems while configuring the website, feel free to ask questions in the comments section at the bottom of the documentation page.

This month we’ve upgraded a plugin that allow to import photos from facebook pages or profiles. Also we did 3 big important releases:

• The opportunity to create a gallery by using hashtags - a gallery can be formed with all images and videos that contain the hashtag you’d chosen.
• 3 new gallery design you can chose for galleries group, one gallery or one image.
• The opportunity to limit a size of images without loss of quality.

This month we’ve fixed some bugs and released two upgrades:

• Keyboard navigation - when any image is open you can switch to another one by clicking arrow keys and turn back to the gallery by clicking ESC key.
• Additional parameter for displaying images - you can make them to display in ascending or descending order by date.

New:

• Gallery description next to the gallery. This feature allows to display description at the right of the gallery. As a result, the gallery and description are placed at eye-level allowing for better readability when long descriptions are added to the galleries. 

• Tags display on the gallery view. Earlier tags assigned to the gallery didn’t display on the gallery page. Now the tags assigned to the gallery are displayed underneath the gallery title.

• Search by ID. To simplify files management via the admin panel, we have added the ability to search for files by ID. 

• Search by tag. We have added a search by tag filter to the files management section so you could search for files by tags via the admin panel.   

• Custom CSS style section. We have added CSS style section in admin panel so the users could edit CSS styles of the component directly via Joomla admin panel.

• Gallery display in a map module. We have added galleries filter to the map module settings. With this filter, you can choose the galleries you want to display on the map.  


Updated:

• Renamed Default design to Fancy. We have renamed Default design to Fancy to avoid confusion with the default option allowing to set priority between menu item settings and global settings
.
• Geotag for a gallery. Now you can assign a geotag to the gallery. A gallery with a geotag is added to the galleries filter, in the map module settings. As a result, this gallery can be displayed on the map.

• Default image setting for a front-end manager. Now, the default cover image can be set for a gallery via the front-end manager.


Bug fix:

• Tags display in menu item settings. Fixed tags display in menu item layout settings. Earlier the tags added for a new gallery didn’t display in menu item layout settings

• Tags order. Synchronized the order of the tags between the front-end and back-end. 

• Batch upload via the front-end manager. Batch upload didn’t work for the front-end manager.

• File description. Fixed the file description display in the below position.

• Video cover upload. It was impossible to upload a video cover for a gallery.

• Magnifier display. Fixed magnifier display in the lightbox.


Websites that contain a lot of visual/media content have their list of characteristics, tasks, and difficulties that developers may face with. The best feature of a good Joomla gallery website is a high-quality user-friendly implementation. Because of its peculiarities, a large number of image files, such a resource can be “heavy”, load slowly and be displayed incorrectly. The key point here is to provide a user with the most positive experience managing gallery website. This can be achieved in particular through the use of responsive Joomla gallery components.

Joomla Gallery Plugin FW Gallery Light and Its Main Functions

Responsiveness. The name speaks for itself, so the main function and the main advantage of responsiveness is an ability to be displayed correctly on any devices, adapting to the viewport.

Improved upload options. With FW Gallery  Joomla gallery component, it is possible to upload photos easily and quickly, using drag&grop or mass selecting them in a file manager.

Multi-level galleries. This function allows the user to build galleries of several levels in order to make the content more structured and organized.
Rotation of images. From now on you should not worry about photos rotation. Even if a photo-orientation didn’t get rendered correctly you can fix it manually at any time.

Galleries and photo layout settings. A set of various parameters for displaying images and galleries adjusting sizes and information you want to show.

Default gallery image picture will be selected from already uploaded pictures to find the most spiritual image for a gallery content or create Joomla gallery carousel.

A possibility to apply a watermark. Both the client and the user can be confident in the authenticity of the images.

A possibility to view sub-galleries for quick navigation while preserving the adequate size of photos and without loss of quality.

Share buttons. Each user of the site will be able to share any photo in one click.

Advanced features for clarifying details. Now each gallery can get a name, a creation date, and a hashtag. The privacy of this data is easily regulated.

Extended item settings. This means the ability to save specific viewing parameters for each of the photos, as well as assign the data (name, creation date, hashtag) to each image. With the frontend function, the visual content updating is even easier since you do not need to touch an admin panel anymore.

Who Can Benefit from Joomla Gallery Extensions

The decision to create Joomla gallery with FW Gallery Light will be reasonable for:

• designers and photographers to most effectively show their creativity and competence;
• cafes and restaurants so that potential guests can familiarize themselves with an attractive and detailed menu;
• photo models with diverse work experience;
• builders who already have successfully completed projects;
• companies that want to be closer to their customers and for this purpose take photos of their production processes from the inside;
• and everyone else whose work results can be demonstrated visually.

On a Concluding Note

Thus, this Joomla gallery extension is a free download and a fairly convenient and practically universal tool that can be useful to develop solutions in many areas. Its main advantages are responsiveness and multi-functionality. In fact, this saves time and labor costs and also allows you to organize your images online, resulting in an excellent responsive design.