Title: GhostLabs Serendipity – Masonry & Mosaic Photo Gallery Block Author: GhostLabs Published: October 28, 2026 Last modified: October 28, 2026 --- Search plugins ![](https://ps.w.org/ghostlabs-serendipity/assets/banner-772x250.png?rev=3771742) ![](https://ps.w.org/ghostlabs-serendipity/assets/icon.svg?rev=3771742) # GhostLabs Serendipity – Masonry & Mosaic Photo Gallery Block By [GhostLabs](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ghostlabs/) [Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/ghostlabs-serendipity.1.0.0.zip) * [Details](https://wordpress.org/plugins/ghostlabs-serendipity/#description) * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/plugins/ghostlabs-serendipity/#reviews) * [Installation](https://wordpress.org/plugins/ghostlabs-serendipity/#installation) * [Development](https://wordpress.org/plugins/ghostlabs-serendipity/#developers) [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/ghostlabs-serendipity/) ## Description Serendipity composes a mosaic from your photographs — not a grid with the gaps filled in, but a partition of the space where every tile earns its size. Compose one, keep it, and it stays exactly as you left it: layouts are saved per breakpoint, so a gallery looks deliberate on a phone as well as a desktop. #### A masonry-style gallery that fills its space If you want a gallery that isn’t a rigid grid, this is one. Like a masonry gallery, Serendipity mixes tiles of different sizes, and the more photographs you give it, the more they vary. Unlike one, it doesn’t run on down the page in uneven columns: it fills the space you give it, cropping each photograph to its tile. Choose **Refresh Layout & Save** in the block toolbar until you like what it composes. It saves for the breakpoint you are editing. It is a block, not a custom post type. There is no separate gallery screen to visit, nothing to sync, and nothing left behind if you deactivate the plugin — the gallery lives in the post where you put it. #### Bring your own lightbox Serendipity links each image to its full-size file and groups the gallery, which is what lightbox plugins look for. If you already run one, it will pick these galleries up with no configuration. If you would rather it did not, there is a setting for that too: link to the file without grouping, link to the attachment page, or emit no link at all. #### What it does * A generative mosaic engine — compose, refresh, keep the one you like * Saved layouts at all three breakpoints, so nothing reshuffles on a phone * Gap, minimum height, thumbnail and full-size resolution * Stack on mobile, for galleries that read better as a column * Lightbox-agnostic output, or no links at all * One hover style, Fade-Up, with captions * Four starter block patterns * Loads nothing on pages that have no gallery ### External services This plugin does not contact any external service. It sends nothing on page loads, nothing in the background, and nothing on a schedule. Galleries, layouts and settings never leave your site. **Links to GhostLabs — not a service.** The plugin links to two GhostLabs sites from wp-admin and the block editor. It never contacts either one: nothing is requested from them, and the plugin sends them nothing. * **https://theghostlab.io** — GhostLabs’ site, including Serendipity Deluxe’s product page (`/serendipity`). * **https://enter.theghostlab.io/account** — your GhostLabs account, where Serendipity Deluxe is downloaded after you buy it. It is linked from **Settings Serendipity**, under **Have a license?**, and opens in a new tab. Following either link is an ordinary visit to that site in your browser. Terms of service: https://theghostlab.io/terms-of-service Privacy policy: https:// theghostlab.io/privacy-policy ### Source code The complete, unminified source of this plugin — including the block sources the compiled assets are built from — is published at: https://github.com/theghostlab/wp-ghostlabs-serendipity The repository’s committed `build/` directory is the readable build, and `pnpm install -- frozen-lockfile && GHOSTLABS_MINIFY=0 pnpm run build reproduces it byte for byte. Released versions of the plugin ship the same sources built minified, which pnpm install --frozen-lockfile && pnpm run build reproduces byte for byte. ## Screenshots [⌊A saved composition, and the same gallery at tablet width.⌉⌊A saved composition, and the same gallery at tablet width.⌉[ A saved composition, and the same gallery at tablet width. [⌊Not in this plugin: Layout Studio, which Serendipity Deluxe adds — drag the seams between tiles, or nudge them with the arrow keys.⌉⌊Not in this plugin: Layout Studio, which Serendipity Deluxe adds — drag the seams between tiles, or nudge them with the arrow keys.⌉[ Not in this plugin: Layout Studio, which Serendipity Deluxe adds — drag the seams between tiles, or nudge them with the arrow keys. [⌊The block's settings: gap, minimum height and hover style, a layout saved for each screen size, and links that a lightbox plugin you already run can pick up.⌉⌊ The block's settings: gap, minimum height and hover style, a layout saved for each screen size, and links that a lightbox plugin you already run can pick up.⌉[ The block’s settings: gap, minimum height and hover style, a layout saved for each screen size, and links that a lightbox plugin you already run can pick up. [⌊The starter patterns in the inserter.⌉⌊The starter patterns in the inserter.⌉[ The starter patterns in the inserter. ## Blocks This plugin provides 1 block. * Serendipity Gallery A generative tiled photo gallery. Each composition partitions the available area into a unique mosaic, saved per breakpoint. ## Installation 1. Install through **Plugins Add Plugin**, or upload the plugin folder to `/wp-content/ plugins/`. 2. Activate it through the **Plugins** screen. 3. In a post or page, add the **Serendipity Gallery** block and choose **Add Images**. 4. Choose **Refresh Layout & Save** in the block toolbar until you like what it composes. It saves for the breakpoint you are editing; switch to **Tablet** or **Mobile** in the same toolbar to compose those too. A breakpoint you leave unsaved borrows the nearest saved layout. 5. Optional: start from a pattern instead. The inserter’s **Patterns** tab has a ** Serendipity** category with four starter galleries. ## FAQ ### Is it a masonry gallery? It’s the masonry look without the uneven columns. Serendipity breaks the space you give it into a mosaic of tiles of different sizes, so it isn’t a rigid grid. A classic masonry gallery keeps every photograph whole and lets its columns run on to different lengths; Serendipity crops each photograph to its tile, so the gallery fills its space. If every photograph has to stay uncropped, Serendipity is not the gallery you want. ### Does it work with my lightbox plugin? Very probably. Each image is linked to its full-size file — not the attachment page, which is what some lightboxes need — and the gallery is grouped with `data-rel` so a lightbox can page through it rather than treating every tile as a lone image. These four were installed and tested against a Serendipity gallery, and all four picked it up with no configuration: Firelight (Easy FancyBox), Responsive Lightbox& Gallery, FooBox, and Lightbox with PhotoSwipe. If yours needs something else, the `ghostlabs_serendipity_link_attributes` filter lets you add any attribute to the link without touching the plugin. ### My gallery looks different every time I reload the editor Compose a layout and save it. Until a layout is saved for a breakpoint, the mosaic is generated fresh each time — that is the point of the generator. Once saved, it is fixed, and other breakpoints borrow it rather than composing their own. ### Will it slow my site down? The gallery’s stylesheet and script load only on pages that actually contain a gallery, and the composition is rendered as CSS by the server, so the layout is correct on the first paint rather than after JavaScript runs. ### What is in Serendipity Deluxe? Layout Studio — drag the seams between tiles, reframe a photograph inside its tile, swap two photographs — plus a built-in carousel lightbox with autoplay, three more hover styles, and a library of twelve block patterns. The free plugin is not a trial: nothing here expires, and no feature is withheld that would make a gallery look broken without it. ### I bought Serendipity Deluxe. How do I switch over? Serendipity Deluxe is a separate plugin. Once you have bought it: 1. Download it from your GhostLabs account. **Settings Serendipity** links there under **Have a license?** 2. From the Plugins menu, open the screen for adding a plugin and choose **Upload Plugin**. 3. Activate it, then enter the license key from your receipt email in its settings. When Serendipity Deluxe starts, it deactivates this plugin. Every gallery and saved layout stays exactly as it is, because every gallery’s settings and layout live in the gallery block, which both plugins read. This plugin is left installed but inactive, and you can delete it whenever you like. ## Reviews There are no reviews for this plugin. ## Contributors & Developers “GhostLabs Serendipity – Masonry & Mosaic Photo Gallery Block” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin. Contributors * [ GhostLabs ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ghostlabs/) [Translate “GhostLabs Serendipity – Masonry & Mosaic Photo Gallery Block” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/ghostlabs-serendipity) ### Interested in development? [Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ghostlabs-serendipity/), check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/ghostlabs-serendipity/), or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/ghostlabs-serendipity/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/ghostlabs-serendipity/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss). ## Changelog #### 1.0.0 * First release. ## Meta * Version **1.0.0** * Last updated **3 days ago** * Active installations **Fewer than 10** * WordPress version ** 7.1 or higher ** * Tested up to **7.1.4** * PHP version ** 8.1 or higher ** * Tags * [gallery block](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/gallery-block/)[masonry gallery](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/masonry-gallery/) [mosaic](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/mosaic/)[photo gallery](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/photo-gallery/) [Tiled gallery](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/tiled-gallery/) * [Advanced View](https://wordpress.org/plugins/ghostlabs-serendipity/advanced/) ## Ratings No reviews have been submitted yet. [Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/ghostlabs-serendipity/reviews/#new-post) [See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/ghostlabs-serendipity/reviews/) ## Contributors * [ GhostLabs ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ghostlabs/) ## Support Got something to say? Need help? [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/ghostlabs-serendipity/)