Description
Build a gallery, drag images into a custom grid, embed it via shortcode or block. No coding required.
Every gallery is its own WordPress post behind the scenes (a sab_photo_gallery), so it gets its own title, its own admin list screen, standard WordPress edit/delete permissions, and native WordPress revisions — the Compare Revisions screen shows a readable, line-by-line diff of the gallery’s images and settings, not just the title.
Gallery types in this version:
- Custom Grid — drag to reposition, drag a corner handle to resize. Snaps to a fixed 12-column grid.
- Masonry — auto-flowing columns, no manual positioning. Choose a Classic (CSS columns) flow or a Bento preset with a repeating mixed-tile-size pattern.
Features
- Visual drag-and-drop builder: add images from the native Media Library, drag to reposition, resize by dragging a corner handle
- New images are auto-placed below existing content — nothing overlaps by default
- Save with a click, or with the Ctrl/Cmd + S keyboard shortcut, from anywhere on the builder screen
- One-click copy of the gallery’s
[sab_photo_gallery id="X"]shortcode, from the builder sidebar or the All Galleries list - Every gallery save creates a WordPress revision, with a real content diff (not just title) on the Compare Revisions screen
- Publish/Update buttons and admin notices (publish, update, trash, restore, etc.) are worded for galleries, not generic WordPress “posts”
- One rendering engine behind both the
[sab_photo_gallery id="X"]shortcode and the SAB Photo Gallery Gutenberg block (with a live preview in the editor), so output never drifts between the two - Sitewide General Settings (gallery type, gutter, Custom Grid responsive behavior, Masonry columns/style, pagination, captions, powered-by link), each overridable per gallery from the builder’s Gallery Settings panel
- Per-gallery Design controls: padding/margin per side and per breakpoint, background color, z-index
- Optional per-gallery lightbox, sized in viewport units so it scales correctly on any screen
- Configurable pagination — “Load more” button, infinite scroll, or numbered pages — once a gallery has more images than the configured batch size
- Multiple galleries on one page are fully isolated — each gets a unique ID and its own scoped CSS
- No frontend footprint unless a gallery is actually embedded on a page
- All plugin code (PHP classes/functions, CSS classes, JS globals, AJAX actions, postmeta keys) is namespaced under
sab-photo-gallery/sab_photo_galleryto avoid conflicts with other plugins
Screenshots
Blocks
This plugin provides 1 block.
- SAB Photo Gallery
Installation
- Upload the
sab-photo-galleryfolder to/wp-content/plugins/. - Activate through the “Plugins” menu in WordPress.
- Go to SAB Photo Gallery > Add New to build your first gallery.
- Go to SAB Photo Gallery > Settings to set sitewide defaults.
- Insert it on any page via the SAB Photo Gallery block, or
[sab_photo_gallery id="X"].
FAQ
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Does this plugin transmit any data externally?
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Only reads and writes only your own site’s database.
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Can I change settings for just one gallery, without affecting the others?
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Yes. Every sitewide setting — gutter, gallery type, masonry columns/style, pagination, captions, powered-by link, design spacing, lightbox — can be overridden per gallery from the builder’s Gallery Settings panel. A gallery that hasn’t overridden a setting still follows whatever the sitewide default is, so changing a sitewide default keeps applying to it.
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Does the Settings page cover Design and Lightbox too, or only per-gallery?
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Both. The Settings screen has dedicated Design and Lightbox tabs (padding/margin per side and breakpoint, background color, z-index, and the lightbox toggle/size) that set the sitewide defaults, in addition to the same controls already available per gallery in the builder.
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How many columns does the Custom Grid use?
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The Custom Grid builder snaps to a fixed 12-column layout.
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Does the plugin add a “Powered by” link?
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No, not unless you turn it on. It’s off by default; you can opt in sitewide or per gallery if you’d like to show a small “Powered by SAB Photo Gallery” credit under a gallery.
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Can I see what changed between gallery revisions?
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Yes. Because gallery content lives in postmeta rather than post content, this plugin adds a synthetic “Gallery Content” field to WordPress’s native Compare Revisions screen, listing each image’s position/span and any per-gallery setting overrides, so a swapped or moved image shows up as a real diff.
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Where’s the lightbox?
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It ships in as an optional per-gallery toggle — enable it in the builder’s Gallery Settings panel and set its width/height in viewport units.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“SAB Photo Gallery” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “SAB Photo Gallery” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.1.0
- Fix minor issue: the SAB Photo Gallery block’s editor canvas preview could render Custom Grid images stretched with large gaps, out of sync with the actual frontend/admin output — the preview’s row height now stays in sync with the live column width instead of getting stuck on its initial fallback.
- New: Copy, Cut, and Paste for images in the Custom Grid builder. Click an image to select it , then use the new Actions menu (the “…” button next to Save Gallery) or the keyboard — Ctrl/Cmd+C to copy, Ctrl/Cmd+X to cut, Ctrl/Cmd+V to paste — to place it beside the selected image (right, then left, then the first free row underneath); a Cut image is only removed once the paste actually lands somewhere.
- Fix: clicking an image in the Custom Grid builder to select it (for Copy/Cut/Paste) was unreliable — ordinary mouse jitter between mousedown and mouseup was being misread as a drag, so selection often silently failed to register. Selection now works consistently on a normal click.
- Fix: selecting a grid image gave almost no visible feedback — the sky-blue selection fill was too faint (18% opacity) to read as “selected.” Selection now shows a clearly deeper sky-blue fill, and hovering an unselected image shows a distinct, lighter sky-blue preview so the target is obvious before you click.
1.0.0
- Initial release: Custom Grid and Masonry (Classic + Bento) gallery types.
- Drag-and-drop, resizable grid builder with auto-placement and Media Library integration.
- Native WordPress revisions for every gallery save, with a readable content diff.
[sab_photo_gallery id="X"]shortcode and Gutenberg block, sharing one rendering engine.- General settings tab with sitewide defaults and per-gallery overrides.
- Per-gallery Design (padding/margin/background/z-index) and optional Lightbox.
- Configurable “Load more” / infinite scroll / numbered-pages pagination and “Powered by” credit link.